Monday, March 2, 2020 - Our First Trip to Algodones, MX; Lunch Leftovers; Rain; Shopping; Ice Cream

Monday, March 2, 2020 - Our First Trip to Algodones, Mexico; Lunch Leftovers; Rain; Shopping; Ice Cream

When I woke up it was just a short time before my exercise alarm was set to go off at 5:30.  When I went downstairs, I realized I forgot to make the coffee before I went to bed last night.  I guess I was more tired than I realized as I rarely forget to do that.  But worse, I did not have water in the Brita pitcher either, so I had to wait for it to run through before I could make the coffee.  Not the best start for the day, but not enough to ruin it by any means.

That first cup sure did taste good once it was done.  I started working on yesterday's blog post and was committed to finishing it so I could post it before we left this morning.  Unfortunately my pictures would not upload from my phone, so now I'll have to wait until we return before I post. I needed to make a few phone calls, to order refills on a couple of prescriptions, then made several calls to RV parks around Tucson.  I left a message at one asking they call me back (they never returned my call, so I'll look again tomorrow), and two did not have anything available.  First time I've ever had this much problem finding a place to stay, but I still have several other options, just a little further away.

Los Algodones, MX

Once the phone calls were out of the way, we headed to Algodones, Mexico.  It was our first visit here. In many ways it was very similar to Progresso, near Mission, TX where we have spent the winters the past two years.  However there were a few differences.  It was more expensive to park here.  We paid $2 at Progresso and it was $6 here.  It did not cost us to enter Algodones; however, it cost $.50 to cross into Progresso and $.35 to return to the US, per person.  The streets and sidewalk areas seemed cleaner to us than those in Progresso; but overall there wasn't much difference in the number of dentists, opticians, pharmacists, liquor stores and restaurants, besides all of the items the vendors sell.   

The market areas, tiled areas in much of it.  The paths wonder around .  I wasn't sure where we were going to come out but Dean always knew.

Another area of the market.

These two guys had masks and outfits on, they played drums and danced.

See the line - this is just down the street - it doesn't show the people walking toward the building.  

We walked through a number of vendors' booths, without purchasing anything.  I did purchase one pharmacy item (heartburn medication) and that was it.  It wasn't long and we were ready to leave.  I was shocked how long the line was to return to Mexico - maybe 1.5-2 blocks.  We never saw lines like that in Progresso.  There were two men behind us that we started visiting with as we moved up the line.  One of them asked where we were from and believe it or not, he was originally from Kansas himself.  It always amazes me when things like that happen.  His friend was from Montreal, Canada.  We sure enjoyed talking with them for the next 20-25 minutes.  We commented on the long lines.  According to them, you cannot purchase liquor until 11am, so once people arrive they buy it and get in line to go back to the US.  Our friends we visited with here in Pilot Knob RV may have explained that to us, but if so we forgot about it.  However, it really didn't matter, as we enjoyed visiting with them and the time passed quickly.  Once we showed our passports at the exit, we quickly passed through and returned to the truck.

We discussed eating lunch somewhere but decided since we had leftover pizza we'd just as soon eat it, so we returned to Bentley.  Afterwards I had a little nap.  I don't know why I felt so tired last night and today - maybe it's the time change.  I felt much better after I woke up.

Dark skies around us

I just happened to catch these two planes fly over.

As we left the park to go to Sam's and Walmart there were some large dark clouds off to the northeast.  By the time we reached Sam's, the clouds had continued moving and were almost directly north of us by then.  As we left Sam's it looked as if the storm was trying to make a circle and might be near or over our RV Park by now.  We made a quick stop at Walmart where I finally found the flax seed I like to use in our morning shakes.  They had two canisters and I bought them both.  

Nice clear skies - but wait....!

Now that our grocery shopping was done, Dean wanted to stop at Dairy Queen for some ice cream.  Fortunately, we hit it at a good time.  I went inside to order and found they had two booths inside.  I went back to the door to motion Dean to come in.  One booth had two women sitting at it, and one was open.  Before Dean got there another couple came in.  The wife set in the second booth while her husband ordered.  Whoops, there went our seat.  Before our blizzards were ready, the two ladies left, so we still got our seat inside while we enjoyed our ice cream.  Yum! Yum!

Our list of things to do were done, so we headed home for the evening.  Once we neared the park, we could see it had definitely rained here.  The fields nearby had standing water.  We noticed from the Interstate, a truck was stuck in the mud on the other side of the frontage road. It was apparent he had drove it awhile due to the deep ruts but he was definitely not moving now.  

On our way back to the park I called our grandson, Logan, to see if he had plans for tomorrow night.  Fortunately he is free so we are going to meet him in El Centro for dinner.  We will have a chance to discuss things to do this weekend when he meets up with us near Borrego Springs Friday evening.  I'm excited to hear about his trip to Big Bear this past weekend, too.