Last Wednesday was our 15th wedding anniversary. We married on the fifth day of May back in 2006, here in Arizona – at Watson Lake Park near Prescott to be precise. We usually celebrate our anniversary by treating ourselves to a nice dinner – since it’s Cinco de Mayo, we’ve often chosen Mexican cuisine. This year was no exception. We went to Baja Joe’s Mexican Cantina where Sinaloa-style seafood is their specialty.

Many people in this country misunderstand the Mexican Cinco de Mayo celebration. It’s not Mexico’s independence day like so many people think. Instead of being the equivalent of our Fourth of July celebration, it commemorates a military victory over French forces at Puebla in 1862.

We started our dining experience with margaritas on the outdoor patio – a skinny margarita for Donna and a Cadillac-style margarita for me. We went with Baja Joe’s strength and ordered seafood entrees. Donna went for shrimp in a poblano cream sauce while I ordered sea bass a la Veracruzana. The entrees were delicious.

We don’t dine out often, but when we do, we like to make it a memorable experience. The excellent fare at Baja Joe’s was well worth it.

Earlier in the day, Donna had a visit from an old friend, one she hadn’t seen since high school. Tim Murphy and his wife Mary were in the area for a family wedding, they’re from New Hampshire and it was their first time here. Donna went for a drive with them and showed them the Salt River at the Coons Bluff and Goldfield recreational areas and they also made a stop at Saguaro Lake.

Saturday evening we met our friends, Howard and Sara Graff at The Monastery – a unique bar and grill next to Falcon Field here in Mesa. The Monastery is a bit quirky. Most of the seating is outdoors in a large, open area. It has a sand volleyball court in the center.

We found a table outside and Howard and Sara joined us shortly after we arrived. They were serving a limited menu – half a dozen appetizers and maybe a dozen entrees. You can order burgers from the kitchen or you can order burger patties with fixings and grill it yourself at one of the outdoor barbeque grills. Their specialty burger from the kitchen is $12, the patty you grill yourself is $7. We ordered food from the kitchen. They had a band playing outside Saturday night.

The band was okay, but I didn’t like their sound system. All of the instruments were plugged straight into a board that fed the PA speakers. The sound reminded me of an old portable transistor radio. The guitar tone was so buzzy, it was fatiguing to listen to. It made me think of the time when the guy that replaced me in the band Backtrack and I had a conversation about guitar tone. He said no one in the audience cares what your tone sounds like, they just want to move to the music. I don’t believe I’m the only one listening to a band that cares what the instruments actually sound like, but maybe I’m wrong about that.

We had a fun time although the conversation was somewhat limited by the sound level of the band. I wish we would have gotten together with Howard and Sara more over the winter, but it seems our schedule didn’t line up.

We had more fun on Sunday as we were invited to join a Mother’s Day celebration at Mike and Jodi Hall’s place. Jodi grilled burgers and also made a fruit salad. Donna brought a warm bean dip she made and somebody brought cold shrimp for shrimp cocktail. Mike and I enjoyed a cigar and conversation on the back patio by their koi pond. I neglected to take pictures of Howard and Sara and at the Hall’s also.

Of course we also had home cooked meals last week. Friday night, Donna grilled chicken and served it with roasted baby potatoes and creamed peas on the side.

The weather has remained very warm with daily highs in the mid to upper 90s. Even the nighttime temps are warming up with lows in the mid 60s to 70 degrees. We plan to head out for the summer on Thursday – the forecast calls for 100 degrees on Thursday afternoon.

Our tentative plan is to meet up with Frank and Kelly Burk and Mike and Jodi Hall near Woods Canyon on the Mogollon Rim – six or seven thousand feet above sea level. We’ll dry camp through the weekend and figure out our next move from there.

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