Chaos Leaves Town

I bet you’re wondering, “How good could a blues festival in Mexico be”? Of course you are. I wondered the same thing. And I’ll tell you right off the bat that although it wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad either. What was great about it was the venue…right in front of the El Dorado restaurant on a large grassy area that fronts the place and is between the restaurant and the golf course. The golf course is by necessity a dry desert course with the only grass being on the tees and the greens. Cacti here and there dotting the landscape. Because of the fancy restaurant, clubhouse, and large bar being right there, the food booths were supplied and staffed by the restaurant so they were eclectic and original. In addition there were two full service bars in tents on the grass, and regular bathrooms over in the restaurant. Nice.

What wasn’t so great was the talent. About a 6 on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best. Ya gotta expect that clear down here in San Felipe though. Pretty sure the organizers didn’t have the funds for any spectacular bands. And it is a fundraiser after all. The other thing that wasn’t that great was the blistering sun. We had a hell of a time trying to find shade. Eventually ended up scrunched up behind a VIP tent which afforded some shade. Didn’t find out for sure until we got there that you can bring your own umbrella. Someone at the RV park had told me they don’t allow bringing your own, but that was probably in past years. This year there was an area specifically for folks with umbrellas. I think they were previously outlawed to sell more space in the VIP tents, with their higher priced tickets and such. Along with shade…those tents had their own waiters or waitresses. Probably other goodies I’m not aware of too. Also, the walk from the parking lot to the venue was rather long if you’re carrying a large lounge chair. I was. And that’s basically all that was wrong. Now, on with the event…

But first some shots of the flora while I was waiting for Dawn to pick me up a few miles from the venue.

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Plenty to do in San Felipe…and to see for that matter. There’s always something going on it seems. But there’s also lots of spare time to just hang out with the neighbors and chill. This posting will just mush together a bunch of stuff that happened the last few weeks I was in San Felipe.

I had added V-Spoilers to the Winnebago (will be doing a write up for my blog’s RV section shortly) and wanted to do a road test with them so invited my new friend, and San Felipe resident, Dawn along. Unfortunately, the wind died soon after leaving SF, and we didn’t pass a single semi, bus, or RV going either direction along the route so the test was a bust, I needed to get a large wind blast from one of those types of vehicles. We drove around 45 miles north, turned around and headed back. Dawn was suppose to listen and observe for me during the test because of her superior hearing and her ability to move around as the passenger. But like I said, weather and traffic conditions didn’t work out for much of a test.

And here I am driving. I’m definitely getting fat. Must do something about that…soon. It looked like it was going to be a great day for the test, but like I said, the wind died soon after leaving SF and strong winds are needed for at least part of the testing.

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With plenty of time on my hands, it was fun just wandering around visiting shops along the malecon and then sitting with a popsicle watching the ocean and enjoying the sites. And only a couple days after that big storm I mentioned in last post. When I heard the day it happened that the refurbished and remodeled baseball park was ready to open, I hightailed it down there for the festivities…

All the local teams are here, and a couple visiting teams too. Men’s and women’s teams, boy’s and girl’s teams. Softball and hardball. There is a league for everyone here.

I was here for a game or two last year and the stadium and park needed rust removal, new paint, groundskeeping, and new safety screens. The remodel did all that plus put in all new fake grass over the entire field.The politicians and donors and baseball officials all spoke. Gah! If I’d known they’d take an hour and a half for all that, I would have gotten here an hour late at least. Boring stuff.

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For those that follow my RV repair posts, I’ve added several more posts over the last couple weeks…check them out:

Replacing Jack Springs…

Mud Flap…

Refer LP mis-operation…

Roof items…

I’ve been busy.

Bumped into a friend in the coffee shop across the street from where I’m staying. I knew him from my stay at Kiki’s. Turns out he’s moved out to South Beach. Has a big deserted beach, a little store nearby, he said, and the potential for a bar with big screen TVs to watch the NFL games. Talked it up quite a bit so I decided, a few days later, to take a trip out there the 12 miles or so to check it out. I’m going to stop along the highway and take some pictures of the numerous developments that are along the coast here in San Felipe. Remember this town is very close to the US, has several ‘Baja’ cross country races in several styles of off-road vehicles every year so has a boom or bust economy. When the US economy is booming, they come down here in droves and the speculators pour billions into properties. Than something happens, like 8 human heads found in front of the police station in Acapulco, and people stop coming. Leaving the condos unsold and the infrastructure unfunded by those taxes from the buildings…after the city paid to pave the road out there. So in a lot of ways, what I’m seeing here now, is only half the San Felipe story. I’ll keep coming here in future years to see what a ‘boom’ is like.

Anyway, a couple miles from my RV park is this Pemex gas station. It’s on the highway out to South Beach, parallels the ocean shoreline mostly. And we’re going to take a ride on it…dodging potholes, and stopping at a working near seaside developement or three for pictures. Note the shape the road is in.

Just a random shot just after a big roadside sign advertising a NEW IMPROVED condo site BUY TODAY that never got built.

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