Los Algodones

Enjoyed a fun week in Yuma and Los Algodones, Mexico. It is said that there are more Canadians in this border town than Mexicans during the day. This is due to the number of Arizonans and Californians who go for the cheap dental and eye care. I had my doubts, but the town was very clean and friendly, and the dental and eye clinics were immaculate and very modern. The streets are lined with clinics, and you can just walk into a clinic and get new teeth, crowns or eye glasses the same day. And in between appointments, you can wander through the vendor booths or sit in the plaza enjoying a cool drink and empanadas while listening to local musicians. At one restaurant, a group of 12 mariachi musicians came in to serenade, and were soooo good!

A new casino and hotel was recently built by the tribe, and had a gorgeous pool and spa area that I snoozed in to soak up some warm sunshine. The casino was fun, the games paid well, and the player points paid for the meals. Live music was played each night....Western one night, Latin music the next, and rock the next.

I was glad I toured the Yuma Territorial Prison State Park, as it is one that is being considered for closing for the state budget cuts. Thinking about how those prisoners lived in those stone cells in the heat of the summers was sobering. So many of the western movies have dramas about taking prisoners to the Yuma prison....and it was intriguing to read of the various prisoners who were incarcerated there, including the man who killed Johnny Yuma. I walked through the prison cemetery, and wondered if they separated the graves by race or sex. The tombstones have long been stolen, but the piles of rocks over the 200 graves remain.

On the way home we saw black smoke ahead, and arrived on a car fully engulfed in flames. We were the first on the scene, and the owner came running towards us and warned us to move back, as his car contained amunition and had a full gas tank! We waited while the police cars and fire trucks arrived, and sat for an hour watching the excitment and hearing the bullets exploding while the sun set in brilliant spendor'

I placed an ad for my living quarter horse trailer in TrailerWorld just before I left, and starting getting responses within a half an hour! Everyone wanted interior pictures, so I had to tell them to wait until I got home. Within a few hours of uploading the pictures on the ad, the trailer was sold.....for full price. I guess a lot of people have been trying to find a 2-horse weekender! So the Colorado buyer will be picking it up in a few weeks, and the pieces of my life of the last 10 years will continue to slip away. I have so many fun memories of camping with my wonderful Minnesota horse camping friends....and the Las Domas ride last spring. It will be dearly missed.