En Route... Arizona to New Mexico

At last post, my final dentist appointment in Los Algodones was just a couple hours away.

UPDATE...
My final appointment went fine... my permanent crowns were set in place, and I was done!  Once back across the border, it hit me... I was finished!  I felt a wonderful sense of freedom and accomplishment!  I wanted to celebrate!

Photos above are of my final dentist appointment.  As we were waiting for some touch-up work on my crowns, Dr Carlos proudly showed us photos of his beautiful family. 

We feel good about our decision to go into Mexico for the dentist.  Our dentist was competent and all the staff was very friendly...   and we had the work done for a lot less than it would cost us in the States.

We left Saturday morning from our site on the CA/AZ/MX border.  Although Steve and Roberta got away before we did.  Once hooked up, Jeff noticed our rear truck tire was low... so we unhooked and took the truck into Yuma to get the tire fixed.  The culprit was a nail.

The kid that did the fix was a bit slow, but he got the job done and only charged us $12... so we threw in an $8 tip.  $20 seemed fair.  If Les Schwab was around here it would have been free... but they seem to only be in the Pacific NW. 

We hit the road a couple hours after our friends, but met up with them in Gila Bend at Holts Shell RV Park, a Passport America park, so we paid only $12 +tax.  We stayed hooked up, and thought we would stay only one night and continue on to Tucson where we could get the Superbowl on antenna.  But Steve and Roberta were staying 2 nights, so we stayed... we have too much fun together to part ways yet.

We watched the Superbowl at their place streamed from the internet courtesy of NBC.com.  But the connection was not good... and it did more buffering than playing.  We were lost the entire game.  It wasnt a very exciting Superbowl for us... but since none of us cared who won anyway, it didnt matter.  We enjoyed our time together.

After the game, we played our own games... which were alot more fun.  We finished our game of Phase 10 that we had started the night before, then moved onto a game of Skipbo.

I made the mistake of leaving our camera at their place when we went home.  Steve showed up at our door with the camera a few minutes later... but not without first having some fun with it (we later discovered when we downloaded the photos).

Thanks for all the fun times Steve and Roberta!

We all left Gila Bend Monday around Noon.  Like us... they are not early risers.  We said our good-bye's... they left for Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, which is South from Ajo.  We got on the I-8 and headed for Tucson. 

Not far down the road, Jeff posed the question "if we are staying hooked up for the night, why are we stopping at Tucson?"  The plan was to stay for free at a Casino parking lot where we had stayed before.  But he was right... why?  So new plan again.  We found another Passport America park in Benson, AZ... so we set out for there for the night.  It was just 167 miles.

It was a nice park, especially for $15.  With our RV Park receipt, the Denny's Restaurant (across the street) offered a  10% discount, so we took them up on that!  We very rarely go out to eat... so its a real treat when we do.

The park has Cable TV that we conveniently hooked up to, but we opted for movie night, after dinner.  We watched "Father of the Bride" Part 1 AND 2.  Steve Martin is so hilarious... such a good actor.

After a good sleep, we got up and rolled onto I-10 East with a destination of Las Cruces, NM.

Right now, we are about an hour out of Las Cruces, and have been unable to connect to the RV park we hope to stay at... so we will see if we get a spot.

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN!

No Gracias

Thursday February 2
Sometimes I have no idea what to use for a blog post title, and this is one of those times.  So there you have it... "no gracias".  Having gone over the border 4 times now, making our way through the pushy street vendors to get to and from the dentist office... these have become the only words we need to speak.  I don't like to be rude, and given what I have felt like saying sometimes... the words "no gracias" are very kind.

Today was to be my final appointment, when I get my permanent crowns.  But I was a bad girl and didnt take my antibiotic after my root canal, so I got an infection.  I was nervous about taking this unknown mexican medication, and figured I didnt need it, but I was wrong.  So now I am taking it.  Tomorrow I will go, and hopefully all will be fine.

