San Felipe, Mexico Finally!!

We left Yuma Wednesday AM, made it to the Eastern Mexicali border crossing no problem and that's where the fun began! First they have signs: Commercial Trucks this way, Cars that way, so we take the truck lane figuring it's for large vehicles but no, when we get up there the US Customs people make us pull a big U turn and go back to the Car route, fine. So we get there and the Mexican border guard asks for registration papers for RV and Dodge, and we had been so careful to have all titles on hand, but not registration papers, so we scramble around and finally produce the correct paperwork and that was it, we were through! Next Challenge: to make it through the maze of Mexicali. My instructions were old and we turned too soon, ended up headed into a barrio fairly quickly when suddenly appeared a very nice Mexican gentleman in a Corolla with California plates, "Sir, are you lost?" and gave us instructions on how get back on main road out of town, but that was quite a journey, almost ended up in an underground parking structure, but finally made it onto Highway 5 south. When we got to San Felipe we unhooked the truck and went looking at RV parks on the beach, chose one and went back to get the RV, me driving the truck, Mike following, and at the very last minute, almost to our final destination, I take a wrong turn and Mike decides to go the other way and we got separated for about 20 minutes, Mike lost and wandering the hillside neighborhoods and me just about out of gas! I decide to do another loop and we meet up at an intersection just as he was about to turn the wrong way, so I led him back to the campground! And here we are!!

The View from my front window!

Yesterday the tide was out and Mike fished while I swam, it was so delightful! Then we went to town, found the ATM, that was interesting as it's all in Spanish, had ice cream on the Malecon, (boardwalk) and paid our space rent, $5206 pesos, about $375 USD, includes incredibly good WiFi! And I have my own Palapa! We have neighbors from California, and Washington state, nice people! We have a lot more exploring to do. Happy Halloween!
 

Yuma, Los Algodones and the price of insulin in Mexico!

It's HOT in Yuma!! Now I know why the Snowbirds haven't arrived yet! 94-97 degrees, I spend my days drenched in sweat and slathered in sunscreen. Spent 8 days at the lovely Best Western, picked up the RV today, working out the kinks still. Had a great time shopping in Yuma, all the stores have winter clothes out: gloves, sweaters, boots! Ha! All the summer stuff is on clearance, I got all new summer clothes at thrift store prices!

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Apparently Yuma is lettuce capital of the US, I was expecting just desert!

Lunch in Algodones, Mexico, finally!

They only have sweet tea, ick!

Very good but Gringo prices.

Lots of retirees wandering around!

Dental offices everywhere!

Mike's $6 hair cut, "best haircut ever". 

Street scene in Algodones

My $5 haircut, got my money's worth! 

One box of Lantus pens, $75

One Humalog Kwik Pen $12

We paid too much for our haircuts!

Had a fishbowl margarita, a diet coke, chips and salsa for $5

I bought a bottle of generic lipitor, 100 10 mg tablets for $12, just for fun! You can buy  most anything over the counter, lots of people walking around with purple plastic bags of pills, no hassles at US customs.

Yuma sunrise

Lots of these flowering bushes everywhere!

Split this dessert at Quechan casino. Nice place! Mike won!

The Quechan tribe owns this parking lot right next to Algodones border, $6 to park all day.

Walking to the border. When you go through the turnstile there's no one there! Anyone can just walk right in to Mexico!

ATM machine at the border, looks sketchy!

Fascinating! and the spelling is sometimes comical.

Shrimp cocktail on a street corner, YUM! $7.50 but worth it.We ate 3 times in Algodones, drank the water, did not get sick! 

This girl is a born salesperson, super persistent, I think I bought a bracelet from her, she suddenly became shy and giggly when I took her picture, hiding behind her Icee.

So that was how we spent our week in Yuma. The insulin prices are so much cheaper than in the US! Mike got new eyeglasses, should have been $119 for everything but his RX from Sandpoint had changed. Every where you go in Algodones someone is trying to lure you into their dental office, like they are selling drugs on the corner, "hey, Lady, you need your teeth cleaned? Only $20".  Anyways here is an interesting discussion w/pics of Algodones dentists! (Copy and paste)

 http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=50096&page=1

Look here for reviews of Dentists in Algodones:  http://www.dentaldepartures.com/dentists/mexico/los-algodones/

Holy Crap, what was that??

So we toured Kingman with Dawn Brannies, our property manager, houses look great, well kept, thanks Dawn! Spent the night in the Kmart parking lot, nice and quiet, and free! Headed off to Quartszite, went through Lake Havasu City, saw the London Bridge, it is actually kinda pretty! No pics though. 30 miles south of LHC we hear this massive "bang",  Blown tire!! Poor Rocky tried to climb into my lap, he was terrified, and so was I but Mike did an excellent job of getting us off the road, he called 911 and I called our Roadside assistance company, Safeco. Nice policeman came and parked behind us with lights on as we were partially in the road. 40  minutes later came the Toe truck man who changed our tire right there. Hot and sweaty! He said the rest of our rear tires were at risk of doing same thing, even though they looked like they had a lot of life in them.

 So we limped off down the road on our spare, and a few miles later came to this oasis in the desert: Bluewater Resort and Casino! Spent the night in the parking lot. When the tire blew it took out the wiring to all the functional units of the interior of RV, meaning no water pump, fridge or lights. Still had solar to run the fan, charge Kindles, Wifi etc. Next morning called Foremost, started a claim. Because the RV is our house they will pay for meals and lodging until RV is fixed. Spent all day waiting for new tires to be delivered from Big O tire in Lake Havasu City, nice people. So we went and got them put on, late in the day, then back to the casino, got a room as the RV was just too hot without AC. Did some gambling, did better than Vegas!!! Then off to Yuma finally! Arrived at around 1PM super hot, found the repair shop, dropped the RV, they said looks like the furnace was taken out also. Got this really nice suite at the Best Western, will stay here till RV gets fixed up!!

Got a good deal on Orbitz, paid same price for this suite as we would have for a regular room just walking in off the street, of course I had to purchase the room on the Kindle standing in the lobby, with the check in lady waiting for me to complete the transaction, I don't know why she didn't just match the rate, most places will do that!!

Anyways, we made it to Yuma!!!

We didn't win but

we sure had a good time! Spent 2 nights at Arizona Charlies RV park, beautiful place but not cheap, so only 2 nights!

It is within easy walking distance to the Casino!

Clean park, with palm trees!!

Went swimming in the pool and sat in the Hot Tub, met a nice lady there from Arkansas who spends winters in this RV park, monthly rate is around $600/month! egad. 

But they do have $4.49 Ham and Egg breakfast!! Enough for breakfast the next day!

Then we hopped on the public bus and went to Sams Town, supposed to be where the locals gamble!

Gambling is just So-so here!

Went back to the RV and took Rocky for a walk, glad to be plugged in for AC! Then off to the Luxor, spent MyVegas loyalty points (online game) on a 2 for 1 buffet and Carrot Top Tickets!

Carrot Top is hugely entertaining, seating lady was kind enough to upgrade our seats, note to self: bring a sweater! If you are in the front 1-2 rows he gives you a shot of Crown Royal! Anyways 90 minutes of laughter is good for the soul!

 Didn't get to bed until midnight! Next Day: drove to Kingman, AZ. Stealth camped in the parking lot of Kmart, much better/less congested than Walmart.

Free camping and this incredible sunrise!!

Meet with our property manager at 11 AM, do  a drive by on the houses and then off to Quartszite!