In the Canadian Snowbird world Yuma, AZ is a popular destination so we figured we should check it out. Some new friends of ours that we met in Penticton, Dave and Sue, were spending the winter there so it worked out perfect to go and visit them as well!! We each had booked our sites independently months before, but it turned out that our resorts were right beside each other. They were already in Yuma, so they came to the pub located in our RV resort the night we arrived and we had a wonderful evening
Dave and Sue know many people in their park as it appears almost everybody from Revelstoke ( their hometown ) winters here!! We joined many of them on a hike to Liberty Bell along Marty’s Ridge, which turned out to be a nice 12.5 km walk in the desert.
When we got back we hopped on our bicycles to explore some of the area to the east of Yuma where we found some good boondocking land, which we might use in the future to stop for a night on our way over to AZ. That evening we enjoyed “Happy Hour” with some of the people from our morning hike.
Part of the draw of Yuma, ( other then the low cost of living ) is the proximity to Mexico, Los Algodones to be exact. This is a mecca for low cost, but good dentistry work and of course, the town also has lots of artisanal shops and restaurants. With Dave and Sue as our guides we headed to Mexico! From Yuma you drive about 10 minutes to a parking lot that is actually in California and park. Then you simply walk into Mexico and the town of Algodones. No customs, no security, no Border Agents and no long waiting lines! How civilized.
The first stop was at a barber shop. Gary and I needed a haircut and, for $3 US it turned out to be one of my best haircuts ever! Then for an extra $10 I had a straight blade shave as well, it was a great way to start our day. In the RVing world, one thing almost everyone has is a sign that you hang or put at the front of your home with your name on it. This is the place to get them. It was interesting to watch the artists paint them using spray paint cans and newspaper. Another item, that our friends Bob and Ann have, is a stain glass window for the RV entry door which we have been wanting to get for ourselves. We looked at several but came home empty handed on both accounts.
We did go for lunch at a restaurant and had some authentic tacos and burritos, and of course a margarita! The only thing we ended up purchasing was a couple bottles of Patron Gold Tequila, at a very good price. Getting back to the US was quite different then our way INTO Mexico. We had to stand in line for 2 hours to get to a US custom agent to declare what was purchased, ( which took 3 seconds ). Another happy hour again over at Dave and Sue’s park finished our day.
Our last day in Yuma we enjoyed a guided tour by Dave and Sue. The first stop was Martha’s Garden, an organic date farm that sold some amazing date shakes, we had an expresso one and it was very tasty!! After sampling some dates we bought a kilo of Medjool Dates which were amazing! A quick drive around downtown and then back home.
We finished off the rest of the daylight time with a cycle around the loop that we had done yesterday. Dave and Sue came over for drinks and appetizers and we had an enjoyable evening before saying good-bye. With the month of January coming to an end it was time to head to Tucson, Arizona!
Is that Dawn, across the table from you? Small world – she is my second cousin!
Yes it is! Dawn Penner, she is a friend of friends of our from Penticton who are originally from Revelstoke!