Algodones, BC, Mex (Lots of Pictures)

It was completely overcast as we got out of the car in the fenced parking area on the US side of the boarder.  US customs is in a building next to the tan overhead on the left.  They were sniffing cars with dogs, so I didn’t take any pictures as they really don’t like that.



No man’s land, but still on the US side of the wall.  Wall is visible on the left side beyond the white gated fence.



I think there was a guy in the far shack, but they weren’t stopping cars.



Where did everyone go?  Usually there is a kid hawking shoe shines or gum, the moment you get thru the gate.



The overcast and possible rain must have slowed this a bit.   The streets were clean and though persistent, everyone was polite.  I saw no beggars, like I did across from Texas in Nuevo Progresso.



The sidewalks are enclosed with stands on both sides, and they hawk the usual stuff.  Belts, hats, jewelry and all the trinkets.  Dentist senor?  Eye exam?



We tired fairly quickly of the shopping, but I found some diabetes medicine that I use and bought it cheaper than the deductable I pay here in the US.  That doesn’t seem right, but that’s how it is.
In the courtyard of the pharmacy, was a restaurant.  Hey why not?



Camarones al Mojo de Ajo.  Shrimp in garlic sauce.  $7.99 US.  I tried to picture Loyce’s Chimichanga, but she had her arm over it so the picture didn’t come out.



We shopped and shopped, not really buying anything, but a bracelet for Loyce, and some vanilla.  Oh and then we bought the barbed wire cactus.  Its still in the trunk of the car.
 
When we decided to go, we got in this long line along the sidewalk.



We made it down that sidewalk, only to turn and find that the line went on even farther.  The customs agents were in the portable office under the roof.  You climbed the ramp inside the tan canvas corridor.  I felt like livestock in a vaccination chute.  Single file now!



He ran my passport, and asked what I bought.  I answered “vanilla and some prescriptions.”  OK! and I was out the door.  Loyce had the three foot wire cactus in a bag, and she had to answer what that was.  But we made our way to the car.

The parking is run by the local Indian tribe, but the lot is huge and completely fenced.  There was several fellows buzzing around on security golf carts, and they gladly grabbed the $5 out of my hand as we left.

When we got back to Yuma, we drove to the address of the swap meet, without using the GPS.  It was right where it should have been, except the GPS confused North with South.  We should have seen the darned thing, as we drove right by it yesterday.
 
We walked for quite a ways in the swap meet, but it was slow going in there.  Perhaps we’ll go back tomorrow when we are not so hiked out.

Retired Rod

Searching around town.

Happy Veterans Day!  or as my Grandmother called it Armistice Day.  She was born in 1880 and WWI was vivid in her mind.  She remembered November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM when the Armistice was signed.  After WWII, Eisenhower signed a bill that changed the holiday to Veterans Day, but not for her. LOL.

Oh boy, the highway noise!  I 8 never slows down, it lasts all night, and the A/C doesn't cover much of it.  Seems like you don't notice it much during the day as you are busy with other things, but once you go to bed..........

We were out in the morning, installing the vent cover on the utility trailer.  This was really quite simple, as it slides right into the track on the permanent part in the roof.  You take a pair of pliers and bend the tabs at the ends of the slides and its on.  Hooking up the crank arm is a bit more work, as you have to remove the trim ring and the screen in order to take out the screws holding the crank mechanism.  Once loose, it simply slides into the new track.  Then everything is put back in the reverse order.

I had most of the stuff out of the trailer, including the portable power washer, so I hooked it up and power washed the front of the motorhome.  We had 1,600 miles of smashed bugs on the rig.  We had removed some of them back in Amarillo, but you couldn't tell.

By now it was afternoon, but we decided to go up town and get a burger.  When this far West, we like Tioga George, find an In and Out Burger.  That's not on any of our diets but it was good.  They cut the french fries right in the window as you drive by.  The potatoes were smashed thru the cutter with a long press lever and dropped into the hot oil.  My arteries and blood sugars are crying, but it is good.  We shared one order.

