Trip to Algodones Mexico

A few days ago we went to the Mexican town of Algodones which is just a few miles south of the American Girl Mine area. Here's what driving out of camp looks like.

 

The drive to the border was about ten miles south and east.  We parked in the huge parking lot on the US side.  Parking was $6 for all day.

 

The border crossing into the town is effectively uncontrolled.  It did not require any paperwork or examination of identification by Mexican authorities.

 On the day we visited (and I suspect everyday) the streets were jammed with Americans.  Most of them were either  buying prescription drugs or getting dental work done.  Walking thru the town, it seems like most of the dentists in Mexico must live in Algodones.  The lower cost is significant.  I priced the Lantus insulin that Ina uses.  A pack of five pens was $60.  A non-starter for us since our co-payment from Express scripts is only $20 for twice that quantity. For those without insurance, it would probably be a bargain.

For many retirees the cost of glasses is probably also significantly lower.   Even for those who have US dental insurance, Mexican dental care is probably a bargain especially for expensive procedures such as implants. I did not price eye glasses since I already have several extra pairs.

From the photos you can see that virtually every doorway is the entrance to a dentist office, pharmacy, or optometrist.

Our visit last year to the town of Boquillas in Big Bend last year was totally different.  Boquillas was a quiet uncrowded little village with friendly people and better restaurants.  There I actually had the chance to sit and have a nice conversation with one of the residence.  A walk in Algodones is somewhat like walking thru a whole town full of high-pressure used car salesmen.  You cannot take two steps without being urged to buy something or asked if you need dental care. Annoying!

We did find one enterprising young street performer doing what I assume is native dancing.  He was working hard for tips and posed for a picture with Ina.

We did have some fairly good fish tacos at a restaurant.   The garish ceramics and other tourist goods being sold were not very interesting to us. Although prices were good, most of the stuff is not practical (e.g. too big or too heavy) to transport around the country in the RV.  We only bought a couple of tiny figurines.  A brief show of our passports and a question on what we were bringing back was all that was needed to re-enter the US.

The return to American Girl Mine BLM was uneventful.

Desert Bondocking Report

There is a wonderful quiet and peacefulness about the desert.  I've always been surprised that there are those who seem to fear, or are unsettled by the prospect of a desolate environment.  A former supervisor (who had grown up in the urban environment)  told me once that he could never live in the suburbs because it was too quiet.  I asked if he really liked the sounds of police sirens and honking car horns? I told him that the only positive I could think of for the big city life was great doctors and hospitals. In the desert there is mainly only the sounds of the wind.

 Here at the American Girl Mine BLM area, there are quite a few other folks. So we hear the occasional sound of generators.  The good cellular signal allows modern-day telephone and internet communications.  The wind drives a fair amount of dust into the air.  Picking the right camp location in relation to the prevailing wind helps to avoid the dust annoyance.

Solar power with only an occasional use of the generator allows pretty much normal activity which includes binge watching Youtube videos and  an hour or so a day of Dish network news.  At noon time the panels are harvesting over 20amps.  Charging cell phones, computers and running the mostly LED lights consumes less than that.  The result is that generally batteries are charged full by sunset.   Watching TV at night and using propane for cooking leaves batteries at 40-70% charge by bedtime.  Making coffee or cooking with the microwave requires only brief generator usage.   Replacement of our lead-acid golf cart batteries with lithium batteries would likely eliminate generator usage (except for long sunless periods).

As I expected, the limiting factor for camping with no hook-ups is is fresh water.  With drinking bottled water and careful water usage (e.g., saving soapy wash water for flushing toilets and taking "navy" showers), we've found that 50 gallons of on-board fresh water can last nearly two weeks.

Running the refrigerator and water heater on propane I see as a virtual boondocking necessity.  Many modern coaches come equipped with residential electric refrigerators.  These are heavy consumers of battery power.  My opinion is that if you must buy a coach with a residential refrigerator and plan to dry camp; the fridge should have its own battery bank; a dedicated small inverter, and correspondingly enlarged solar array. We see a number of RVs around us who have fairly large solar arrays, but are still running their generator often.  Using a residential refrigerator and non-led lights is almost certainly be a factor.

Temperatures have been very pleasant with highs in the high 60s to low 70s during the day.  No need for air conditioning.  Night time temps dip into the mid-40s.  The coach warms quickly with the morning sun and retains the warm interior temps well after dark.   On the colder nights we run our Olympian Wave 8 catalytic propane heater.  With its 90% efficiency, it uses very little propane and no electric power.  The factory installed propane furnace consumes lots of propane, is noisy, and its fan consumes electric power.  We seldom use it. We also have Mr Heater Buddy.  However, we don't use it often because it consumes far more propane and since it uses open flames in a ceramic block, the smells and exhaust gases are much greater than the flameless catalytic heater.

