Los Algodones, Mexico Trip

Today, we decided to venture out to Los Algodones, Mexico for a day of shopping.

Los Algodones is in state of Baja California at the corner of the Sonora just at the intersection of California and Arizona.  You can actually just see the town from Interstate 8.  It's situated right next to the Quechan Casino where many people will stay for the night and then just walk over the border and just 7 miles from Yuma.  Actually, a number of weeks ago I bogged on going to Yuma and checking out the Cocopah RV Resort - well that resort is also just right over the border by Los Algodones.  Quechan Casino owns a very large parking lot and cars, truck and RVs will park in this lot, which is just on the border.  This is what we did.  We paid $6 for a day of parking and then just walked right through the turnstile and poof, we were in Mexico.

Once we crossed the border, the first thing we noticed was that it was HOT over the border.  It was 94 degrees and it was only 87 in Andrade, California.  So weird, but I think that because the city is so close together, building blocking you in, etc. there isn't a lot of opportunity for a breeze, so that may be why.  The second thing we noticed were Dental offices everywhere and a bathroom.  There was a man sitting at the entrance of the bathroom who gave you a sheet of paper towel.  I didn't know what it was for so I used it to wipe down the toilet seat, but after I washed my hands there was no paper...I guess that's what it was for.  I just air dried them and off we went.

Los Algodones is nicknames "Molar City" because there are more than 300 dentists in town that Americans will go to by simply walking over the border.  The cost of dental work there is substantially lower as compared to US dentist and these dentist are trained and education in the US.  There are local Mexicans prodding you to come to their dental office, etc. as the competition is stiff.  We did have a previous plan to go see Dr. Carols Rubio because he is the best for the type of dental work, Alyse needs so we got some information from them.  His staff was great and spoke fabulous English.  The office was neat and clean.  Very nice.  I can see why Americans go there.  He is the best in dental implant work and had many dental certificates on his walls.

After you pass through the "dental zone" you come to pharmacy and eye doctors shops as well.  Many Americans were taking advantage of their services and prices especially the young and the elder who don't have the greatest medical coverage after they retire.

On the corner near the border was a bright, brilliant plaza full of fun shops.  Our objective was to find a wool yoga blanket for me but instead we found some fun souvenirs and a nice Mexican flower pot. We bought Lilly two outfits and SJ a turtle and drum.  Of course, we barter for everything.  The market places are full of color and items galore.  So much to look at.  The minute to look at something or touch something someone is there to bug you to buy it until you either do or walk away.  You get used to it after awhile but it's not great for a pleasant shopping experience.

I bought this pot for my flowers.

We even saw a BYU knitted backpack!

And, there are plenty of poor people - many older people - hoping you will give them any kind of money.  One old senora really touched me.  She was a white haired, toothless woman, struggling to get up from the sidewalk where she was sitting so I gave her a $5 bill and a smile.  She was very grateful.  Other people you will notice are young mothers with babies or small children who have just got out of school to sell their little Chick-lets gum or small trinkets.  I think we spent more money give away $1 here and there to street vendors than we did on anything else.  So we bought Cierra a colorful headband.  Poor Hunter got left out but Scott reminded me that he's getting a very expensive gun and would probably care less about some Mexican trinkets when we go to visit them.

For lunch, I ate at a taco cart in the middle of the road.  I don't mind eating at dives like that.  I had 2 chicken tacos and Scott bought a soda - in a glass bottle.  The kid takes your order and then tells the guys cooking.  It was yummy all the same. I love a good silver-dollar corn taco.

Finally, we decided it was time to head back to El Centro.  Now, it's quite easy to enter Mexico but it's always another thing heading back to the US and the lines to walk over are often long.  We could have driven into Los Algodones, but you take a gamble someone won't damage you car for insurance money so it's safer to just walk over the border and walk everywhere.  As you can see, we are standing in a long line...with vendors selling their wares, musicians playing for a buck or kids and mama's hoping for some money.

A VERY LONG line...

Vendors galore (the white gate is the US)

Armed Mexican military with semi-automatic rifles
checking your car before you leave Mexico if you choose to drive.

These trucks and care are turning right to leave Mexico
and US pedestrians walking to the end of the line.

Mexican and American Flag and we stand in line.  The fence on the right is the US.

Once you go through the turnstiles on the US side of the border you are prohibited from taking any photos until you pass through customs, but I took a few as we headed back to the parking lot and crossed the road to where we started.  The trip was fun -- but quite hot.

Our trip in a nutshell:

Scott's New Profession - Dog Groomer

Scott has decided that the dogs get too dirty too quickly and has taken it upon himself to be their new semi-professional groomer in progress.  He's been watching a bunch of You-Tube videos and learning how to groom our little Yorkshires.  I'm not sure how much Chanel loves the process, but he did OK for his first try.  I wonder how long he'll keep it up?  It will save us about $200 per month, though.  I guess it's worth a try.

Quartzsite RV Rally

I'm a bit late on blogging lately...just too busy with life, I guess so today I thought I'd play a little catch up.  Two weeks ago today on January 27th, Scott and I headed over to Quartzsite, Arizona for the annual Quartzsite RV Ralley there.  This year, the rally was held Jan 20-28th. In Quartzsite, there are about 750,000-1,000,000 RVers that are boondocked all along the road sides and in designated parking areas -- they all come together for the big RV show and tent sales.  The first inaugural Quartzsite RV Show opened in January 28, 1984 and it's still a big hit today. 

