February 19-February 23, 2017

Boondocking, dry camping, camping, primitive camping, whatever you like to call it, it’s amazing here! We ended up here during Presidents day weekend and it was busy! You will not feel alone, but you will also feel like you have your own space at the same time. We decided to head to this area since it was earlier in the season.  We also had friends working in Yuma, friends staying at American Girl and we met new ones! I loved having the company and security when we weren’t at our rig. Here is some on the area and what we did for 4.5 days!

Boondocking

We stayed off of American Girl Mine Rd. It was an incredibly large area. It was crazy busy for the holiday weekend. You can show up at any point and find a spot. Make sure to not stay in the permit areas, or if you want to stay closer to the dunes there is a fee. There is also boondocking closer to the border near Los Algodones. It felt like you could pretty much park anywhere and you were okay. We came down this way to meet up with some friends Lauri and Jase and Marshall. We got to meet Kelly and Becky and John. It was a great meet up! We had our own little area with the four rigs but we still had plenty of space.

RV Info

Dump and water: There isn’t a lot in the area. The two I know of are:

Chevron: You can read Finding Marshall‘s review on Campendium here: Winter Haven Dump

76 Gas Station: Read DriveDive Devour’s review on Campedium here: Yuma Dump Station

You will have to confirm the water situation  at each location.

Grocery: There are a few options right in Yuma. Albertsons, Walmart Supercenter, Frys Food & Drug, etc. If you want Costco or Target you have to drive to El Centro, about 45 minutes west on hwy 8.

Gas: As reminded by a fellow RVer, you are close enough to Arizona to pay their gas prices!

Mexico! Medical Tourism and Taco Crawls!

I think I might have been overly excited to make it to Mexico. You can walk across? What? Really? Yes! So we did a taco crawl! YUM.The town is Los Algodones. Set up for the American tourist.

First tip is the parking. If you park before this sign it’s free. You will see other cars parked and we had no issue.

Then just head down the way and at the side walk just keep going and walk right in.

Your first glimpse of the small town.

You are instantly reminded or made aware of why most people are there and that is medical tourism. All of our friends had taken part in it. From eye exams (and glasses), teeth cleaning and chiropractic work. Teeth cleaning can be around $20! I was lucky enough to find a deal in Oregon for $50, but in the states they are required to take xrays and do an exam before they can clean. Without the deal it would have been $350!

But on to the yummy stuff. Tacos, tacos and more tacos! I love me some baja style tacos and they were delicious.

There is also a bakery with traditional pastries.

Of course there was a liquor store there and other cheap finds. There are limits to what you can bring back over the border, so don’t go and buy 12 bottles of liquor. I think it was one per person.

If you are going in the morning, get back in line before 11:00 a.m. otherwise it can be a long line, otherwise, wait until the late afternoon. Sit, relax and have a Margarita! We did not make it in time for a short line, but it was only 45 minutes.

And that was Mexico! I am still so surprised about how easy it was. Getting here was a small goal of mine to get to the entire western third of North America. Check!

Ghost Town Stroll

Tumco Townsite is a small area to check out. We spent a couple hours following the path, checking out potential caves and staring down a hole that you can’t see anything. You read a little history, see some buildings in ruins and just have some time to get out.

Imperial Sand Dunes

I loved the dunes. Even though we were there on the windiest day ever. I never knew they were down there and you can’t miss them. The area that they take up is huge. 45 miles long and 6 miles wide, on a clear day you can see all the way to Mexico. During our time there (on President’s Day weekend) it was taken over by off road vehicles. There were tracks everywhere, but thanks to the wind (the only good thing about it) they were pretty much gone when we explored.

One thing we missed

Pyramid Monument: We kept meaning to stop by here. It’s located right in between Yuma and Winterhaven in an unincorporated city called Felicity. Claimed to be the Center of the World (even though we know it’s not). There are a couple other things to check out there. It’s really just a fun little stop.

Couple Restaurants

So if you decide to check out the local fare in Yuma, our favorite place was: Rossy’s Hot Dog and Mexican Food. Darn good hot dogs and really good burritos!

If you make the drive to El Centro, check out: Antojito Como En Casa

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