MexiGo

 I absolutely LOVE these two sunset pics....and soooo the story .

In 5 weeks we'll be returning to Mazatlan for our 25th season, we missed just one during COVID and all the weirdness that was moving to Montana in that year of 2020. Our first visit was a week at the Mayan Palace not far from where we live now, I told Mp that we were going to add a week a year until we get up to 52. Well, that's a bit much but now we're invested and we go with one way tickets and return when it 'feels' right, usually 4 to 5 months.

We have friends all over the world and of course we have friends that travel all over the world but for us we just needed something different, something more permanent as I guess I've been moving on my entire life, I really have. One thing I've learned from Mazatlan is that there's a lot of people like me and MP in the world, people who don't want to just 'see' a place but want to be 'part' of a place. The being part of it is not tricky at all, in fact it's simple to follow these simple things that seem to work for me.

1. Be sincere

2. be honest, real, steady, be yourself.

3, Have fun.

4, Follow the music.

5. Be respectful.

6. Be generous with time ,with sharing,

7. Be inquisitive, want to learn.

8. Be confident and have trust.

9. Slow down...they say, "relax you're on the fun side of the border".

10.  Appreciate. Be thankful

#2 is kinda a biggy. If you're like me and become a person who is known as Pata Salada, well, that's a good thing. Literally it means ' Old Salt ' but figuratively it means ' I've been around ' or experienced '. what it doesn't do is make you Mexican. If you have many Mexican friends or have some pretty good Spanish speak that's a good thing but you're still American or Canadian or whatever part of the world that sent you to Mexico. Your Mexican friends feel as diverse having you as you do having them. We're all just temporary citizens of planet earth.

This is Sagrado Corazon , the Sacred Heart. The psychical heart of Jesus Christ as a symbol of his divine love for humanity. You will see this everywhere in Mexican culture originating in the Catholic church and now broadly representing the virtues of Love , fidelity, eternal hope as well as sacrifice and resilience . 

From my understanding the components of the sacred heart all represent different virtues such as reflection and recognizing the blend of Europe beliefs into the  indigenous cultures of the Americas. It's  very deeply rooted beliefs that are central to Mexican Families and their way of life where elders are deeply respected and children cherished. The family unit is one of many things we can learn from our neighbors south of the border.

And for me the big thing is comfort, feeling belonged. I have friends up and down the beach, in old town, at the tackle store and at restaurants. The gringo population comes and goes at different times of the season and you get to know when so and so is ' coming in'  etc...I love that.  

We've been hanging out with these guys for a lot of years. Mac and Denise are wonderfully fun and interesting....see ya guys soon.

Me and Tim have caught just a few fish together since  the day I met him on the beach. This year he's getting promoted to be kinda or D.O.G.E. guy here at Team X...he'll be our officer in charge of pescatorial efficiency,

Alejandro and have been friends for at least 20 years...we've giggled like children and cried like babies. We've caught large, we've caught air. 

Before I met Kurt his wife told me ' you're going to like him, he's a lot like you '....mmmm....well it's a good thing I didn't meet him when I was 20 cause I might not have liked him but she's right, we're sympatico.

MP and Connie....them girls can flat communicate.

My buddy Kiki....how many people do you know that started playing music at middle age has just ...well...simply has it. If you think I can sing a little ya gotta hear Kiki.

Willy, one of the coolest guys I've ever known. After just another skunk day he said ' today it was not for the stomach but for the mind '....and thanks Willy for diagnosing my O.D.D. , I shoulda known there was a clinical excuse for being me.

Keith and me share big ju - ju....many fishing memories in Alaska where he and I are always really home.

That's how my fishing buddy gets it done. He reads the water and when he see's something big moving it gets athletic...how's that for a sweet way to put it..... 

And the Sunsets where we gather and discuss....we're lucky, we're a little different...but we're certainly Pata Salada......see you soon Mazatlan. 

And oooops I forgot the most important person of all...My conscious, my motivator, our financier and the most talented person I know and love....let's go baby !