Every January something happens - as many as 750,000 to 1 million people mostly in RVs, converge on this sleepy, in the middle of nowhere, little Arizona town located 20 miles east of the California border.  It's known as the largest gathering of RVers in the World!  There are many groups of people that come.  Some that follow various bloggers or others that camp with all the fellow RVers who own that particular brand of RV.

Web Photo

We come in on the road on the left.  The road on the right is Interstate 10

The show lasts for 8 days with people coming and going during this time.  Since we were only 1.5 hours away, we just drove in for a day of RV looking and shopping in the big tent.

Web Photo

As we headed on our journey to Quartzsite, we saw all kinds of interesting landscape and mountain ranges and lots of RVs on the road.

The RV tent was one of the biggest I've ever been under with thousands of people inside.  It was very claustrophobic for sure and sometimes you just had to stand there until you could get by.Here's a couple "Where's Waldo" photos.  Can you even spot us?

The vendors sold all sorts of things from jewelry to back massager's to RV equipment, people from Alaska giving away maps of the best routes to drive to Alaska, etc.  We bought 5 sets of collapsible food containers so we can sell out Tupperware at the monthly weekend sales we have here at our park.  I also got a birth date moon necklace.  I really loved the moon necklaces.  They have light sensitive moons that will glow after the sun sets for many house showing off "your moon".  I got a moonspinner necklace with a full moon - my birth moon on one side and a blue moon - a moon that Scott and I joke about on the other  You could say Scott and I fell in love over a blue moon.  Ironically, Ryan was born on a blue moon.  There's a book that shows you what your moon is on the day you were born.  The company is Moonglow.  Click the link and discover what your moon is.

Scott was looking for a few certain vendors but didn't find what he was looking for but we did stumble upon a man selling galvanized steel generator boxes that attach to the back side of  your rig on the bumper.  We wanted to buy two, but we decided to head back to El Centro and see if it would fit our rig and good thing because our bumper goes under the rig and wouldn't have worked, which is too bad because I really like the set up and it would have given us a whole lot of storage in the front of the RV and also quiet the generator sound when we boondock.

We also took a little time to go see the Class A RVs.  It did get a little nippy in the weather so we put on our sweatshirts and headed over to the RV area to see what was for sale.  They had thousands of rigs for sale there from local vendors.  We really like the Tiffin Allegro Bus the best but we need to win the lottery to ever afford one.  Scott took some photos of me fake driving.

Despite all the walking we did there, we only logging in about 3,000 steps.  The numbers were low because we were shuffling most of the time and not really taking big steps.  Still, the day was fun and exciting.

Campfires and Cooking

A lot of people wonder why we're doing this whole, minimalistic thing - and it's simple - just to simplify.  People often think that your quality of life goes down and we've found it's just the opposite.  We have less space and only take a few things.  Right now, with all the scanning I'm doing to go paperless, there's a lot of "junk" to work through, but once that's done, we will be enjoying the simple things in life and not caught up in all the stress. 

Around the park, people hang out in the evenings.  You'll see groups of people here and there.  This past Thursday night, we went next door to Richard and Purita's place and just sat by the campfire and chatted for some time.  Most people bring their booze to drink, but we just enjoy hearing stories of peoples lives and watch the fire.  Richard is from England and Purita is from the Philippines.  They met and live in British Columbia, Canada.  Richard was a musician (and still is - he plays for happy hour on Friday nights) and Purita was a nurse where she learned the trade in Chicago).  They are a super cute couple and just barely got here about two weeks ago.  Richard is so high energy and it makes for a lot of fun around here.  

I LOVE the glow from the holes!  They twinkles besides keep you warm.

The guy in the white baseball cap made Richard's fire pit.

Neighbors chatting.

Richard is on the left.

I've been intrigued with Richard's fire pit.  Its' actually an old iron washtub (notice the holes) and then they attached two handles and got a tire rim and attached as the base.  The pit is really nice and deep and fires can go on for quite some time, plus with all the holes, it makes for a nice warm, tall fire.  The lights from the holes are mesmerizing and I really loved their fire pit - so much so - that I wish Scott could find the parts and make us one.  Only problem is how to transport it, but it's a really great idea.  Here's a photo of the parts so you can see that better.

Steel Laundry Tub and Tire Rim - pretty simple combo!

On the other side of us is Jo and Erv and they are just the nicest people from Nebraska.  Erv was just diagnosed with Mesothelioma and so they are battling with the unknown there but they still remain positive and upbeat.  I think it's helps that Jo's sister, Mickey (also from Nebraska) lives just across the street from us so she's a built-in support system.  They had a company put up an awning attached to their park model (aka single wide trailer) and Erv has been sawing and drilling the past few days getting things all set up the way they want.

Saturday, we took Coco, Chanel and Roxy to the Woof Town dog park.  They had so much fun and Coco really ran and ran and ran.  Roxy just walked around and Chanel spent half her time running after balls with Coco and sniffing everything in her path.

Now on to cooking.  Scott likes to cook.  Me, not so much.  But, yesterday he made his Chinese Pork Buns (Char Siu Buns) and some yummy streusel muffins while we had our James Bond marathon (last night was 1983 Octopussy).  We have a stove top, oven, convection oven/microwave, so why not?  We also have electrical hot plates and the Air Fryer from home.  We also brought the bamboo steamer...a chef's dream.  Don't they look heavenly?

So, as you can see, we have all the things we need...it's just on a smaller scale.  The neighbors are wonderful and the weather is fantastic!  We're sure enjoying it here.  Yesterday, the weather was 80 degrees and today it's already 76 degrees at 12:30.  Should get to about 79 degrees today.  Another wonderful day in southern California.