Mexico beach getaway, Oregon Shakespeare, cowboy ski challenge - includes related articles

Sunset, Feb, 1995

Puerto Penasco, a lively fishing village on Mexico's Sea of Cortez just 4 hours from Phoenix or Tucson, has long been stigmatized as a party town. But savvy travelers know there's much more to "Rocky Point": miles of beaches, excellent tidepooling, a world-class ocean research center, a seafood market, shopping, and fine restaurants. And the renowned Pinacate Volcanic Zone Biosphere Reserve is just 30 minutes away.

To get the most out of Puerto Penasco, stay at a quiet beachfront hotel such as the Playa Bonita, north of the harbor. It sits on a secluded sandy beach, has a top-quality restaurant, and offers many ocean-view rooms. Doubles start at $60; call (800) 569-1797. Beachfront condo rentals in the Las Conchas gated community start at $125, with kitchens; call (602) 886-5716.

Puerto Penasco's extreme tides enable you to explore the fascinating world of tidepools. Look for tiny fish such as blennies, anemones and other invertebrates, or even octopuses. If you want to learn more about what you see, visit the Centro Intercultural de Estudio de Desiertos y Oceanos (CEDO). Public tours are given at 4 on Saturdays, 2 on Tuesdays; a small donation is requested. Take Avenida Benito Juarez and turn east on Boulevard Fremont. Go about 2 miles to the CEDO sign on the right; from there it's 2 more miles.

Late afternoon is a good time to head to the seafood market and gift shops (take Avenida Benito Juarez past the harbor to the seawall; park along the street). Fresh offerings vary, as do prices. Sea bass, flounder, grouper, shark, shrimp, and crabs are commonly available.

Thirty miles outside of Rocky Point in the Pinacate region is the international biosphere reserve, where you can see dramatic lava flows, huge volcanic craters, and the stunning Sonoran Desert. At Ejido Nayarit, 30 miles north of Puerto Penasco on Mexico Highway 8, stop at the new park administration buildings (the white buildings on the north; the park entrance is here). The main dirt road through the park is rough and passable only by four-wheel-drive. Before your trip, call Friends of PRONATURA at 887-1188 to order an excellent Pinacate map for about $3. Or pick up the map at CEDO after you arrive.

ASHLAND, OREGON

A midwinter night's dream for theater lovers

This month, when the curtain goes up on the 60th season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, the spotlight will again shine on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the first play staged here in 1935. While many playgoers wait until summer to attend this festival, those who come in February see great theater, pay lower ticket prices, enjoy less crowded lodgings and restaurants, and even ski the snowclad heights of Mount Ashland.

Twelfth Night, a comedy set in Italy, previews February 17 and 21, opens February 24, and runs through October 29 in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. The previews are complete performances designed to give the actors the opportunity to gauge audience response and perfect their timing.

The playbill also features the West Coast premiere of Pravda, by Howard Brenton and David Hare. In this play, idealistic English journalists must decide whether to uphold their professional ethics or sell their souls to a South African press tycoon. Pravda previews February 18 and 22, opens February 25, and runs through July 9 in the Bowmet.

The Skin of Our Teeth, Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, also takes the stage in the Bowmet, previewing on February 19 and 23, opening February 25, and running through October 28.

From the Mississippi Delta, by Endesha Ida Mae Holland, tells the story of the lives of the playwright and her mother. It previews February 23 and 25, opens February 26, and runs through June 24 in the Black Swan Theatre.

Later in the season, This Day and Age, by Nagle Jackson, makes its West Coast premiere here on April 23. Blood Wedding, by Federico Garcia Lorca, opens July 29. In June, when the outdoor Elizabethan Stage opens, the festival will perform three Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Richard II, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Ticket prices for spring previews are $14.75 to $19.50. Tickets for regular spring performances cost $18.50 to $24.50, $13.75 to $18.25 for ages 5 through 17. (In summer, regular performance tickets cost $4 more for adults and $3 more for youths.) For a complete schedule, write to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Box 158, Ashland, Ore. 97520; or call (503) 482-4331.

MONTANA AND IDAHO

Ski in to a winter wilderness cabin

A hundred miles south of Missoula, in a cabin on the East Fork of the Bitterroot River, a logbook holds the stories of the people who have stayed there. Some of the entries are reverent: "We sat on the porch and listened to the word." Some are irreverent: "Ran out of food today. Cars won't start. Starting to look hungrily at the sickly one of our group." Others are minutely detailed: "Saw elk, mule deer, and a herd of bighorns on the road in. At cabin, saw red-breasted nuthatches, crows, hairy woodpecker, and red squirrel. Skiing is superb; two feet (+) of snow on the ground. Low on 1/6/90, -18 degrees. High on 1/6/90, 17 degrees. Clear blue skies by day and star-filled, moonlit nights."