Gotta go, Mile 14

Something about the traveling gene that us humans seem to have...no matter how cool a new place is you're always happy to get there and then happy to leave. I guess we just gotta move on. It's Semana Santa in Mazatlan which is kinda weird in itself, on one hand it's the holiest of all weeks and on the other hand the biggest party as well. Guess I just don't get that part but when we left two days ago the beaches were full of young people and beer. MP and I came across this on the our last bike ride and trying to make sense of it we came up with this...It was displayed this way to be a graphic example to be careful and not drink and drive during Semana Santa, or at anytime I guess.

It really was time for us to go. The morning we left Monsanto was really busy with the cloud seeding. Mmmm, maybe genetically altered party behavior for Semana Santa , I don't know but the sky was full of this stuff...or maybe it was just a bunch of Happy people like us headed home, who knows ?

I was hoping for another nice Robalo as a going away gift but I'd bet you can guess that the fishing has been real slow from my lack of pics/bragging/self promotion...But the other day I hustled up the beach following some birds and this Roosterfish said good bye Jethro. He's a bit on the petite side but I got all the faith in the world that he'll grow into a noble Guyo of 25 pounds. Cute,  ain't he ?

Our arduous trip goes like this....MZT-LAX-SEA-ANC- Puffin Inn - ENA...and all of that is good except LAX which I think they should rip down and start over, but that's just me. At customs they have a new system with facial recognition that looks like this. MP wasn't real fond of her pic and the lady from Anchor Point behind was appalled but that pic below matched up with who I'm supposed to be and I breezed right through customs with just a big ol smile and not a single question.

And then it was onto Virgin America Airline's Airbus, our first experience with Alaska's newest airline. They only have 8 first class seats and we had two of them courtesy Fejes's and Associates travel outreach program. Holy Moly, the leather seats recline and have lumbar support as well as a massage feature. They offer you a cocktail as soon as you enter the jet so you're having a nice nerve pill while the rest of the passengers are boarding....wow...I did a selfie and MP ain't to proud of this pic but she was reading the in-flight menu.....mmmm.....I guess we'll have the Angus Steak Salad with avacado and pepper sauce. Oh, those deals in the middle are reading lights that you can direct so that the other passengers have darkness if they'd  like.

Then it's home to the Kenai River a larger house and a King sized bed...In MZT we sleep on a double and we coined the phrase ' synchronized sleeping ' to describe rolling over at night. I love her to pieces ya know but a little extra room is kinda nice. And, it's soooo quiet here. In MZT even if the the drunks upstairs aren't partying there's still some noise like the guards walking or the surf rolling or the Gecko's chirping....but here at Mile 14, it's still, quiet, wonderful. The air....cool , crisp and clean and....well its just nice to be home. Here's a pick from our slider, the mountains in the background and the river still frozen.

And boy oh boy, as much as I enjoy doing this blog it's been a real struggle with the super slow Telemex internet at our building. So this I'm liking and I'll get back on track with a better schedule for Mile 14... hope you keep reading. And you can't tell by looking outside but we'll have fish pics in 6 weeks I figure.

Alaska / Mexico

Being on final approach for re entry to our vibrant lifestyle along the shores of the world famous Kenai River I kinda get a little thoughtful, kinda introspective on our life style. The differences in location are like so different you can't compare , somethings I miss from both, somethings I love about both....But fireworks in Alaska pales to Mazatlan. Here if you get married, fireworks, New people at the resort, fireworks. Holiday, fireworks.....here's a short clip of Saturday night's ' Festival of Light ' which were the display that usually goes with the Pacifico Marathon but the pyro technics were delayed while work was being done on the Malecon. The best display I've ever seen. They had 5to 7 stations set up so the fireworks came from all locations and scrolled up and down the Malecon. Bill and Diana sat on the concrete wall and watched and hour with us....it was fabulous except for the standing back up part that kinda reminded us all of our age.

So some of the things I miss at Mile 14... A television menu (  although we watch little TV here when we do it would be nice to know whats on but it's all pirated so no tv guide ).  I miss the health club, and those friends. My guitars. Running into people that Really know me. Even though I'm good at dodging work I miss sometimes feeling productive. I miss licorice and buttermilk. Reading an actual printed newspaper. Clean air. And i know this sounds weird but I miss being alone...which I'm good at.

