¡Vámonos a México!

On January 29th we had appointments in Algodones, México at the dentist and for me, at a chiropractor/integrative health clinic to try and find some more answers to my fibro. As I mentioned before, Algondones basically survives because of the medical "tourism" from the snowbirds from the US and Canada. So we left Yuma and headed west to the Quechan Casino which is a mile from the border. http://www.playqcr.net/ .... as you can see, it was a very popular place with boondockers when we arrived on Thursday night. On Saturday morning we had security knocking at our door at barely 8am as they had decided to implement a new parking regulation - 48 hours max and you have to register with security showing your photo ID and Players Card. I can see good and bad in the new rules....good as maybe there will be room as I'm sure some people basically moved in, but bad as the rules are really restrictive...like one saying that you can't unhitch your truck if you have a 5th wheel. Ummm....how do you go ANYWHERE else?

The short drive to the border parking found us scratching our heads at the "logic" of government. The sides of the road had signs stating for one, "No Parking" which you can see by the picture is really followed. But the next one really was absurd...you can see the "No U Turn" in the first picture...
----only to walk a bit farther on to see THIS sign!

Huh???

So we walk through the gates to México which is very easy...no showing a passport, ID or anything...of course we knew we were over the other side when we saw the army dudes with their M16s slung over their shoulders...I tried to get pictures of them but they didn't fall for it.

Entering downtown Algodones was like entering a crush of elderly shoppers at any Kohls on Wednesday. Except for the street vendors, beggars and shoe shiners, some of whom spoke pretty good English, most everyone was noticeably from Gringolandia.

Bill will just keep walking down the street and turn a deaf ear(which he is very good at!)when one of the people who are paid to bring patients in to the various dentists talks to him, but I have a hard time doing that. My bonus is that I get to practice my Spanish and once they realize I speak it, I don't get hustled so much.

Algodones, of course, is a relatively poor city that without the medical tourism would most likely dry up and disappear. It has the razor wire border fence running through it as well as 24/7 observation by the US Border Patrol to discourage anyone wanting a better life on the northern side.

Despite all that there was a steady stream of vehicles crossing the border both ways during our visit.
The Mexicans are a bit pickier on searching the vehicles than the are the foot traffic. We watched one guy who fit the perfect drug smuggling demographic - young, male and probably single - get searched twice on the Mexican side and twice on the US side. To me it is not worth it as of course, with my environmental email terrorist designation, I would no doubt have my vehicle torn apart as the TSA has probably told them I'm not to be trusted! Again touching upon the stupidity of government regulations - if you are walking across the border you can only bring back 1 liter of alcohol per person. BUT if you are driving you can bring back 3 liters per person! Hello? WHO makes these rules?

After getting estimates on our teeth, with Bill getting an estimate for 6 root canals and 6 crowns for $1400, we had lunch at a sidewalk café and decided to head back across the border as we had left the monsters in the RV and it was getting rather warm.We learned our lesson the hard way...next time we will be entering really, really early and leaving before noon or entering early afternoon and leaving around 6pm when all the older folks have gone back home. At least there was a covered walkway and .25 restrooms during our hour wait!
Going through customs was rather anti-climactic as it went really fast. The TSA must not have updated my file with them...the agent asked if I had bought anything in México and I said a T shirt and some chocolate...ok bye, have a nice day. Of course Bill was bringing in a GALLON of vanilla...boy did that cause some curiosity in the waiting line. But he came through fine also. We've had more questions asked at the California Agriculture stops and the Border Patrol inside the country than we did getting back in. It's just a good thing I noticed my passport had expired or we might have been there waiting quite a bit longer.

I forgot to include the photo of the new game day wear that Bill absolutely refused to get...I don't know why...I think he would look quite attractive wearing it with a cheesehead cowboy hat and drinking a beer.

Welcome to Our Morning

The coyotes were a bit restless last night. I heard them doing their group yipping about 3am with their "celebration" call...I imagine at 3am they were celebrating finding at late night snack or breakfast so I always get up and make sure all the Monsters are in the rig. Of course, if they are doing the victory dance it would be too late but I check anyway. http://www.desertusa.com/june96/du_cycot.html Then at 5am Dozey had another seizure. This time he was on the bed and the beginning force of it threw him onto the floor in the hallway by the bathroom. Normally he only pees a little bit during the seizure but today it was no doubt his entire bladder. On the positive side, it didn't seem to last as long as normal and he came out of it somewhat quickly. He is pretty much on a once a month schedule for the seizures which is why medication will not help. The best that is normally hoped for with meds is to get the frequency down to once a week or less and he is already there. So we just ride it out.

Then when I turn the generator off this morning I hear running water. I go into the bathroom and the hot water tap is running full force. Not only does it waste LP, it wastes fresh water which we have to get in 10 gallon jugs two at a time as well as filling up the gray tank. And fill the gray tank it did...Bill went in there a little while later and the cat box was floating in the tub where the gray water had backed up. So we had to dump some of the gray water and take out the soaked rug that goes under the box.

Finally, the refrigerator is just not working on LP at all. We can hear it kick in but it is not cooling anything. We called around yesterday for a mobil RV tech and some of them are out of their mind. We finally found one in Yuma that had an opening and only charges $45 for a service call which is then rolled into your repair if you go that route. We called around to see if we could get a better price and another service in Yuma wanted $90 an hour and the one if Quartzsite wanted $190 for 2 hours minimum and the clock starts ticking when they LEAVE their location...not when they walk in your door. So we are going to head to Yuma tomorrow so that the service down there can check out the fridge on Thursday afternoon.

I called and have made dentist appointments in Algodones Mexico for both of us. Within a four block radius in Algodones there are more pharmacies, doctors, dentists and opticians than a similar four block area anywhere else in the world. The vast majority are US trained but the services are so much cheaper. For example, Bill had an estimate to do some root canals. The estimate in Crandon was over $800 for three while the going rate for root canals in Algodones is $130 each. I have also made an appointment with a fibromyalgia specialist/chiropractor. Adjustments will be $30 each which is much cheaper than the $50 or so they want in Yuma. We have appointments on Friday so on Thursday afternoon we will go to the Quechua Casino right near the border crossing and boondock there overnight and walk across in the morning.

Saturday we will head to Phoenix to stay until Thursday. Nick is on his way down. He called from Iowa after having been stuck there overnight due to a bad snowstorm and the closure of I-35. Bill's birthday is Sunday and they will no doubt go golfing and I can finally go shopping by MYSELF!