And I don’t mean the Native Americans that roamed this land….

I imagine there are other locations in Florida and other warm locales, but here….wow!  It might have something to do with the fact that I am now travelling in an RV and staying in an RV park, but it really hit home that I am among the retired.

We stayed at West Wind RV park.  I picked up a coupon for it at the RV show in Quartzite.  It was for two nights free, and you could add 5 more days at 1/2 price.  That works out to $19 a night for full hookups, a restaurant, bar, shuffleboard, 3 par golf course, tennis, woodshop, laundry, pool and hot tub.  They have live entertainment as well as other events. The RV lots are small, many park model homes, as well as temporary RV spots.

This has been the best location so far for walking the dogs.  They do expect you to keep your dogs on leash in the park, as well as walk them in the middle of the street on the way out to the desert.  If you stay here ask to be placed as close as main dog gate (between spaces 985 and 986) as possible.  Once through the gate you have a nice area right there to walk you dogs, or do like I did and head down the dirt road out into the desert.

There is all you need in this town,  just be aware when driving for the unaware, and expect slow moving people everywhere…especially noticeable in the grocery store!

As can be expected, since it’s a good size town…there are plenty of restaurants.  My two favorites were Los Manjares De Pepe at 11274 S. Fortuna Rd and Julianna’s Patio Café at 1951 W 25th St.   At Los Manjares I had the Pepe’s Special (pork in tomatillo sauce) and also tried a bite of their Chile Relleno. Both were outstanding, and I’m sorry I didn’t have time to go back again.  Julianna’s main draw is their parrots (macaws) in an area adjoining their dining patio.  The décor is fun, both inside (a bit more elegant) and out.  I had their Cubano and I have to say it is the best one I’ve ever had.  For a drink I had a Coconut Mojito and it was a bit sweeter than I like.

A short drive from Yuma and you are at the Mexican border.  It’s best to park in the Quechan Indian parking lot and walk across to Los Algodones.  It was $6 to park.

Los Algodones is popular for their dentists and pharmacies.  There are 350 dentists (and I’m sure still growing) just on the other side of the border.  Pharmaceuticals are at a bargain there as well.  They don’t have everything, my friend was trying to get eye drops for his dog, and you need to be aware of costs as I think some may not be that great of a deal.  We walked into one of the liquor stores, but there were no prices to be seen…so not sure if they were a lot less expensive.

We walked a short distance to a courtyard, where Restaurant El Paraíso was located.  Delicious food and strong margaritas.  I had Prawns Veracruz and it was delicious.  There is supposed to be a tortoise there that walks around, but I was told he was sleeping in the kitchen.  My friend said that they had told them the same thing when they were there last year.  On our way back out we stopped at a prawn vendor.  Freshly caught prawns in 3 sizes.  They were all $10 a pound and we chose the middle size.  After returning back to the RV park it was discovered that he had tossed in a couple of the largest ones too!  What a great deal, and they were as good as could be expected!

A little about Los Algodones from Wikipedia: “Los Algodones, Baja California, is a small Mexican town located on the extreme northeastern tip of the municipality of Mexicali, approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) west of Yuma, Arizona, USA. Its official name is Vicente Guerrero also called Molar City. It reported a population of 5,474 as of the 2010 Mexican census. It also serves as a borough seat of its surrounding area.
Los Algodones is the northernmost town in Mexico, and at its northeastern tip is the northernmost point in Mexico, and in Latin America. Another interesting geographical distinction is that if someone were to travel in any of the four cardinal directions from anywhere in Algodones (due north, due east, due south, or due west), they would cross a U.S. border.

I would definitely go back to Yuma again to spend some more time. I would have liked to have checked out the prison and museum and the Castle Dome mining museum and ghost town.   Next stop, Dateland!