Sandy and I went on a mini vacation the first of last month to celebrate PaPa’s 98th Birthday.  Grandpa Phipps, who renewed both his driver’s license AND his motorcycle license when he was 96, lives in Santa Rosa, California, so that was where we headed first. We had the actual “party” in the hills of Sebastapol, while drinking lots of good ole Napa wine with practically the whole ‘fam damily’. After a few days, when all the wine was drunk, and all the kisses and hugs and ‘see ya’s’ were said, we headed down below Yosemite to Oakhurst to visit more family, then on over to Reno/Sparks to have a few days with the Nevada part of the family. Needless to say, we drove a few miles, and stayed in a few hotel rooms during the 2 weeks we were on the road.  At a layover in a Phoenix hotel, the registration office had copies of memo being circulated regarding a scam that was going on in the area. The following is a copy of that memo. It’s a good piece of advice for travelers everywhere, and we thought you should be aware.

“You arrive at your hotel and check in at the front desk. When checking in, you give the front desk your credit card (for all the charges for your room). You get to your room and settle in. Someone calls the front desk and asked for (example) Room 620 (which happens to be your room). Your phone rings in your room. You answer and the person on the other end says the following, “This is the front desk, when checking in, we came across a problem with your charge card information. Please re-read me your credit card number and verify the last 3 digits numbers at the reverse side of your charge card”. Not thinking anything you might give this person your information, since the call seems to come from the front desk. But actually, it is a scam of someone calling from outside the hotel/front desk. They ask for a random room number. Then, ask you for credit card information and address information. Sounding so professional that you do think you are talking to the front desk.” 

We received an email at our offices from an irritated R.V. owner, concerning the new by-pass road which is a direct route to the Sandy Beach Resorts and condominiums from either the Laguna del Mar road and/or the Coastal Hwy. If you are coming to Rocky Point traveling south on the Coastal Hwy, just past the intersection there is an arch built over the two lane road, and it has chains hanging down low. This is to prevent high profile and heavy trucks from using the road. Unfortunately at the south end of the by-pass road, there are no warning signs stating that the road is NOT FOR HEAVY OR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES, NOR FOR HIGH SPEED DRIVING. For the vehicles heading north. On the north end, there is no room to turn around, so you would have to pass thru the hanging chains, possible damaging any equipment on the roof. We have notified the city officials of this problem and hope to have warning signs posted on the south intersection by the “Quick Stop” gas station.

Speaking of roads, I hope the new city government will address the stop sign situation. A large number of intersections have signs that are either hidden by vegetation, painted over or have only one sign on a corner, the others broken or missing. When you drive up to an intersection, you must look at the opposite corner to check if there is a stop sign there, even though you might not have one on your corner.

On the lighter side, a friend to Rocky Point, Bobby Wilson J.T., who is an attorney/author sent me his first book several months ago. “Bobby’s Trials” is an incredible true story of survival and overcoming great odds to succeed in life. He has just sent me his 2nd book, “Renegade Barrister”. It is a compilation of several short, true trial stories that he has participated in. I read the book in one day. I found it to be entertaining and truly enjoyed reading about the inner workings that go on, in some trials. Thank you Bob, for the books. Besides Bobby’s Trials, and Renegade Barrister, he has two more books “State of Unrest” and “State of Mind”. For more info contact Apache Publishing Company www.apachepublishingcompany.com or call (520) 940-0709.

If you like motorcycles especially Harley Davidson’s you will love Rocky Point the week of Nov 4th. It is the beginning of our 12th Annual Rocky Point Rally, Nov. 8th through the 11th. We don’t have a head count, but we expect to see around 10,000 bikes in Rocky Point that week. Last year the Old Port was MOTORCYCLES ONLY…no cars allowed so, if you were not on a bike, you were parking your car and walking. Tough for the friends who actually live in the Port, but we all love it during Rally Week when all the restaurant balconies fill up with the crowds watching the action.
It’s November, time to get yourselves over to pick out your Christmas ‘Angel’. Stop by La Cocina de Ramon (off Simon Morua, past the Ace Hardware) and/or The Lighthouse Restaurant (at the top of the hill), choose your ‘Angel’ from the tree, and shower them with gifts for Christmas. Gifts which, of course, you can purchase right here in Puerto Peñasco.
Have a really good, healthy month! Come on down!! The weather is GREAT!