In case you were wondering

 Yup, I have a survived the longest case of writers block in Mile 14 history, maybe the longest in my history...You see I just haven't felt creative or funny or even interesting. I gotta say I've been a bit in the doldrums that comes with the kind of news that people my age get but never get used to. I told my friend Kiki yesterday that I feel like I'm losing and not gaining anything but more experience than I really don't need....So, I've played some music, took Geno's advice and breathed through my nose , got plenty of exercise and cut back on the demon rum and Walla...you feel better, it passes, you see a bright side . Amen. 

But, we ain't been sitting on our hands.  Needing a Vegas or Reno trip we took a couple day budget resort trip to Jackpot Nevada and spent two night at Cactus Petes. I'd recommend that place to anybody, although you don't get there by accident it's worth the drive. Affordable, beautiful retro remodeled rooms, a gorgeous spa and pool lounging area and great food....MP got here prime rib obsession quenched. 

There's not much to Jackpot. Everything seems to be  left from a past that  you can tell  at one point was a going concern. Boarded up mom and pop motels, a competing casino that still has nickel slots . And trailer houses, lots of em....

Just south of Jackpot for a mere 1.4 million you can buy Mineral Hot Springs. It comes with outbuildings from the day and plenty of thermal therapeutic hot water and sits on 220 acres of roadside property...you can almost feel the energy it once had.

As we were discussing what it would take to turn a dollar with Mineral Hot Springs a car arrived and we met our new friend Albert who had come to seek treasure metal detecting. The ground was moving with these huge black grasshoppers and Mp was getting a  bit squeamish, there were millions of them, you couldn't walk without stepping on them....well old Albert took the time to educate us on what he called the Mormon crickets and when we found out he wasn't afraid it made us feel better about being there.

So...back to the casino...Mp won a hundred bucks and I won a hundred bucks so we got up in the morning and had a breakfast Subway Sandwich as we retreated from the desert back to Mooooontana taking the scenic route through the mountains around Yellowstone...it is gorgeous....And they don't call it Jackpot for nothing, here's what a $1.25 bet can get ya.

Speaking of luck, check out the size of this Rainbow MP caught on an unnamed lake with a secret lure while wearing camo....see there I'm trying to fit in with these Montanan's. 

The water temp was 70 degrees. This fish in cold clear water would easily have broken here 8 lb fluorocarbon but although it did swim off on the release it was sluggish for sure . We caught half a dozen Walleyes, this trout and a slimey ol Pike all in about 2 hours....I think we're getting it here finally . We'll be fishing more here as we ease into fall, right now the lakes have algae bloom from the warm weather ,  it 90 degrees as I type. 

It took me years to be able to call myself a musician, years . But like these kids we went to see yesterday at the Helena Battle of the bands I started just like them when I was in Jr, High school. I'm thinking there music is a bit more sophisticated than ours was after all my first song was a hit called Little Brown egg that had three notes all played on the B and high E strings... 

' I don't care what they say'

' I'm going to keep it anyway ' 

' I won't let them stretch their necks.

to see my little Brown  egg with the little red specks '

This video is the Quinn Casey Band which is Quinn and his brother and sister.

And this gal here could flat sing...welcome to the club young lady...When I'm happy I sing, when I'm sad I sing, when things go wrong wrong wrong I sing, I sing to celebrate, I sing to people to say this is how I am, how are you ? and I sing to myself and of course  MP....it's the perfect elixir , it'll be your lifetime best friend , it'll be you, in song.....

The Shnide

People that know me know that I've watched a few Seattle Mariner games and that guy  there used to be one of our announcers and I thought he was great .... but you know those Mariners they're always sending people to another team so they can perform better is what generally happens. So Dave moved onto the Yankees this year and I miss his ' Daveism's ' one of which is the Snide. It was his word for a player or even the team  having bad luck or just plain playing poorly . He would use it like this ' Julio really needs a couple of hits here , he needs to get off the schnide'.

