It rained a lot last night, and things were muddy when I got to Quartzsite. So I'm temporarily parked by the main road until this disturbance passes and the washes dry out, in a few days. I could be here for a week or two, or drag it out to six weeks. No plans.

I made the mistake of mentioning to my Algodones dentist some slight pain in the back of the uppers. After a few xrays, we could see the problem: a cavity under the gum line. Today, the tooth came out. In about eight years of going to this dentist, he's never had to do anything at all on me, so I was anxious to see how he handled something other than looking. That wouldn't happen because he hires one of the roving periodontists to do the work....

After a few days in Tucson, I went to Yuma hoping to get parked before the winds and dust kicked up. Visibility is quite low here, so I'm glad I'm not on the road. My intent is to go up to Quartzsite in a few days. But first, I'll go to the dentist, so we'll see what turns up there. Hopefully nothing.

Alaska now has a fully legal/adult use/recreational regulatory system in place and product started moving within the last two weeks or so. Alaska has a high per-person consumption profile in the US, but has never had any medical marijuana program. For them to pass an initiative and the state to implement it on time, from scratch, is quite remarkable, impossible in any other state. Oregon is almost up-and-running. Fully licensed retail stores are...

After the rain/snow/sleet passed through, it became cold, in the high twenties. That's not necessarily very bad, but Deming is known for it's wind and dust storms, so put a 30 mph wind on top of 30 degrees, and it's real uncomfortable. Today it warmed up a bit, and the wind calmed. Big improvement. Meanwhile I spent the week with a head cold, which I haven't had for a long time. So no matter what, I was destined to spend the week indoors, under...

I reached Deming and got parked just as the wind started picking up. This is going to be a brutal weekend: winds at 35, cold below freezing, and lots of moisture as either snow or rain. That won't stop me from going to Hatch for a burger, or keep me away from my other favorite restaurants.

Actually, it's not fair that the communities in West Texas aren't worth commenting on. Marathon and Marfa are doing well in expanding their offerings to tourists, though it's slow coming. When I was here in 2009, Marfa Public Radio had just started operating with a community radio format. It was remarkable because it was an FM signal that actually reached, almost, Big Bend National Park. It was classic community radio: volunteer DJ's and...

I could easily spend another month here, but I'm keeping to a tight schedule to get to Arizona. My first goal is Deming, NM, and even though it will be cold there, I'll rest up for a week after I arrive. I managed to get some birding in, and some beach driving at Boca Chica. The only sign of the new Spacex rocket launch facilities are one of those blue litter pickup signs by the Spacex employees. Not on my list of favorite things in the RGV are...

It's not known what the new government will do about marijuana in legal states, which is problematic. The states continue to operate their marijuana programs under cover from the Cole Memo from the DOJ. Basically, if the states fully regulate the industry according to several basic principles, they'll be allowed to continue their "experiments". Washington and Colorado have fully-compliant systems up and running, and seem satisfied with the...

I was looking at the tax rates for the legal, retail states. Washington: 37% Colorado: 29% Alaska: 25% Oregon: 20% Obviously, Washington could bear going down to 25%. Both Washington and Colorado have enjoyed vastly more tax revenue than they planned. Now from the states that recently passed retail marijuana laws: California: 15% Nevada: 15% Maine: 10% Massachusetts: 3.75% You can bet that the top priority for the government in California is to...

I'm here for at least two weeks, but I'm trying to limit it to that as I tend to get hung up around here. There's lots of birding spots, the beach at South Padre, great BBQ, and excellent Mexican food.

I'm back at Bird Island Basin, the windsurfer place, for a few days, parked as a wind-block to Peter, a prosecutor from Calgary spending a month's vacation camping and boarding. Harlingen is my target, but that can wait until Monday. It was less a hassle to follow the route along the shore, on the ferry, and on island roads than the freeways and bridges through Corpus. It's been rainy, sometimes very much so lately, but much cooler and slow...