"I admire your professionalism" - Part Three

Thursday, May 7th, was the day we were to return to Dr. Eva Urena's dental office in Los Algodones to get TLE's stitches removed, and for me to have the second half of my deep cleaning done.  We had originally planned to leave Riverside about 6 am for the 3+ hour drive south, but that would have gotten us there about 90 minutes early, so we opted to leave at 6:30, make a fuel stop in Yuma for the VW....gas is still way cheaper in Arizona than California.......and then head to the border parking lot.

I drove the first 115 miles to the Salton Sea, and TLE drove the final 100 miles.....rain was forecast for the southland on Thursday evening and we were being buffeted by winds presaging the arriving weather front.  

We arrived at the ARCO station in Yuma (exit 2) about 9:50 am, and were back on I-8 westbound to Los Algodones Road a little after 10 arriving at the border parking lot about 10:20.  After a short walk filled with the usual barrage of  'street hawkers' we arrived at Dr. Urena's office about 10:35 for our 11 am appointment to find the waiting room completely full of people, and several sitting outside awaiting their appointments.  At first I thought "Oh no.....it's going to be a long wait!", but the people waiting were mostly from one Canadian family (husband, wife, three kids) who were having their annual dental checkups and work done.  They were a little behind, but ultimately I was called in a little about 11:15, and by 11:20 I had my novacane shots, was thoroughly 'numbed up', and the doctor was well into the deep cleaning.  She was finished by 11:45, and then it was TLE's turn to have the stitches removed......she says she felt no discomfort as the stitches were cut, and removed.

We paid our bill, which was all mine this day.....$160 ($80/quadrant), plus the remaining $50 from my last visit.....and were on our way walking back to the border.  The line to enter back into the USA was about 10 deep, and we were processed through within a few minutes, and back to our car by 12:20.

We will not return for TLE's crown work until November when we have finished our summer/fall wanderings, and have returned to Riverside for a couple of months.  So far, after three visits TLE and I are very happy with our choice to make Dr. Urena our new family dentist.  She is very professional, and has a very well equipped office with all the latest dental technologies.

The drive home was just a rewind of the trip down (winds getting heavier though) except we decided to stop at a travel center on the north end of the Salton Sea at a Starbucks for Frappuccino's (vanilla bean for TLE and mocha for moi).  I really didn't feel like eating anything as my mouth was still sore, and feeling had finally returned to my mouth.  We were home by 4:15.

On the way home my son Tim called and wanted to know if he and Laila could have dinner with us, and we agreed to meet them at 'Tio's Tacos' on Mission Inn Ave. at 6:45, so I had 2 hours to take down the Winegard Carryout G2 satellite dish, unhook the water hose, and put the finishing touches on the inside of the trailer.

One more round at The Salted Pig

Then it was time to head over to 'Tio's Tacos', but on our way we got a call from Tim saying there was some special event going on at Tio's, and it was standing room only, so we went immediately to plan B, which was to head directly over to The Salted Pig.  As is always the case with my kids, we ate, talked and laughed for 90 minutes, and exchanged hugs to numerous to count before saying our 'until next times' and heading home for the evening.

It began raining about 10:30, and rained on and off all night long.....sometimes heavily....just what SoCal needs.  As I type the rain has abated, and we will be rolling our wheels within 90 minutes!

Thanks for stopping by!