Monday, December 17, 2018

Hola! Feliz Navidad! I Can See Clearly Now


Monday, Dec. 17th I got up at 6:45 and was out the door at 7:15 for my walk. Bill was up just as I was leaving so I got a good morning kiss. Today, I wasn’t alone on the walk route. It was like 2 ships passing in the morning as we greeted each other and commented on our cold fingers. I still don't know her name. The temperature was only 51F/10C but I soon warmed up with my fast pace. When I returned, I made my tea and Bill and I sat catching up on friends.

It was beautiful even before the sun popped
Kind of says it all
Our trails are very happy
I poached a couple of eggs on toast for our breakfast at 8 and we were washed and ready to head out the door at 9. This is our day to go to Los Algodones, Mexico. Rob drove and we were all anxious for our first time over the border. We parked in the lot for $6 and walked across to calls of ‘need a dentist? Get your eyeglasses’, it was pretty quiet first thing. Mostly we heard ‘good morning and Buenos dias’.

I put my chicken soup into containers this morning
I'll taste it tomorrow
Crossing into Mexico, it wasn't too busy at 9:15 am
The main agenda for this morning was to take Rob and Pat to our dentist, Dr. Eva Urena. Hers is the prettiest building in the whole area in our opinion and of course, we think she is the best. How would we know? She’s the only one we’ve visited but I can say that she is the best we’ve seen. 😊 We didn’t have to wait long and Rob was invited into Eva’s office to have a look. Within minutes, he made his decision on a filling.

Dr. Eva's office area

Bill and I waited outside at first for Rob and Pat

I love the building where she and other dental offices are housed
Pat and I kept saying “where else can you walk in to a dental office with no appointment and get immediate attention?” Two X-rays and a filling later = $70. Crazy! From there we visited Vision Optical for me, this time. I got my eye exam (normally $20) free with the purchase of new glasses. I had taken along multiple frames from previous glasses I’d boughten over the years and decided to order 2 sets of progressive lenses put into two of the frames.

To kill time waiting, we got directions to where these folks moved from
the corner of the first year we visited
We'll be back, we all have a plan to put the painters
at Spray Paint Art to work
Thanks for the picture, Junior!
I donated 3 pair of glasses that were single vision, ones that were too small for the progressive lenses to be fitted into. Bill also donated a pair of nice sunglasses that just didn’t work well for him. They had many frames to choose from starting at $35 up to $300 but it didn’t make sense to spend more than was necessary. We paid for my essentially 2 new pair of eyeglasses……..are you ready? $160. Again, I say, Crazy.

We found the open cantina for lunch
Love the thatched roof
There was a 2 ½ hour wait period while they assembled my glasses. Same day or you could come back tomorrow. Pat and I looked at each other “where else?” We walked around and got offered many many things that ‘you don’t need’, made some decisions for our return in February. Yes, we’ll be back for our teeth cleaning and I have a broken molar that needs to be looked at. Rob also has more work to be done so it works out well for all of us to make a return trip.

Bill got an offer he couldn't refuse when Emilio, on a street corner, offered him a $4 hair cut. He'd said a couple of days ago about wanting one before Christmas so agreed. We followed our guide to the hair salon. Rob decided to get his trimmed and then I decided to deal with my length too. Mine was $6 and she took the time to blow dry and style for nothing extra. We all looked so spiffy when we left.

Oh yah! These were huge and delicious
It was noon hour so we walked to the open-air cantina and found a table for lunch. We all knew we wanted one of their frozen margaritas so no hesitation there. Choosing a food item off the menu was a little more challenging. There is no fish and chips to order here. You soon learn that Mexican food in Mexico is not like Mexican food in Canada.
Plenty of food came with my beef quesadilla
I love quesadillas back home so I took a chance and ordered one with beef and Bill ordered Fried Tacos. Our plates were so full of food but until you taste things, you’re never sure if there is a ‘bite’ in the quacomole or the salsa. The quesadilla was different but good. The beans, rice and quacomole on the side was good but I had to pass on the salsa and tomato/pepper salad.  It was enough to fill us up and our plates weren’t empty when we left.
Bill got a free 1-minute massage - and no pressure to purchase anything
Vendors are constantly parading around and between the tables trying to sell their wares. You just have to go with it all and have fun. You are in Mexico after all and they are just trying to make a living. We had a lot of hilarious moments, Bill got a 1-minute free massage and Pat modelled a necklace for me with as she had the appropriate neckline to show it off.

Pat modelled 'my' necklace and haggled this guys price
down at the same time
Looks like more than modelling going on here
She had fun and we all enjoyed the fits and giggles
As it turned out, when we realized our cash was dwindling, Pat bought it for me. It’s quite lovely and incredible how the price went from $75 to $10 with a bit of finagling (and giggling) on her part. Los Algodones never lets us down and with our friends along, we sure laughed a lot………again. 

this is a beautiful sterling silver necklace
We wandered back to Vision Optical and picked up my glasses. Perfect! I was very very happy with being able to wear these frames again.

Lots of choices but I'm happy to be able to use my own frames
the optician said my frames were an excellent choice and looked great too!

Maura and Bill
She was here last year and is quite a sweet young thing

My new do and one pair of glasses

Second pair of glasses with a different shape
 Our last stop was the Purple Pharmacy and I walked up and ordered 50 tablets of my shingles medicine. I’d just finished my $130 prescription of 30 yesterday. Today, this would get me through the next couple of months, easily, and I’d go back in February to restock before we head for home. The price for 50 in a higher dosage was $8. Bill has a tendency to get cold sores and paid $20 for a 2-gram tube of Abreva in Ontario. Today he bought 2 – 5-gram tubes at $1.50 each. Crazy! Rob and Pat visited the liquor section before we left with our purple bags.