Some of the things I'll miss from mile 5014...Mexicans, I love these people, yesterday as we shopped downtown I chatted, laughed, cajoled with the locals, they like me and I like them. Avocado's . A value, our first shopping trip to the Fred Meyer store will be a heart stopper. I'll miss 85 % of the residents of our building. Fishing the surf. Ernie. Mariana at Athina Spa, the guru of deep tissue massage. Spending money vrs making money. ...anyway, you get the idea, it's time to fly.

Things like this just jump out at me....when was the last time you saw an early 70's Ford Maverick ? Or signs at the clothing store that are ....ahhh..... brutally honest in a fun way.

Team X has a recruitment scheme that is pure genius....just show up. But if any of you aspiring Team X ers have leadership ambitions you need to keep an eye on Ernie. When we first met him years ago his value to the team was immediately apparent , he ain't no scraredy chicken. We were all impressed with the way he would handle the mid flight snagged Pelicano that every surf caster will eventually have to deal with. He'd just reel them in and grab it by the beak and surgically remove his lure and then they'd fly off, usually ....so I wasn't surprised to see the other day that ol Ern is also one hell of a snake charmer. We ran into several of these guys and Ern just lovingly returned them to where they had come from....what a guy.....me, I hate snakes....

So me and MPeasy jump the jet one week from like right now. I'm working hard to catch one last Robalo but the conditions are a challenge, we'll see. Combine that with the start of Mazatlan's biggest week, bigger than Carnaval, Semana Santa ( holy week ) starts this weekend. We've never been here for it but people say the beaches are so crowded with Mexican vacationers that fishing is impossible....it should be fun to witness and be a part of. I'm playing music on Saturday and I'll try and get a video on the blog so I hope you stay in tune. Then we're back at Mile 14 and onto Kenai Salmon Volume 37....

There's nothing you can't do too much of....

A wise friend told me that once about all the coolness he / I have in our lives. It's been cold here ( I know, I know, don't complain ) and the fishing is super slow.  The building had it's yearly meeting and other than the fact it hurt worst than the dentist I was left with this take away... this condo building has wonderful people who are overwhelmed by a small group of the meanest, manipulative and most vile bunch of liars a drunks you'll ever meet. In short, it's horrible the lack of plane and simple courtesy that is routine here at Mile 5014.....so it's a about time to get back to the friendly flow of our small town and the Kenai river.

Thanks.... I feel better already. With cabin fever setting in a bunch of us road tripped to Dimas to see the 4000 year old petroglyths, They charge 60 peso to view them and another 45 if you take pictures and of course the fishing is for 'locals' only...good thing I'm one of them. My friend Jake took the most wonderful picture for me.

So that's pretty cool.  Fishing from antiquity, of course this is Mexico and there's a chance they turned a guy loose with a Hilti tool... Here's one up close. The funny thing that jumped out at us that there seemed to be no fish, maybe it was before the ocean got here ? I don't know but this must have been a successful bunch of people with time to communicate through art.

The little town of Pixtala has the most wonderful restaurant perched on a hill over looking paradise. Life is awful slow here. we ate a great shrimp lunch and climbed the lighthouse like kids...we're feeling good.

MP's on going knee problem kept her off the stairs so I took a pic of her from the top.

It's wonderful thing when you get to the point with your passion that you truly enjoy seeing other people catching fish as much as you do yourself, or more. My friend Willy was on his last day in Mazatlan before the drive north. Alejandro and I were talking about our friend who has passed away recently and up from the beach walks Willy with the most gorgeous snapper I've seen in a long time. It's the magic of fishing really and  I think there's some design to it.

For all my fishing buddies in Alaska who deal with the busiest Marina in Alaska for the care of there boats I took this picture. We were on Stone Island when I noticed the local repair shop. They keep the stuff running as good as any place in the world and they get to work outside with the music blaring...For some reason here in Mazatlan we still see lots of new 2-strokes which in Alaska you just don't see anymore, maybe easier, maybe cheaper, I don't know,

There's no doubt that the ' water closets ' in Mexico are different. But when I saw this sign and the camera to go with it in one of the nicest restaurants in our city was kind of amazed. I mean, what do they think you're going to steal ? mmmmm.....see you next week, I'll try and find a something chuckly to report ...