For the afternoon we headed out finding the quilt shops in the area, with limited success.  One in the old Downtown area was permanently closed, with a for rent sign in the window.  But we did find one in the older outskirts of town to the South.  Quilt shop hunting with the GPS causes us to drive around most of the area we are new to.  This familiarizes us quickly with our surroundings.

In the process, Loyce discussed another attraction with some of the shop clerks.  There is a swap meet here, like there is in Apache Junction.  So with some feeble directions, we set out to find it.  We ended up South of town near the military ground with big caution signs about unexploded ordinance.  We never found the swap meet.

Later I found an entry in the GPS for a completely different address, but driving to that location netted an empty farm field.  George the GeoSat was emphatic that I should turn into the dirt field.  More research will be needed on this one.

The internet stated that Yuma had 330 days of sunshine, which would leave 35 days of overcast, so as you guessed, today was overcast.  It still made a high temp of 88, so this is a warm place for sure.

It is to be cooler, here for the next several days, but we will have to see what that means.  Perhaps we will go to Mexico tomorrow.  We'll  decide that in the morning.

As the trucks roar by........   Retired Rod

Off to Yuma!

Oops we goofed that one up!  I was just looking over the comments on prior days blogs and realized I missed the comment of Jerry and Suzy, that they are in unit 299 at Benson SKP Saguaro RV park.

Often I go back and see if there are any new comments on prior posts, but I didn't see that one until it was too late.  Sorry folks, I hope to meet you when we pass thru again!

We were up by 7 ish this AM and sorted out all the stuff that needs put away on a travel day.  We had parked for three days, and that meant we had three times as much stuff to put away.  I had drained all the nasty tanks the night before, so all we needed was a cursory rinse and the hoses were rolled.  But we did have to back up and connect the utility trailer.

Husbands and wives should never try to connect a trailer together, as it will surely cause marital strife.  Loyce was doing her best to get me to back up just right, but I was not following her hand signals correctly.  So I knocked the trailer off of its blocks and had to re jack the front above the ball.

But eventually we were connected without drawing too much of an audience.  We paid our electric bill ($10.75)  for three days? and hit the road.

We stopped in Tucson, at the RV repair place and purchased the vent cover for the utility trailer, which slowed us by a good half hour.  Its still sitting here in the chair beside me.

We made the turn onto I 8 after purchasing diesel at the Flying J just South of that intersection.  It was $2.61 with the RV card, and was the cheapest since we were in Oky City.  We made about 10 mpg.  That was at almost 70 mph most of the time, which is not too bad.

We arrived here in Yuma, Az at 4:30, having traveled 280 miles.  It was hot out on the desert this afternoon, as we registered above 90 degrees most of the trip.  That would be cool in the summer time but it is November, and still 90.

As we arrived, we had no plans of where to stay.  None.  I had looked at a few blogs of folks that stayed here, but not a one of them had bothered to say the name of the park they were at.  Oh well.  So I called up RV park reviews, in the truck parking lot of the local Love's truck stop.

The reviews of almost all the parks were made by people that were upset with their stay.  So, the park with the least nasty comments was the one we settled on.  We are at the Shangri La RV resort on the Interstate about mile marker 12.  This is mostly a 'park model' park, but has nice long pull thru's in the front of the park for transients.  We are along the frontage road of the interstate, so highway noise is very high.  We may have to run the air conditioner fan to help cover the racket.

We are able to get the motorhome, trailer, and the car inline on the site.  That must make the length over 70 feet.  The width, however, is quite narrow.  It can't be more than 20 feet, but there is no one next to us on the door side, so if it stays that way we will be fine.

We are slated to be in Mesa on Sunday, so we rented 5 days here.  I'm not sure what we will do for the 5 days, but one of them will include going to Mexico.

Neither of us has ever been here before so everything is going to be a new experience.  We will report on that as it goes along.

Retired Rod