And Bill with his new hair cut
It was 2:15 when we walked back to the border and were greeted by security asking for our passports. Once produced we walked straight into the booth. I showed my pills to the officer and she held me up but only to casually talk about shingles. Bill was concerned, wondering why I was being held up. She was the friendliest one I’ve met so far and she wished me Merry Christmas as I walked out.

On the left, is the cold sore cream and it might just
work for my shingles as well
The tablets on the right replace the home brand at $4.33/pill
for only .16/pill and 150 mg increase in dosage
When we arrived home, we were all tired and guess who was ready for his supper after going out for a piddle. He was a good boy, probably sleeping on the bed for the whole 5 hours. Bill and I both had headaches but I foolishly thought it would pass and sat outside in the sun with my book. I only have a few chapters before finishing the book. Bill dozed inside and eventually I retreated inside to the bedroom and did the same.


We didn’t feel like much supper tonight and after I got up, I took a couple of Advil. At 6, I warmed up my squash soup and Bill had a grilled cheese sandwich. Rob invited him up to Texas Hold’Em but he declined just not feeling into it tonight again. I’m sure one night he’ll get up there! After dishes, we lazed for the evening. I did eventually finish The Whole Truth before going to bed. We watched the 2nd last Voice episode tonight and chose our winners.

One day I am going to catch the sunset
I promise!
I hope you had a great day. We sure did! We wished a lot of people Merry Christmas today in Spanish. We practiced. :) I wanted to thank you for visiting my blog today. Your comments are always wonderful to read.

20 comments:

  1. Amazing prices. Looks like a great day. The glasses look pretty spiffy as does the new hair cut. What an enjoyable day, thanks for sharing the information with us.

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    1. It sure makes the jaunt over the border worthwhile when the prices are so good and we are in safe areas over there.
      Thank you!

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  2. Patsy,
    Good score in Mexico except for the headache. :O) Too much fun.
    Hey, it's the rainy season here, from Dec to May sometimes but it's all good as most of the rains are warm so it warms up the area a bit that doesn't get that cold anyway. The weather is so nice around here I don't need to go anywhere unless I want to. That's why I don't get down to Arizona until later.
    Bob

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    1. Thank you Bob. The headaches must have been from too much fun! you're right!
      I wondered about the rain you were getting but as long as it is warm, things (chickens) will stay healthy for you.

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  3. Always a fun time in Los Algodones, From Dentists, to eye glasses, even dentures one day service complete set $600.00 and we do love the real Mexican food after having spent our 3 months in Mexico years ago. Glad you got to have a great day there.

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    1. Mexico was a fun day, as always. More laughs with friends for sure.

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  4. We are looking forward to new glasses and teeth cleaning when we get over that way. I will, also, have to bring my sunglasses, I really like, and have the lenses replaced. The price you mentioned is excellent and definitely works.

    As Deb said, you look very spiffy with your new glasses and haircut and so does Bill...:)

    From the pictures it looks like the four of you had a fun time.

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    1. It is a yearly stop for us and we usually slip across twice as we will this winter.
      Thank you, 'spiffy' is good. :)
      We had a great time with Rob and Pat.

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  5. My favorite little Mexican town. I'm always leery of the dentists finding things no other dentist seems to find, but you certainly can't beat the prices. If you check the expiration date on your meds, you can sometimes buy enough for TWO years!! You certainly can't beat THOSE prices!! Love your glasses, your hair AND the necklace!! As to the food, it is authentic Mexican. Nothing like I've had at the Canadian border! lol Next time check out their shrimp tacos!!

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    1. Yes, we love Algodones too. I always thought that of our own dentist back home when we were working and had coverage. It seemed that they'd look for something else each time. I'm going to stock up as much as I can on my meds, not sure if there are limits at the border back into the US.
      Thank you for the compliments, for $6 the hair stylist went above and beyond so we gave her a decent tip. :) The food? I still prefer a Canadian quesadilla with mild salsa and sour cream. BUT I'm going to try their shrimp tacos, never had them!

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  6. What a great day! The food and drink looks awesome and way too much! Love the necklace, that was sweet of Pat..I can't imagine having to haggle from 75 to 10, but obviously she's good at it!! Your hair looks lovely and those glasses too! Wow on the shingles meds!! Great prices.

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    1. Fun times we have together. Algodones needs to be experienced with friends, I think. It was a sweet gesture that Pat made and the vendor dropped immediately from $75 to $40 and then $30 without us saying anything. He whispered to us "today, for you $20" that is when Pat started. Funny to watch it. :) Such great deals for sure! Thank you, Bill really likes my hair too.

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  7. The prices for dental and glasses are amazing! We will cross at Progresso two or three times while we are in Mission. Dean needs new glasses and I think we will look into that. That necklace was beautiful. I think your hair looks really nice. Sounds like a great day in Algodones!

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    1. They are awesome deals over the border and good product.
      The necklace is beautiful and a sweet gesture.
      Of course, my hair will seldom be that neat........I've warned Bill! :)

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  8. Glad your Mexico visit was so profitable!

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  9. I was hoping to get glasses there this year but our travels will not go that far west. I guess next year. Good choice on re-using your old frames. It saves a lot of money.

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    1. That is the good thing, you know there is always another year. I was pleased that he said my old frames were perfect. I didn't pay much for them years ago so I was happy.

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