40

Kinda of a milestone....40 years ago March 4th we got married. We used to celebrate it on the 5th because like a lot of things for me and MP we were confused a bit. Our old friend Bill Hunt was a Workman's compensation Judge and he said Jeffrey Shannon King do you take this woman to be your wife and etc, etc, etc....and I said....ahhhhhhh,,,yeyeyeye, yes, of course. It was really pretty simple, if I didn't get married she was leaving and back there in the deep recess's of my 24 year old melon I knew I could make a success out of my / our life and Mary Patricia Brown who is the smartest, prettiest, most interesting and talented woman I ever met. No brainer...AND, she liked me and even loved me. I told her I would never hurt her and I meant it.

Now how couldn't ya love somebody that cute....And this picture below illustrates her hard at work doing her job. On the fridge here at Mile 5014 she has a sticker that says ' Marriage lets you annoy that one special person for the rest of your life'.

Imagine being good enough to pull off both of these tricks in the same fishing trip...she really is quite remarkable.

A wise friend of mine told me one time that the definition of love is when you always think you got the best part of the deal....Now here's the confession and evidence that she's the secret to our success, People seem to think that because I'm kind of a type A take charge person that I'm the leader on this expedition....Wrong.

We had our first son the wonderful Maxwell Stephen without me even knowing that we were ' trying'.

She bought our first house  without me even looking at it.

She bought a house in Montana all by herself and she surprised me with the gift of a condo in Mexico without me knowing...She has a way.

When the lights finally went on for me and I realized we needed to make some $$$ as hard as I worked, she worked harder.

Look at our boys,,, two successful men with good healthy  lives .

Here's a close up of part of the guitar that she built me for my 60th birthday...man oh man, by far the coolest thing I own...So here's the deal MPeasy ( I now you read this )  let's retire, lets get really old and let's have new adventures while we do it...Thank you, I love you, I couldn't be without you and yes.... I'll continue to work on some of those things you point out from time to time, I promise.

Salty feet - Pata Salada

Guess I fit that , old salt. so where should I start ? The parade or the snook harvest ? I know....how's about MP's finger....Yikes, it was ugly Howard.

It was frightening and this pic taken the next day doesn't really tell the story of how dramatic the situation was. She snagged it on rivet or something coming down the stairs of the bus. It's a hard jerk and the finger begins to swell immediately. But we're 5 minutes from home so we hustle to get soapy water or oil on it and it won't come off. She hustles to Adrieanna's house and luckily the retired nurse is home.  I go looking for good cutters and return to find the string trick being done which is essentially a tourniquet that compresses the swelling to try and get the ring off....the finger by now is the size of two and looks like a sausage, entirely dark purple. Adrianna and I decide  almost at the same time it's gotta go and it's gotta go NOW. It was so swelled that without the string compression I couldn't have gotten the side cutters safely on it.... It's hard and I can't cut it...MP is tough and Adrianna says hurry. My adrenalin kicks in and snap, it's cut but I have to find another pair of pliers to open it up which we finally do and instantly the finger changes color and MP says she has feeling on the tip. Onto the ice and then it's gone from purple to white. The circulation was cut off for about 15 minutes I'd guess. I think the trip to a hospital would have been to slow and who knows....So then it was ice on 15 minutes , ice off for 15 minutes for 7 hours and magnum doses of Arnica. We could tell it was going to be alright but she still has a little tingling. Mucho Gracias Adrianna, you're an angel. One thing I know about life is this....you can't worry about what didn't happen. Jeff was relieved, very happy.

For surf fisherman here in Mazatlan besides catching the Guyo the Robalo is about as good as it gets. I've had a remarkable run of luck with those guys, this week I caught one every morning for three mornings in a row. Wow....hitting the trifecta.  Tom Welle and his crew arrived so we have at least 8 people on the beach with me and Ern, nadda no pescado. I have people to the left and right of me when just as I finish my retrieve I actually see the Snook take my Mirro Lure. Then the very next wave pushed it past me and leaves it high and dry up the beach with the hook having fallen out. It was so quick the first thing I heard is " where'd that come from"...Mucho suerte.