Now I'm no pro baseball player but I sure as hell was a pro fisherman and even now I'm at least accomplished and fish at least 100 days a year between Montana and Mazatlan....and....I've been on the schnide since arriving here 5 years ago.  I wanna catch white flakey fish to eat and so I've been learning Walleye techniques and Walleye habits and it's been humbling for ol retired guide #003 . We've caught Walleyes, one here, one there but never what we'd call a 'load'. But yesterday that all changed, persistence and desire finally won out and we had a breakthrough.

My buddy Curt was right, the lighter the jig the better as even though you don't feel the bottom so well it sinks slower and kinda flutters into the strike zone. We fished a spot that I had located with electronics starting at oh dark thirty and by 8 a.m. I had caught 7 or 8 perfect sized eaters like this. MP struggles to get the hook into ol slimey but she to finally got on the board , she must have had 10 good chances as she was having a hard time feeling the bite so I'm getting her a more sensitive rod today. Here's pick of the fish box, just carrying one around that big screams of optimism wouldn't you say ? 

That trout was almost to much for my 8 pound fluorocarbon. We did lose a couple, one in the anchor line but this one MP battered and fried last night and it was soooo good. And for me and MP filleting all the Walleye for the fish feed that I've been promising and delaying was a kinda ritualistic thing that wasn't missed on either of us.....it's how we've lived and how we've done it all....together, with fun.

We who fish hard call it ' grinding ' when you work and work to get a bite. Well we've been grinding here for sure but what a gorgeous place to do it. After just an hour and a half we both decided we had all the fish we needed and being sure we can duplicate this success now anytime we decided to go for a boat ride.  It was easily shirt sleeve weather as we motored 6 or 7 seven miles upriver and onto the lake....absolutely gorgeous as we spotted birds and animals and waved at the fishermen of which there were surprisingly few .

I kinda consider myself an ambassadeur of this great sport and all my fishing friends around the world are part of Team X, our fishing team. F.T.F. friends through fishing. So, I have to thank them all for helping me on project Walleye. So generous with their knowledge and gifts. Keith Holtan made a special trip to bring me Walleye gear, caught 6 or 7 Bass just this morning on a bladed top water that was in his gift bag. Ernie Mills brought me Rapala's and the biggest collection of blades any human has ever seen . Kurt Findorf printed me out a gear tutorial with recommended rod type and sizes, benefits and problems with line selection and we've spent hours discussing the pursuit ' if you find Perch you'll find Walleye' . Dan Stewart showed me how to rig weedless. Don Poole ran me down the lake and said aim your boat at that landmark and tell me what you see on your depth...I said ' I see a hump that goes from 15' to 5 ' ' and he says , ' that's it, throw the hook and catch some Walleye ' ! And all my friends send encouragement .... a big Mucho Gracias and Los Amos a todos.

Speaking of Bass. If I'm not on the big water most days I start on the pond down the road fishing bass from shore at sun up. I generally catch between a couple and half dozen most mornings and they're usually between 2 and 4 pounds.....BUT...I've seen some huge ones swim by and I've been convinced that a new State record could come from this pond as the current record came from Lake Elmo which is very similar to our pond. Well the other day as I walked along a trail thinking I was alone like usual my new friend Zak came along almost running , he was so excited to find me and take his pic. He had forgotten the scale but he said he's caught two like this now....very impressive , this fish might have been 10 pounds. We'll never know, I watched him gently revive it and it splashed away into the lake....wow....Don't worry about our youth to much,  ol Zak there is big strong 10th grader who plays football reluctantly. It takes away a lot of his fishing time he says .

Welcome to the team Z-man ! And here's a pic of sunrise over the pond.

And yours truly with a budget selfie....

