La Dentista, day one......

 7:29 am - Friday - April 5th - Yuma, AZ - 55° F, humidity 43%, wind 20 mph out of west....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 67° F....that's like 20° F cooler than yesterday!  On this date in 2020 my mother, Virginia, entered Hospice....does not seem like four years already.....she passed to the next life a few days later.....

I think I was around 8, or 9 years old in this picture...my mother was a beautiful, and talented woman

My father, Art, and mother, Virginia circa mid 60's

So, the day for which we came to Yuma finally arrived on Thursday.  TLE had a 12 pm appointment to have molds made of her gums, and bite so two crowns could be made.  They will be installed on Friday afternoon around 1 pm.  Dr. Eva asked us to arrive around 11 am in case she could get to us earlier, so we left around 10:15 am in the VW to make the 2 mile drive to the border parking lot.  We were able to stop at one of the pharmacies, of which there are many in Lol Algodones, and pick up some medication for friends, which we will mail to them.

By the time we arrived at Dr. Eva's office it was just before 11 am, however, it appeared that she would not able to get to TLE until just after 12 pm, so we walked about a block to a little plaza where there are a couple of water fountains, and an expresso shop.  TLE got coffee, and I a Mocha Frappuccino....of course!  We sat and read for about an hour before heading back to Dr. Eva's office.  They took TLE in around 12:10 pm, and by 1:20 pm she was finished.  We walked back to the border to find a relatively long line, but nothing like a few weeks ago.....

That's Ken right there↗

....we passed the time talking with a guy in line with us named Ken (see first picture....that's him on the right), who was a very interesting guy.  While we were in line for over an hour the time flew by as the conversation flowed without end.  I don't normally get involved in long conversations while waiting to cross the border, but this day was one of those exceptions.  Ken had just got in line after spending 4 hours in his dentist's chair.

By 3:10 pm we had been processed through the check point, and were on our way to the Beetle.  From the border we headed directly to Old Town in Yuma where we had an early dinner at Prison Hill Brewing Company....one of our favorite micro breweries over the 12 years of our nomadic wanderings.....

...we both ordered a pint of their Chango Malo....a coconut stout with 'flavor profiles of chocolate and coffee'.....yummy....I am not really a coconut kind of guy, but I loved this brew!....

....we decided to just order appetizers, which consisted of two plates of fried avocados, and a plate of spring rolls....what a perfect combination!  They've had those fried avocados on the menu for a decade, and it is the only place I have ever found them.....so, so good!

We were home around 4:30 pm, and relaxing for the balance of the afternoon and evening which found both of us reading, and listening to the growing wind event outdoors, which is still raging as I write with gusts up to 30 mph. I did, however, walk over to the Casino to extend our stay for two more days.

We had hoped to depart Quechan Casino Friday afternoon to begin our trek northward after TLE's  final dental appointment, but with the wind coming directly out of the west (it is hitting right on the nose of the Newell) we would be facing a side wind from the driver's side for most of our drive, so we will delay that departure until Saturday morning, after the winds have abated.  We've got around 800 miles to cover before we arrive there Wednesday, or Thursday next week, and I will enjoy every mile of that drive on cruise control, just holding onto the steering wheel.  Driving the Newell day after day is one of my happy places, and I never get tired of it.

Thanks for stopping by!