The very next morning Ern gives me the ole ' get here fast ' signal. I hustle down the beach and stab my rod into the sand and get ready with my gaff hook. Luckily Ern has this fish on his bigger set up and although it took 10 minutes we finally get a look at him....it's not the 20 pound Robalo we were hoping for but what a dandy Toro....And Ernie, congratulations, you've finally passed the fish pose portion of the guide exam. Perfect form, proper display, include the gear, smile...and yes, as you can tell from the background Team X is ALWAYS the first on the beach every morning.

This Toro I caught yesterday was kind of fun. I was all alone and wanted a picture. I kept him on the line until a gal walking up the beach got close so then I grabbed him and asked her to take a picture. She was talking on the cell phone and she just smiled grabbed the camera and snapped the pic continuing to walk and talk... I hope she heard the thank you. MP calls that my ' Oh' face.

I love this pic, a close up of old slimey.  He's got a green bucktail in his mouth and is seconds from getting on with his life. I was so inspired by the creativity of this shot that I posed a sun up shot with my favorite lure... I think I'm kinda into the flow of this beach deal.

Fat Tuesday found us where we've been every Fat Tuesday for the last 10 years. This year with the theme and the new widening of the Malecon it was the best and most comfortable parade of all. Today my internet is cooperating so I'm going to cut the chatter and just show you the scene. I hope you pick up on the vibe. And of course there's a lot of fish and  Pacifico always leads the parade. What's better than a Pacifico fish eh ?

 These gals were pretty far up in the air, no worries.

 This guy found the saltiest feet he could.

And of course the Pacifico girls were smiling.

My favorite floats. They had the illuminated versions at the end of the parade and they were spectacular. Some of them had huge generators in tow. I have a pic of the street scene on this 4-pack to give you a feel for the crowd and all. And I have to say....there was not one single bit of politics or political statements here at all, none....just fun.

I've got 1976 Gibson Paul in my collection. It's one of my favorites because it has this ' honest wear ' that is unbelievable. I bought it from a working musician in the Valley named Wes Hamrick and he being a friend of Hobo Jim's like I am he wanted me to have it. When I play this guitar it's like magic, I wonder about where it's been, who's it sung with and who's it been sung with too. Wes had it for 10 years so a large portion of it's life is a mystery that seems to open up when I play it. this Gibson has been refretted , has new a bridge and tuners as well as pots and well it's just got personality.

So that's what I was thinking as I shared the parade route with this musician and his stand up bass. The instrument was personalized with Mexican colors and his name. He carried the bass just like it was part of his body and I bet he plays it the same. I got to wondering just how many weddings and who they might have been and...well, it's just part of the magic of music. Music that's thriving in Mazatlan Sinaloa Mexico.

The Interview

Finally the staff here at Mile 14 was granted the long awaited interview with Sophie, the official mascot of LaMarina. She is a happy Dogerson ( part dog, part person ) who has been left with another person while her real person went to the USA for an emergency. She was candid, bright and engaging and we thank her for giving us a behind the scene glimpse of life as a professional mascot.

Mile 14 : Sophie , we're so excited to be able to talk you today that I don't even know where to start so I'll just say I'm sorry that you're here with somebody else and your person is gone, all of us at Mile 14 hope everything will be O.K.

Sophie : Well thanks for the nice thought. I am missing my person and it'd be a lot easier of a separation if I could go on the Nicoderm patches. But they tell me  this fur is a problem so I've got to soldier on....you don't smoke do ya ?

Mile 14 : No sorry, we don't smoke....but I do have a serious licorice habit do you...

Sophie : Na Na Na, let's just move on, I'm fine.

Mile 14 : OK, so whats the biggest part of your job, how does it all work ?

Sophie : Look at me as the most advanced comfort dog you'll ever meet. My degree is in Humanine Behavior.

Mile 14 : Wow, and where did you go to school for this specialized field of study ?

