Sunday - Tuesday, March 16-18, 2014 (Yuma, AZ)

Sunday

Being a Sunday, we were going to check out a new church in the area.  Rich settled on church called Stone Ridge Church that was only a couple miles away.  As we were getting out of the parking lot, we saw this guy on a motorcycle that was set up as a World War II style military motorcycle including the rifle in a scabbard on the bike pull into the parking lot.  The rider was even dressed in a military coat and boots. We later saw that his license on the bike was from Oregon.  Very interesting set up, we wondered if the rifle was real or not.....Anyway, we enjoyed the church service.

After church, we stopped and got a few groceries and headed back to the 5er.  It was a beautiful afternoon, so we spent time lounging at the pool with our books and swimming in the lap pool.  A very relaxing and peaceful day.

Monday

This morning we got up early and went and checked out the fitness room.  They have some really nice workout machines.  We weren't sure if it would be crowded, but there was only one guy working out when we got there and one that came after we were working out.  We enjoyed having some new equipment to try out.

At 8:00 a.m. they had an exercise class scheduled, so we stopped by to see what that was.  Cool....it was Walking Away the Lbs.  the same as we were doing in Havasu.  They held the class in the ballroom and it was huge, both the room and the class.  In this class the ratio of men was about 50%.  In Havasu it was mostly just Rich and then sometimes one or two other gents, the women definitely outnumbered the guys.

We stayed for the class and boy it was another good workout.  It was a video that we hadn't exercised to in Havasu with a couple new moves that added a new complexity to the workout.  We met a lady in the class from B.C. and we struck up a conversation and she invited us over for drinks at their RV at 4:30 p.m.  

After exercising and going back to the 5er and getting cleaned up, we decided to just hang around the resort today.  The temps were expected to be in the low 90's, so the pool sounded a lot better than doing some site seeing.  It's suppose to cool down after today so we'll go visit the Yuma Territorial Prison later in the week.

So the afternoon was spent lounging by the pool and doing some swimming.  These pools are much cooler than the pool in Havasu, so it is definitely more refreshing.  While we were at the pool we saw a couple and I thought it was the lady, Doreen that we had met at exercise class, but I wasn't 100% sure so I didn't say anything.  At 4:30 we left the pool and headed over to Doreen and her husband Sandy's RV site.  Yep, it was the same couple.  We had a nice chat over some cold drinks and got to hear about the new RV they just purchased as well as their life in Naramata in the Okanagan Valley in B.C.   They have a "suite" that they rent out in the summer months to summer visitors.  They are only a few blocks from the lake and it looks like a beautiful spot to vacation.  We enjoyed our visit with them. 

Tuesday

Our plan today was to go into Algadones, Mexico which is just across the border and get our teeth cleaned and check out an eye doctor.  Rich dropped his glasses awhile back and scratched the lenses pretty bad and needs a new pair and we hear you can get them pretty cheap here. 

We left the 5er a little before 8:00 a.m. and stopped at McDonalds for a quick breakfast sandwich before heading down the road.  It's only about a 20 minute drive from our resort.  Boy was it windy out today, the dust was a flying, good thing we aren't pulling the 5er.

We got to the parking lot and there was already a line waiting to enter the parking lot and it was only just around 8:30.  We heard this was a popular place for people to come and it sure appears that way.  We got parked and walked across the border with everyone else.  It sure is a different world from what we are used too.  The minute you cross the border, there are people trying to get your attention and direct you to whatever medical profession you are looking for.  We already had made appointments with a dentist, so could politely decline the offers being thrown at us from every direction.

We had to stop and take a look at our hand drawn map and try and get our bearings and find the dentist we were suppose to see.  Our appointments weren't until 10:00 a.m. and it wasn't even 9:00 a.m. yet, but we wanted to make sure we knew where we were suppose to be.  We did take up a locals offer on directions and he actually did direct us to the correct spot. 

We went in and checked in and asked if they could take us early.  The answer was yes, so we got the paperwork filled out and only had to wait about 10 minutes.  There was another couple in the small waiting area from Montana and they had been coming to this dentist for years, so that was a good sign.  We chatted until we got called for our appts.  They asked who wanted to go first, and Rich volunteered me, so I went first. 

Now dentists are never really that much fun, and being in Mexico and going to the dentist in another country had me a bit nervous, but I have to say, the dentist did a fine job and I have no complaints.  They did do a few things a bit differently, but I came away with my teeth feeling nice and clean and it only cost $30.00.  Rich had the same experience - no problems and we would definitely go back again.  Now it was off to see the eye dr.

The couple in the dentist office we were chatting with used Algadones Optical and so we decided since the dentist worked out ok, let's try the same eye dr.  Rich signed in and we had to wait about an hour before he could be seen, so we left and did some site seeing and visited some shops.

I'm smiling now that we are done with the dentist

One of the colorful buildings in town

Purses anyone?

Most people walk across but there are still those that drive and the streets have lots of cars parked along side them

After doing some browsing, we went back to the eye dr. to wait.  There was a bakery next door, so I walked over and got two pastries to snack on while we waited...yummy.  Soon Rich's name was called and in he went.  The exam didn't take long and the eye dr. said that instead of buying new frames, they would just put new lenses in Rich's existing glasses.  So even though we didn't have to buy new frames, just the lenses, the glasses cost about $200. We expected them to be cheaper from the stories we had heard, but I guess if you consider those same glasses cost about $600 in the U.S. I guess they are cheaper, now we just have to see about the quality.  We could have waited around 3 hours for the lenses, but because we had Gracie waiting back at the 5er, Rich decided that he'd just come back tomorrow morning and pick them up.  We'll let you know if he likes them or not.  We've heard both good and bad stories about the glasses down here, so we'll see how our story ends up.

After the eye dr. we did a little more browsing and came across this outdoor restaurant and decided to stop and have a little lunch. 

Check out the huge tree trunk in the background, there were two of these huge trees that shaded the whole outdoor seating area. 

Of course, there were vendors wandering through the tables selling their different wares, watches, jewelry, clothing, hats, etc. etc.  I did succumb to a vendor selling rings and ended up with a very pretty blue opal ring.  I think I ended up with a bargain, which I'm sure the vendor/s always want you to leave feeling that way.  =)  It would be interesting to know how much they actually do have to pay for these items and the profit they make, even though they say they don't.  

After lunch we decided we best head back to the 5er before the lines to cross the border back into the states got too long.  

This is the landmark to look for to get back to the border crossing which is just behind the purple pharmacy.  Most people coming across the border also buy some of their prescriptions here because the cost is so much cheaper. 

Looks like we waited a bit too long to get in line.  This shot is looking forward to the line in front of us and

This is the line behind us.  Notice they provide a shade covering which really helps and they have people passing out free bottled water.  The medical facilities paste some advertising on the bottles so that must be how they can hand them out free. 

It only actually took us about 30 minutes from the time we stepped in line until we were through customs and back on U.S. soil.  While in line, we started chatting with the lady in front of us and found out they were staying in the same resort we are.  They are from Illinois and this was their first time to Algadones also.  It felt really safe the whole time we were there, though we did see a couple Mexican soldiers with their guns hanging out on the streets.  We did not take their pictures.  =)  So all in all our experience was really positive.

We were back at the 5er by 2:30.  The wind had died down to a nice breeze, but it was only about 78 degrees today, so we decided to take a break from the pool and just hang out and do some reading.  I did take Gracie for a nice long walk in the green space they have around the perimeter of the park which is about a mile I'm told.  

Another days adventure ends well.  =)