On January 2, Jim and Marietta dropped by around noon to see if we wanted to run into Los Algondones, Mexico.  Heck, yeah!

Los Algodones is really close to Yuma, and it is a destination for medical tourism.  There are lots of advertisements for doctors and dentists here in Yuma, but they are located in Los Algodones.  Jim needed new lenses for his glasses and an eye exam.  The eye exam is free when you get new lenses or a whole new set of glasses and lenses.  Deal!

We drove to the parking lot at the border (Winterhaven, CA) and just walked across.  How simple is that?  The parking lot is run by the Quechan tribe, and it costs $6/day for cars to park, and I think around $12/day for RVs.  On any given day, the parking lot is pretty full.  The Quechan tribe also has a nearby casino which allows overnight parking for RVs.

The streets are lined with offices of dentists, physicians, optometrists, and pharmacies.  Also, you have to navigate the street vendors peddling their wares — their many many wares.  I must admit that if I had more room, one or two pottery bowls might have made their way into my bag.  Instead, we settled on my practical items, like tequila and fresh shrimp packed in ice from Puerto Peñasco.

There aren’t many street dogs in Los Algodones.  I saw this little cutie sunning herself, but as soon as I took out my camera, she toddled over.  Then, her buddy saw and joined her.  I don’t think they were street dogs.  They were just highly trained snack hounds.

Medical tourism is for the dogs, too.  We met a man on a bench holding his little dog as the anaesthetic wore off.  The dog had just had his teeth cleaned.  He said his two girl-dogs’ teeth stay clean with bones, but his boy-dog’s teeth don’t.  The cleaning was about $90.

A dentist recommended a good restaurant to us, but when we saw that the prices were what we would pay in the US or Canada, we opted for street food.  We had seen one vendor earlier, and went back.  It was a great choice.  We each had 2 tacos and a drink for a total of $4.50.  That’s what I’m talking about!

We cooked up the shrimp for dinner.  Look at the size!

In addition to tequila, Paul also bought this bottle of mystery alcohol.  A local told him that they add it to a concoction of unpasteurized milk, coffee and hot chocolate.  A 1/2 liter only costs $0.68!  Well, how does it taste?  According to Paul, “Not bad.”  He doesn’t think it is very high in alcohol, even though the bottle says 24%.

We are leaving Yuma today and heading to Quartzite for the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (RTR).  It is an event organized by Bob Wells.  Bob has an informative YouTube channel on how to live full-time on the road.  His website is cheaprvliving.com.  A few days ago, we were pulling into Wal-Mart, and we saw a van that looked like Bob’s.  It was Bob’s van, and he was lashing his bike to his carrier.  We got to meet him and talk to him briefly.  I was so happy.  We don’t think we will get to talk to him at the RTR because about 1000 units are expected.

We will be boondocking on the desert for about 2 weeks, so I won’t be able to update my blog until after the event.