Sophie : Cal - Barkley

Mile 14: oh, of course....

Sophie : You speak very good dogerson, where did you pick it up ?

Mile 14 :  I used to do shanghai work for a restaurant in Bangkok.

Sophie :  You know  I don't like the direction this interview is taking....

Mile 14 : Sorry, lets get back to the job.

Sophie : It's simple , being a mascot is just about being nice , really nice....and isn't that just about the easiest thing in the world to be ? you remember the line in Jerry McQuire ' you can't love anybody unless you love everybody '....that's me.

Mile 14 : Wow... no wonder I was so excited to do this interview. So whats next in your career ?

Sophie : I'm working to get 200,000 reads on my blog so I can monetize it and make some serious cash.

Mile 14 : And with all you do you're a blogger as well ?

Sophie : yup, looks to me like any idiot can do it

Mile 14:  ya know I don't like the direction this interview is taking....

Sophie :  I hope you have enough I really need to get back to my dogerson dreams.... I was chasing this brand new BMW and.......

Mile 14 : O.K. Sophie, thanks for your time and keep up the good work, we all appreciate it.

Ground Hog Day

It's weird. When you get fully emerged in Mexico every day seems kinda the same,,, and it's nice. The weather is almost the same every day and although the days go slow they seem to accumulate quickly, I think maybe that's more of a function of the ageing process rather than of Mexico. So what'd I do important this week ?....ahhh.....well.... I got a haircut and....jeez, lets just get onto those pesky fish.

Tony snapped that pic for me early one morning this week. I had been throwing metal for distance next to my friend Willy when I spotted a disturbance right next to the shore. I quickly changed to my little feather jig and instantly had him...pretty good if I don't say so myself. This kind of fishing a a bite or two can be a good day so Ern kinda hit the mother lode the other day. Me and Lockwood met him at the Mar Rosa and these three guys fish hard for 2 to 3 hours to get 3 bites.... and Ernie gets all three of them. This pic is the lastr of seven that I took with a big suggestion to Ernie....SMILE.... and he did.

I got a great pic of one of my fishing buddies. These guys are bold. I got this pic believe it or not with no tele photo, I just walked up on him and snapped it then he walked away. I gotta tell ya the truth...I talk to the birds when I'm fishing. I think most of us do actually.

It's a great week in Mazatlan. Carnaval starts, the 3rd largest in the world. This year the theme is ' Pata Salada' which means ' Salty Feet' . This a term you hear a lot in beach side cities. It;s used to tell people you know what you're doing....pata salada amigo... I've been around or I know what I'm doing because I have salty feet....I'm an old salt etc, Denny Zargoza's fishing team is Pata Salada...and they are for sure. I love the music and found a huge guitar player. And I recently learned something , it seems all these wonderful statues that are created every year are modeled after actual people that live or have lived in Mazatlan. mmmmmm...maybe this one is me.

These giant sculptures are called ' Montgotes ' and depict famous people / things that were born in Mazatlan so I guess that rules famous gringo fishermen out. But they are unique to the city, unigue to us and the Carnaval.

We eat a lot of Pollo, and I mean a lot. It's so fresh here and MP and I are trying to get away from the scorched red meat deal. So whenever you buy a fresh chicken you might not get the guts with it but you always get the feet and MP finally discovered why.  It seems to be the secret to making a good chicken soup base. Being a fan of the Menudo like I am I'm always amazed at how clean and  flavorable the broth's are here in Mazatlan. I took this pic of MP making a nice chicken noodle for us.

And as we bid a fond a do to another slumbering week at Mile 5414 let me tell you how the usual sunset goes....not a cloud in the sky....watch, watch , watch,,,,,finally a flash, is it green ? might be, might be  that you've snow blinded yourself staring or it could be real so then we tell 10 minutes of green flash stories and go have supper. Well this one broke the model. It looked like the clouds would kobscure any hope and then the horizen lifted and the sun danced around the sky lasting really late into the evening. I t was the best ' rebound ' yet...Mucho gracias Mazatlan. Hope you all come back and see parade float pics and with any luck maybe a fish or so....😎🎵🎸