Rain! Rain! Rain! While Arizona was being hammered with rain during this monsoon season, Peñasco actually had a few days as well…enough to make our roofs leak, flood some parts of town and undo some of the potholes fills. Sonoyta was an absolute mess mid-month with slides and water everywhere. Hwy. 85 from Gila Bend to the border saw a lot of water and made a few of the dips impassable. I came north mid-month and found myself in a line of traffic, both ways, with running washes. The larger trucks could get through, but the little cars (smartly) waited – the ones that did attempt to go through the rush of water stalled out and had to be pushed off the road. This was in Organ Pipe where, as you know, there is no shoulder, so it was a bit of a mess. Continuing north, I had just gone through a pretty muddy and debris flowing dip, so I flashed my lights at a Camaro coming the other way – apparently, he did not know I was trying to warn him of the danger ahead – and he hit that muddy water dip full speed which sent rooster tails on both sides and ended up with him the other lane. Yikes!

If you are new visitor to Rocky Point, you are probably not aware of the amount of water that can be dumped onto the roadways within a matter of minutes…literally a minute or two. The Hwy. 85 from Gila Bend to Ajo forms water puddles that may not look daunting but hit them at 65 mph and you can very well send your vehicle off the road and, at the very least, give yourself a good scare. Probably the worst part (consistently) of Hwy. 85 during monsoon season is the stretch from Why to the border through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The dips/washes fill up and run fast and hard across the road bringing rocks, sand, mud, and debris with the rush of water…so be very careful as we are not out of monsoon season yet. Tons of you will be coming down for Labor Day Weekend so keep your eye on the weather and always check out The WhyNot Travel Store on Facebook as they do a great job of keeping us apprised of traffic and hazards. The first half of Hwy. 8 outside of Sonoyta can get tricky too with their running washes causing the same problems during monsoon season. If you’re not familiar with the road, please don’t drive like you are. There’s nothing wrong with hitting your hazards if you’re feel more comfortable driving slower than other people, or you are going to slow down, or are just unsure – so much better than slamming on your brakes, which really makes no one happy.

I stopped by El Pollo Papago to get some of Martin’s delicious chicken and say hello – he is such a wonderful person. I always give him a good tip because I know he will “pay it forward”. He told me that all of his tips have been going towards his son’s college education. He is so very proud of him and just beams when he talks about him. His son is in college in Puebla and is also a librarian. Every week they take books out into the barrios and read to the children. He even does the same thing when he comes home to Puerto Peñasco – he works with a local mission and helps the less fortunate as much as he can while he’s here. So, if you don’t already buy chicken from Martin, please look him up and stop by. His chickens are delicious, and he is such a great person. I’ve known him since I’ve been here and have followed him to everywhere he’s moved – he’s now been at his current location on Constitucion for a while and it’s super easy to find (it’s even on Google Maps and WAZE) – not far from Farmacia San Andres.

Oh, and thank you fellow WAZE app users. I see more of you out there now and your reporting of road hazards and traffic have been very helpful.

Don’t forget that our border has extended hours (open until 10:00PM) for the Labor Day Holiday Weekend on Friday, September 2nd and Monday, September 5th. Drive safely and we’ll see you at the beach. Drive safe and have a great holiday!