It's that time of year again! In fact, it's the favorite time of year for thousands of motorcycle clubs and enthusiasts from all around the U.S. and Mexico.   It's the time of year they all converge on our little slice of paradise by the Sea of Cortez for 3 nights and 4 days of camaraderie, consumption and custom bike show and tell. It's a festive atmosphere amid continuous well-organized and fun entertainment to keep everyone busy deciding which event (read: party) or activity (like road trips to nearby scenic sites; mystery poker run; raffles, bike washes, wet t-shirt contests, and so much more...) to attend.  The saving grace is that there are no wrong decisions for these fun-loving amiable aficionados of two-wheel transportation.

Steeped in 12 years of tradition that began in March of 2001 with a simple gesture by local hotelier (Playa Bonita Hotel owner), Harley enthusiast and passionate promoter of Puerto Pe�asco, Oscar Palacio who first invited a couple of Mexican bike clubs from Mexicali and San Luis to rally for a weekend in Rocky Point. Over 80 bikers showed up and had a ball!

Oscar and his tourism promotion friends quickly saw the draw this sea side community could have on bike enthusiasts from all over. They hastily moved to invite more clubs for a second event in November of 2001 that became the first Rocky Point Bikers Rally with 380 in attendance. It has grown exponentially each year with crowds during the couple of years before the world economic crisis estimated at upwards of 8-10 thousand bikers peacefully blessing Rocky Point with their non-stop party spirit, their contribution to about every nook and cranny of the local economy-this in addition to raising large sums of money for numerous local charities as well as their insistence on bringing toys for the needy kids, and spreading the parade route with candy and little gift items for the kids during the much anticipated motorcycle show and parade through town.

Oscar Palacio, who in every other aspect of the success of his original idea is very humble, but his pride bubbles just a bit when he relates the fact that  these rallies have raised over $200,000 dollars for local charities such as the all-volunteer fire department, Red Cross, La Monta�a School for children with special needs, Cancer Center for Women, the Catholic Home for the Elderly (Asilo de Ancianos) and DIF programs in Puerto Pe�asco and Sonoyta. DIF is an important state sponsored social assistance program that provides food, medical services, mental health programs, rehabilitation programs for families and shelter for disadvantaged, abused and abandoned children.

Most of those funds have come from pure generosity on the part of our rallying bikers who willingly pay the $10 registration fee knowing it all goes to these charities.  The great percentage of the bikers also participates in another charity event, the "Poker Run", on their way down to the rally. Since one road leads everybody from Why, AZ to Rocky Point, it's easy to organize with some of the more than willing landmark stops along the way. This year's game is "Mystery Poker".  Everybody's going to want to do this because no one will know the value of their hand until they turn it in, that's the mystery; anybody can win.

Get all the details on the "Mystery Poker Run" and the entire event calendar in an easily readable itinerary format at www.rockypointrally.com . Just click on "events". You'll also probably want to click on "maps" to see the complete route for the traditional Saturday parade that will begin at the Black Dog on Fremont and wind up at the Baja Cantina and Hotel in El Mirador with two great bands waiting to start the "Parade Fiesta".  This is such a complete web site for the Rally you can use it as your "go to" guide until you register at the Barclin Pemex-Circle K, the first gas station you see as you near Puerto Pe�asco.   

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The Mexican auto industry is about to go on a $10 billion factory building spree, illustrating the nation's rising economic challenge to rivals from the United States to China.

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Numbers in Spanish-particularly big numbers-can be a bit tricky for native English speakers. The Spanish-speaking world still uses thousands of millions-miles de millones-for billions, and un billon is a million millions, or a U.S. trillion.

Whereas in English you would say "four point five billion," the correct way in Spanish is "cuatro mil quinientos millones" (four thousand five hundred million). Written form is no less complicated.  It could be rendered "4 mil 500 millones," or "4,500 millones."  Four point five million, meanwhile, is "cuatro millones quinientos mil" or "4 millones 500 mil."

A particular trap for people in a hurry is when there are no hundreds of thousands, only tens of thousands.

So 4 mil 50 millones (four thousand and fifty million) is 4.05 billion, and easily confused with 4.5 billion.

A number of people who work in high finance do a lot of their business in English, and some get quite tongue-tied when mentally translating back into their native Spanish the numbers they are explaining.

The deal was worth, wait for it-"cuatro punto cinco billones, es decir, cuatro punto cinco, miles de millones" with a pause to think between cinco and miles.

While retaining the thousands of millions, Mexico has parted ways with continental Europeans and South America in that it separates thousands and millions with a comma, and fractions with a period, as in the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere. The use of an apostrophe to separate millions has survived in some old-fashioned documents, such as those "typed up" in backwater offices.

The flip side of this-i.e. difficulties for native Spanish speakers learning English-is the use of multiples of a hundred to refer to thousands. Sixteen hundred and forty-five, for example, in Spanish is mil seiscientos cuarenta y cinco (the "and" goes in a different place) and Spanish speakers have to stop and think about numbers expressed in that way in English.