You don't get there by accident

 Valier Montana....yup we've been on the road . Now Valier is in northwest Montana but it reminds me a bit of the towns on Highway 2 along the High Line of the State.  Some of the towns that are usually about 25 miles apart which is the time it would take to ride that horse that far have successful, vibrant downtown districts, but small....Well Valier isn't that , it's the one with the closed up buildings that people left the signs up when they left. Maybe they were in a hurry, I don't know . The towns motel is a 6 unit trailer and of course the biggest business in town is the Case Tractor franchise. All over Montana we see buildings like these .

So, there's a lot that Valier doesn't have. But what they do have is Lake Francis . It is 3000 acre impoundment that is chuck full of Walleyes , has beautiful campgrounds with lots of availability with boat launches and cleaning tables and....well it's just a great lake except for just one lttle thing it doesn't have....water !  Now I'm familiar with the fact that these type of lakes were designed and built for crop irrigation but I've only seen lakes " drawn down " like this at the end of the irrigation season and not at the start. It makes you wonder what the water level will be in September. A guy might be better off with a tracked Nodwell instead of a boat. Here's a pic of a boat ramp that ends right into a mud bog.

So I get to looking around and see this path of truck tracks across the lake bottom to what I suppose used to be an island . About that time I see a truck pulling a Lund slowly creeping back from his fishing adventure. You'll see him about mid pic.

So I guess a brave soul put the ol truck in 4 by and went looking for a spot where the  lake bottom was angled enough to float a boat off and also dry and firm enough to support the the F 250 along with the Lund Pro V angler....For years when I was cutting my teeth in Alaska we would Launch into the ocean from the beach and we learned it was pretty darn easy to get stuck but also putting the boat back on the trailer with a little surf rolling was a really great way to washout the inside of the skiff....one time I floated a tackle box right back into the ol briney.  Here's pic of the Lake.

And then I see something I've never seen on an inland lake, never....A lighthouse . And I guess it makes sense to have navigation aids in a place where people can run around just like the ancient Mariners would when they'd mistake a rocky shoal exposed at low tide for dry land . So if any of you are headed to Lake Francis just remember to keep the lighthouse to you eastern beam and you'll be just fine....I think...

And I bumped into this guy. I guess he kinda decided on the Nodwell over the boat approach. You talk about roughing it gently !  He's got 6 X 6 positraction, a 55 inch color TV and a kitchen stocked with everything you need for that gourmet Walleye meal this evening...

Now that's something I should warn you about. Here in Mooooootana anytime you get within 250 Miles of Glacier National Park where one of the last viable populations of Brown Bears in the lower 48 exists you start running into these signs. They're funny here in Montana. They won't tell you where you might catch a fish or shoot a deer but boy howdy they'll sure will tell ya where you might get ate by a bear. The signs are at the rest stops, in the parking lot at the Town Pump gas / beer cave , next to the lake , next to the park , next to the bowling alley....And it makes me wonder, if you're a non-resident visitor, especially one with California plates and you're responsible for ruining there State WHY the hell do they care if you get ate by a bear ????     Pro Guide Tip # 237  -  between Valier and Cut Bank keep an eye out for ' Sober Up Creek ' just in case you've been to the beer cave and are in need of that. 

So if you're up there in ' Bear Country ' this is the place to stay. Interesting western art and decor. A hot tub that's just perfect. A breakfast that has protein and gourmet coffee. a Happy hour with 2 dollar G + Ts .  And the old school multi-game machines where my running buddy won 48 bucks.

This is my serious face now : we really do love Choteau , they welcome us every time .

They have gorgeous central park with fields and rodeo grounds, ya can't be a Montana town with Rodeo grounds. The park has walking trails along a lush rambling creek and of course a watch out for Bears sign.

And Camping that is ' almost free ' as we say in Mexico. They even have plug ins and availability which is run on the honor system , I like that .  Choteau is  like a secret paradise  for me and MPeasy. So if ya wanna escape and end up in Choteau Montana, go golfing, have a pizza at John Henry's , buy a T-shirt at the Choteau seniors thrift store and don't forget to tell them Jeff sent ya .

How long it been since you've seen a 1968 Ski Do Elan ? Ya gotta go to Choteau.