On Monday we finally left Quartzsite and moved south to Yuma which is right on the border of Mexico & California. My parents live in Yuma for the winter so we were there for a family visit. During our 4 days there my sister and my uncle also were visiting so it was like a little family reunion. There is alot of open land all around Yuma and we took Duke running in the desert everyday.
My dad took me to Mexico on Thursday. As soon as you cross the border all you can see is Eye, Dental, Pharmacy & Alcohol stores as well as the shops for merchandise such as yard decorations, clothing and jewelry. This is also where you can buy those expensive Coach purses and sunglasses. I bought a bottle of vodka cause you can bring one bottle back across and I figured I should help their economy. We had lunch and decided it was time to head back home. That was at 4 pm and we made it across the border at 6 pm. The line was incredibly long so I went for a margarita and sat on the patio chatting with other tourists while my dad waited in line. I joined him at the 1/2 way point. The line actually ended up being a lot of fun. Everyone in line was laughing about the length of time to get out of Mexico compared with entering. When it was our turn to go through immigration I step up to the counter, hand over my passport and when asked did you bring any alcohol, medications or tabacco back I declared my 1 bottle of vodka! I was asked to open my purse and in it was the 2 sunglasses I had bought before lunch and had forgotten. Well apparently you are suppose to declare EVERYTHING cause I got a big lecture about it being criminal to not declare EVERYTHING you purchase in Mexico! I guess next time I better tell them about the Chiklets I gave the little indian boy a $1 for and ate!
On our way back to Yuma we made a westwardly detour and reentered California to see the Imperial Desert Dunes. Lots of sand; lots of 4-wheelers and you can see Mexico across a really small fence along the border. We stopped and saw the plank road that is what they used in the early 20’s to cross the desert. Pretty impressive that they built this wooden road to get across the desert.
Paul & Dennis enjoying halftime at the Superbowl
Sunset at Imperial Dunes, CA