Good afternoon San Felipe!  Believe it or not, I started in the morning, but allow me to “splain” something to you (remember Ricky Recardo on “I Love Lucy”).  I first have to read my email and answer it and usually there is some scoop which I want to post.  Then, if I have any photos, I must work them in Photoshop and set them on my desktop.  By the time I’m finished with two email accounts and photos, it’s afternoon, so when I return home, I will get back to my schedule of posting after midnight.  I am in total shock that it’s actually hot in Seattle.  My daughter is driving over today with my grandson, Turtle, so it’s a good day to be me.  We will all go and visit my mother this evening. She’s here now!

New scoop:  Kat’s Korner will be posting the fishing reports and photos for Tony Reyes Sports Fishing for both boats (when I receive them).  I have the last two trips of the José Andres along with the photos and as soon as Mr. Webmaster Supreme is finished with the page, we’ll have them up.  If you’ve not taken a six day trip and you have time this summer – it’s a wonderful trip for the entire family.  If you don’t fish, that’s not a problem.  You can explore the islands, swim, sit around a read.  It’s a great experience and I hope to go again towards the end of July.  It’s a little warm, but down south, the water is cooler and cleaner and you’ll see the unspoiled beauty.  Your car is locked in the yard at Tony Jr.’s compound and you’ll be well taken care of.  It’s really a lot of fun.  You can book a trip here through Longfin, but specify you want the José Andres.  It was Tony Sr.’s little baby and it’s the one I’ve been on a few times, so I’m a bit partial.  You can see our fishing page here.

Billy Burke, long time Kat’s Korner reader and a good friend, wrote to me today to inform me of the following scoop: “Also I ran into Roberto of Fandango’s at the bank a couple days ago and he told me Fandango’s is closed for the summer.” There are other businesses who are closing for the summer because of our lack of tourism, but remember, Baja Java out north is not closing for the summer.  If you’ll read Tony’s “Late Breaking News”, he writes about how bad economically the 4th of July weekend was for San Felipe.  You can read his news here.  To cheer you up, and make you jealous, you can read about our retired weather gal and her companion Mel’s travels around about and a cruise.  Hello! I’ve never been on one but I’ve thought about booking a trip or two with a few former husbands.  You know “honey, sit on the railing so I can get a good shot – oops”.  I’m kidding, of course.  You can see Shirley Thompson’s travel log here.  Shirl’s one retiree who has been to China with a group from San Felipe; many parts of Mexico on Bruce Barber’s SFARP trips and now a Mexican Riveria Cruise, but she always returns to her home in San Felipe.  If you’re afraid to go to Mexico, just ask Shirley.  She’s over 70 (just barely) and drives alone to the border all the time.  Luis Almodovar, my webmaster, redesigned the logo for “A Walkabout With Kat” and you can see that page and the two videos which are posted here.  We have two more which are being edited and will be posted about every 2 weeks.  Those with slow bandwidth may experience problems.  However, in my monthly newsletter, soon to be released, I’ll recap as it will be sent via email.  We have about 200+ signed up and it’s in the works.

I had a pleasant surprise at the airport when I left Imperial.  Wornout and Debbie Sundquist and Johnny Chow were there to see me off.  Wornout was crying, but everyone knows he’s a crybaby and Deb’s the strong one.  Hence the tissue.  The first photo I took, John and Debbie were waving, but Deb’s hand was in front of John’s face.  The Sundquists are temporarily staying at the Vacation Inn RV Park and then it’s on to visit our buddies Old Desert Rat Lou and his lovely bride Tienna in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.  I have been invited to come for a visit this summer and I’m taking them up on it.  They don’t know I’m not leaving.

And Wornout, always the clown but very funny, posed in front of the counter with his American passport in his hand.  The reservation man standing behind the counter is very nice and always helpful when my favorite airline screws something up.  By the way, there are changes to the amounts the US government is going to be charging for new passports and renewals, which I’ll post below.  However, you may go onto their site and download it yourself.  I just went on line and bought Mexican Driver’s License Insurance from BajaBound and it’s cheaper than in San Felipe.  Go figure.  Give it a click and tell them “Kat” sent you.  You’ll probably be charged more!

I am surprised continually at how many people are shocked I live in Mexico and how many people think Baja is part of California in the United States.  I’m also trying to educate the folks I’ve talked to about San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez as opposed to the Pacific Ocean.  Here are the changes to the passport charges, which Mr. Ragtime sent me.  You can also go on line as I said and read for yourself. (Update:  I can’t post a photo from a PDF file, so I’ll get the web address and post it.  If not, simply Google “US passport price changes” and you’ll find the site).

I have often talked about the pricing for hotels, motels, houses, etc., in San Felipe and this is a small sample of what you get for your buck up north and I’m telling you – this place if gorgeous and the rooms are all smoke free and see for yourself.  If we want to get tourism back in San Felipe we need to lower our rates and let the rest of the world know it doesn’t cost a fortune to come to San Felipe, in addition to being a safe and serene place to be. Something to think about when you’re pricing your rentals.

On another note:  Most web pages are copyrighted and so is the content.  If you are building a web page yourself or if you hire someone to do it for you, you can’t simply take entire pages or content from someone’s page and call it your own.  A lot of work goes in to building a site and “stealing” from a site that doesn’t belong to you is just plain wrong and there is no excuse for it.  Those guilty know who they are!  With that, I will close for the afternoon.  Tonight in San Felipe I believe Maria is at Juanito’s for Karaoke, but I’m not really sure.  Either she is or Mac and Nan, but I don’t have time at this moment to look it up.  I am off the computer until tomorrow morning.  Have a pleasant rest of the day,