We had intended to try staying at the Quechan RV park but they were closed and there weren't any signs. We did hear that they charge $50/night plus electric and that was enough to convince Lou that we could spend the night at the casino. It's 96 degrees here and she had wanted the Air Conditioner. Fortunately, it does cool off when the sun goes down and there is a breeze up on the hill by the casino. Now we'll stay cool inside the casino until this evening then cool off the coach with the AC after the sun departs for the day. If we need to be here more than Monday we'll find a place in Yuma to stay. For dinner we had leftover stir fry vegetables with fresh sprouts and chicken.
An interesting note. Algodones, Mexico is noteworthy for more that just the cheap medical and dental services. It is also the Northern most city in Mexico and the Northern most place in Mexico is in the city. But even more interesting is the fact that a person can travel in any of the four cardinal directions (directly North, South, East or West) from anywhere in Algodones and they will have to cross a U.S. border. Another fact is that the city isn't really named Algodones but rather is officially named Vicente Guerrero. Reference here.
Monday: (04/18) "Nice" sunny day. After our chorizo and eggs breakfast we headed off to Algodones to visit our dentist. We arrived at the office at 08:30. By 09:00 my teeth were clean and checked OK. Lou's were clean and she had a broken crown. By 9:45 she had a new temporary crown. We return tomorrow to have the permanent crown installed. With our work done, we stopped by the taco vendor for some shrimp tacos and a milk shake then, possibly due to the early departure before 11:00 or because of the late season, there was no line to get back home to the US.
We returned to the Casino, picked up the RV and drove over to Yuma's Escapees RV Park, Kofa Ko-Op. Much nicer park and only $20. Actually, the weather is not too hot. The high today was only 91 degrees. I washed the RV and the jeep since they allowed it here at the park. Dinner was pork chops, broccoli, macaroni and cheese. We had some pretty good winds this afternoon. We took an evening swim before calling it day.
Tuesday: (04/19) Leftover pancakes, English Muffin and sausage for breakfast. We prepared to leave, did our tank duty, and also filled up with LPG. We had to pay for our electric usage before we left, less tan $2 to run the AC all afternoon and evening. Lou noticed they have cheap LPG while at the office, $2.25 gal, so we took advantage of it. We left th park by 11am, stopped for some cheap Arizona gas and headed back into California to the Andrade border crossing into Algodones, Mexico. We were a few minutes early for Lou's appointment to get her permanent crown installed. While she was busy there, I went over to the taco vendor to get my lunch. Poor Lou won't be able to eat for a while and we won't be hanging around Algodones just so she can. I enjoyed by two shrimp tacos and hadn't even finished by vanilla milk shake before Lou met me. Less than 20 minutes. Then things got a little interesting. We stopped off at the purple market to get a couple of bottles of coffee liqueurs and a six pack of beer. We haven't seen the liqueur in the US and Lou has bought two before. The six pack of beer was because they don't sell six packs of beer in markets in the US anymore, or at least at none of the markets we've visited in months. You have to get at least a twelve pack. (and they wonder why there is a drinking problem?) Like everything about what we've seen in Mexico, they seem to be smarter there. Anyway, that's not the real story. Lou took the two bottles of Liqueur and i took the six pack of beer. i went first and the inspector asked if i was with anyone and were they bringing in any liquor. I said yes and he said i was only allowed three beers. I explained we had enough of a problem even finding a six pack in the US let alone a three pack. He relented and let me through. Meanwhile Lou had passed on the liqueurs to other previously non liquor bearing mules in the line. Why do policy makers make such stupid policies?
Of course we should have read the rules but, with the quantities we smuggled in, why are they even concerned. In addition, the penalty would have been to pour the stuff out. Why couldn't one just pay the liquor tax that is paid by the distributors of booze purchased in the US. The government would have gotten their taxes and that should be a all they are worried about rather than that their political contributor distributors are able to prevent US brewed beer purchased in Mexico from reducing their sales. Am I confused or are they?
We were off North by 2pm. We headed back up Ogilby Road (S34) and highway 78 to Blythe. In Blythe we stopped at Steaks and Cakes again and Lou got to eat lunch. She enjoys their dinner salads which are mini chef's salads. I had a bowl of vegetable beef soup. We took Highway 95 North from Blythe and stopped and found several geocaches on the way up. We then caught highway 62 over to Parker to the Blue Water Casino for the night. Dinner was a couple of slices of pizza from the snack bar.
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