We cook pretty much the same as when we are home in our "sticks and bricks" house.  We probably don't go out to eat any more or less than we did at home.  Needless to say there are compromises to be made for RV living.  However, our experience is that the adjustments are minor and mostly enjoyable.

In addition to the peaceful and gorgeous surroundings the sunsets and sunrises can't be beat.

Xscapers Annual Bash Part 2

Sunrise At American Girl Mine BLM Area - 1/22/18

We arrived at the Xscapers Bash Part2 location on Friday Jan 20th.  The area is a BLM area open to free camping and restricted to 14 day stays.  There are no facilities or services of any kind.  However, the area is very quiet with some gusty winds and sometimes some blowing dust.

Here's a video of the Xscapers area.

Although the Xscapers have a number of fun events, we've not done too much since our arrival.  On Sunday evening there was a beer tasting ("Beerluck") and a campfire. There was a very nice variety of beers to try.  I particularly like a Scotish Ale called Kilt Lifter - very full bodied with a very smooth taste.

   We needed to dump or trash today. So we traveled a few miles down I-8 to the Imperial Sand Dunes where there were some dumpsters.  The dunes are apparently very popular with the dune buggy and ATV crowd.  There were not very many machines on the dunes on Tuesday.  I suspect it gets a lot busier on the weekends.

 The dunes encompass an area more than 40 miles long.

We climbed nearly to the crest of the dunes nearest the highway.  The dunes are at least 250ft tall and the climbing in the soft sand is not easy.

 In the early part of the twentieth century the only road for vehicles over the dunes was an 8ft wide wooden plank road.  Reportedly the original road was seven miles long and had to be moved repeatedly by teams of horses to avoid being covered by the drifting sand.

Another sunrise at American Girl Mine.

Xscapers Annual Bash, Kofa NWR Hike, Naked Man Book Store, and Bash Part 2

On Tuesday the Xscapers went on a hike to the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge is an enormous area south of Quartzsite which provides an undisturbed habitat for mainly pronhorn antelope.   The area also has the only stand of native palm trees in Arizona.  The palms grow in a cleft in the hills which by happenstance has the correct moisture and temperature for the palms.

Also on the way to the Palm Canyon, we stopped at the feature known as the Spiral Labyrinth.  No one seems to know who constructed the labyrinth.  Many people (not me) seem to ascribe some kind of spiritual power to walking the spiral.

Many of the group took their pets on the hike.  Here is Sofie, the Yorky, belonging to Gary and Stacy Quimby (Pau Hana Travels) .

Parking at the Palm Canyon trailhead.

 It was a short hike - with only a mile so of moderate climbing (about 300 ft).

 The palms, however, were another several hundred feet up a very steep slot in the hill.  Only a few Xscapers tried this final climb.

After returning to Quartzsite, the next day Ina and I went exploring down town.  The town is packed with hundreds of vendors selling all manner of gem and mineral items (geodes, calcite, onyx, quartz, agates, etc.); flea market dollar stores; and of course RV supplies.

 The highlight of our visit was the Reader's Oasis Bookstore (aka the Naked Man Bookstore). Paul Winer, the bookstore owner does not like wearing clothes and typically wears only what could be called a codpiece.  Mr Winer is also a talented blues piano man and a local celebrity who performs at many venues around quartzsite.  When we visited Mr Winer was wearing a coat because the weather was somewhat cool (but no pants). Last year our friend Julie Bennett interviewed Mr. Winer.

 We concluded the evening of our last day at Quartzsite with some Kalbi (Korean rib) BBQ.

The next day it was on to a less populated area near Yuma known as American Girl Mine.

Quartzsite Xscapers Convergence - Day Two

Xscaper's Quartzsite Convergence 2018

After setting up camp on day one and attending the welcome campfire and the partying died down; the desert became one the most peaceful spots we have camped in.  With no light pollution, you can see at least three times the number of stars than in any metropolitan area.

The sunrise was not spectacular, but we were treated to an early morning hot air balloon launch.

Later in the day we enjoyed a talk on how to find free or low cost campsites by the Drivin' N Vibin' video bloggers Kyle and Olivia.

We plan to visit Quartzsite tomorrow and possibly another group of RVers encamped  in the vicinity.