South of the Border!!!

For my friends that were envious of me heading to warmer weather from our lows of 34-36 degrees .... don't be!!  It has been around 32 every night.  Right now, it's 36 but feels like 18 with the wind that has been blowing nonstop!!!  Poor Jonathan hasn't seen any of the sites ... I have his cage wrapped in two heavy towels, covered with a wool blanket, sitting on a heating pad and he's still chilly!!

Today we set off to cross the border into Mexico.  This always makes me nervous for some reason.  Despite my many trips to Mexico and South America, I've never really felt relaxed.  Passport in hand, we just walked right across the border on the concrete trail.

There are snowbirds galore here saving lots of dollars by getting their $300 glasses in Algodones for as little as $79.  For those that don't have insurance, this is a life saver.  Here's the tip of the day .. Walmart has frames for as little as $18 and you can get an examination including the lens for $59.  That's what Patty did ... and she could have gotten another pair for half price.  Can't beat that!!!

As we walk around I'm amazed by the number of store fronts advertising Dentists.  There must have been at least 50!!  A whole STREET of Dentists surrounded by hundreds of snowbirds!!  And Pharmacies on every corner.  I've just never seen this before.  You go snowbirds!!!

By now our stomachs are growling for those famous fish tacos, so we head up the street to a small vendor with a patio out of the wind.  Here's what the tacos look like ... oh sorry, I inhaled them before I could take a picture.  If you go to Dan's blog at Travelbychance.blogspot.com you can see the last one of his three!!!  They really hit the spot!!

As in all Mexican towns, there are dozens of small shops, selling everything you can imagine.  There were more metal sculptures here than I have seen before.  Walls of them shining in the sun!!  I was tempted to take a couple home, including the 8 foot tall giraffe ... but kept my wallet in tact ... at least for a little while.

Down a far back alley, we ran across a seller of rugs.  I'm a sucker for nice wool rugs.  I had one all picked out until Patty said "I would ask the price first".  My wallet cringed .... $400.  The haggling began!!  I like to barter ... it's fun.  Rarely am I able to walk away, especially if it's something I really love, like this rug.  It's twice this size and would make a nice entry piece in my house, but the price was just too high.  I did however, purchase the slightly smaller version for less than half of the asking price.  Next time I'll bring more cash!!!

Still waiting for Patty's glasses to be made, we sat down in this outside bar (in the sun) and had a coke while the one-man-band sang oldies but goodies.

Local characters were everywhere.  You are accosted every few minutes by people selling "stuff".  We tried to be nice ... they are just trying to make a living!!  I asked to take a picture of one lady, she said NO.  I offered a dollar, she said "NO!!   TWO dollar!!!"  I got three pictures!!  For two dollars, I probably could have gotten three bracelets!!

This guy stood and watched the gringos dance to the one-man-band.  When he saw my camera pointed towards him, he immediately looked away.  This picture was a sneak attack ...

These two little girls and I'm guessing their brother, were dancing around on the sidewalk, to the music the snowbirds were dancing to.  Someone came over and gave them a dollar each.  You should have seen their faces.  Pretty soon they were dancing on the dance floor, collecting LOTS of dollars.  Smart cookies .... I bet they made $5.00 each!!!

Patty's glasses retrieved, we headed out the return concrete path.  A quick check of my passport, "what did you buy" and "are you here alone" and I was passed through to good old American soil.

Most people of Mexico are VERY nice and VERY polite.  I know the "hawking" of goods is how they make a living.  I just never know if they are telling the truth or not.  If I were them I would tell the gringos anything they wanted to hear, in order to sell my stuff and make money for my family.  But I think no one wants to be taken advantage of, and maybe that's why I'm so leery about what they tell me.  Now that I've been to Algodones, I'll be less nervous on the next trip south of the border!!