I wasn't the only one to see the dentist.  Jeff had a split tooth, and after examination, the dentist determined that it could not be saved... it had to be extracted.  Roberta knew that she needed a crown, but when told that she first needed a root canal, she backed out.  I had never had a root canal before, but having finally come up with the nerve to see a dentist over the border, I was determined to get the work done, and if that meant a root canal before I could get the crown on that tooth... I would do it.  So I did it, and it really wasn't that bad.

Friday February 3
For whatever reason... distractions to do other things I suppose... I didn't finish this post, so I will try aain.  I still have pain in my gum and jaw so I dread going to the dentist and having him pushing on it... but we are going.  I want to get it done, so we can move on from here.

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The other day we hiked back in this area where we are, climbed up and over a couple hills and came upon a Pet Cemetery.  Its actually straight down the road from where we are parked, but we found it the back way.

I'm sure it started by one person burying their pet who died while they were here, but I had to wonder... people don't stay here a long time... so all these pets just happened to die while their owners were camped here?

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I don't have a lot more to say!  We have enjoyed our stay here.  It's been fun sharing a site with friends, and we will most likely relocate together.  However, they have to be back in Oregon in March, so we will part ways soon.

The next blog post will most likely be from our new location.... WHEREVER that may be.

Until Then...

Boondockin' on the Mexico border

Here we are... Where we were... Back then.

Near the beginning of our Wheel life... back before our blogging days...

We boondocked along the All-American Canal, just out of Yuma, on the road that leads into Mexico.

This was THEN...

This is NOW...

We are parked behind Steve and Roberta

We weren't here for Mexico THEN... but we are NOW.

A split tooth and 2 broken teeth... in need of a dentist... an affordable dentist!

Our first appointment is on Monday, so we walked across the border yesterday,
to make sure we know where we are going on Monday.
We found it with no problem...
 just a bit stressful making our way through all the street barkers, to get there.

After confirming our appointment, we strolled the streets...
taking in some entertainment and looked through some of the street markets.

Our only purchase was at a pharmacy... 
We scored 120 Prilosec for $2.70 and a bottle of Vanilla for $1.29!
I'm making a list of other medicines we may want to get on our next trip.

Our stress level really rises in this environment, so we didnt last long.
Steve and Roberta, however, were just getting started...
so we left them behind and headed for the border crossing...

Where we found what felt like a never ending line!

Fortunately there WAS an end to the line and the end of the line eventually led us to the front of the line and through Customs.
Finally across, we still had a long walk home.  We had ridden down with Steve and Roberta... but like I said, we left them there...  them AND our ride. 
It was a 40 minute walk home. 
It would have been quicker if I hadnt been in sandals...
 and if Jeff's ankle and toe weren't still bothering him...
 and if the wind hadn't picked up, blowing against us.
But We Made It!

Last Night... Back yard Sunset

The wind grew stronger as time grew later, and it really roared during the night.
None of us slept much.
This morning, I wasn't willing to fight the wind to turn the generator on,
so I opted to boil water on the stovetop and pour it through the coffee grounds.
I made some very good coffee!
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Going backwards on this blog post...
Back at Oasis Palms, before leaving there on Thurday...

We spent Wednesday packing up and re-organizing the storage compartment,
and stocking up on fruit!

That's ALOT of fruit!

The night before leaving, we had one final game night of LRC.
New players joined us.  In the middle of the top picture...
Meet Roger and Darlene.  From Wisconsin, they met through e-harmony and married soon after. 

We made very good friends with the park managers, Ann and Michael. 
THEY are the reason this is such a great place to be.
That is them at the right of the top picture, and Ann and I in bottom corner picture.

It's sometimes hard to say good-bye to new friends.
but home is on wheels, and wheels roll.
I expect we will meet up again.

Good-Bye Oasis Palms and Ann and Michael...
Thanks for the enjoyable and memorable stay.