Yuma, AZ

Monday we packed up the RV and headed down to Yuma, AZ for a few days. It's about 80 miles south of Quartzsite and there were a few sites we wanted to see, so traveling down just for the day didn't seem feasible. We're staying at the Shangri La RV Park, right off of I-8...we weren't sure if it would be too noisy from the Interstate traffic...some of the reviews mentioned that. But our RV must be well insulated, because although we can hear the traffic, it's very minimal and we are sleeping like babies!

I didn't realize how much I miss grass...and shopping....until we got into Yuma! Even though we are enjoying Quartzsite alot, it was heaven shopping at PetSmart and getting an oil change at an EZLube!

Enough of that. Yesterday we had planned on going to the Castle Dome Silver Mines Museum and Ghosttown, but after talking to our friends who just got back from 2 months touring Mexico in their RV, on their recommendation we decided to cross the border into Los Algodones, Mexico. Algodones consists of about 4 blocks of dentists, eye doctors, ear doctors and pharmacies...with a lot of gold jewelry, crafts and leather goods thrown in! It was a 20 mile drive to the border and we parked in a parking lot on the US side that is owned by the Quchean Indian tribe (the also have a casino about a mile north of the parking lot). It was easy walking across into Mexico...no passport required or guards checking your purse. The streets were small and the sidewalks uneven and full of cobblestones. Vendors packed every inch of the sidewalks with their goods and some actually grab your arm to get your attention! We learned real quick (after a couple of purchases) how to say no and look straight ahead! It's all part of the ambience of Algadones though and we had a fantastic time strolling the streets! We ate a local restaurant and had a delicious meal... Flat Hayden enjoyed it too! My mission was to check out the pharmacies. I have a couple of prescriptions for my hands that are extremely expensive and last year I exceeded my insurance limit on prescriptions. So before we left the RV, I jotted down the generic names and sizes and once in Algodones, we went into 3 different pharmacies and priced my prescriptions. I had read in some of the blogs that I might need a written prescription from my doctor (which I didn't have)...but I had no problem purchasing what I needed without one. $176 later, we left Algodones with everything I had come for...oh yeah, and a gold sombrero charm for my charm bracelet and Ed bought 3 gold chains! When we got home, I did the math and found that I had saved over $1100!! Expiration dates good, generic names good...I'm a happy camper!

Now remember I said that crossing the border into Mexico was a piece of cake? Well, coming back into the US wasn't quite as easy (thankfully!). The line was probably 1/4 mile long and we needed our passports. After about 40 minutes of standing in line (which I understand can take over an hour usually!)...we passed through the border patrol...passports checked, and our bag of prescriptions glanced at...and we were finished and back on American soil!

Today is another beautiful day and we'll be heading over to the Yuma Territorial Prisoners Park and the St. Thomas Indian Mission...and maybe I can talk Ed into strolling the streets of historical Yuma, full of quaint shops and restaurants.

And yes, Flat Hayden had a great time in Mexico and we're going to try and keep him out of the prison cells today! We have to mail him back to Kansas tomorrow morning..we'll miss him!