More fun in Pahrump…& quick trip to Yuma

Yeah, I’m still here in Pahrump. Taking advantage of the great weather. But the weather is not why I’m staying in town, it’s because the VA moves like a glacier getting anything done. But after all the trips, visits, and consults I’ve had here in Pahrump and over at the VA hospital in Las Vegas, they finally got some stuff done this last nearly full month. ONE: Got both my Covid-19 shots. TWO: The anomaly they saw on my kidney during the ultrasound of my bladder, which was done as part of my prostate issue, turned out to be nothing. Like 60% of them turn out to be nothing, most of the other anomalies turn out to be cysts that never need treatment. Very annoying they latched onto that instead of working on my prostate. THREE: I got in to see a Dr. about my knees. Of course they only focus on one knee at a time. Some mornings it takes nearly 2 hours to be able to walk easily because both knees are stiff and sore. And I went to the hospital to see him yesterday and the gist is I have early stage osteoarthritis and they have a shot in lieu of surgery! Yea! So I have an appointment for that shot on May 10th. I’ll go ahead and wait for that. Dr. told me the shots cost the VA $1500 each and they have to deaden my knee first, so he’ll do it there in his office at the hospital.

Have no idea what they’re doing about my prostate but I have an appointment here in town with the PA. I’ll have to tell him to schedule anything to do with that for December because I’m heading north on May 15th. You might remember that I have an appointment up in Walla Walla for laser surgery at a Urology clinic but I couldn’t find any way to get the VA to pay for it. The Dr. is out of system so it would cost me $25,000 to have it done there. Inside the VA system, my cost would be zero. So reluctantly cancelled my appointment at Dr. Hutton’s clinic. I don’t have any insurance except the VA and Medicare Part A (ER or medically necessary only).

Well, enough of that medical stuff. It’s annoying me but we’re getting stuff done. So, on with the adventures here in Pahrump and nearby areas.

Back in January I mentioned that I needed replacement awning covers for my two slides as one was tearing along a seam and since they’re both the same age, I decided I’d replace both along with getting a pull down awning for over the two large windows in the living room slide. Seems many places I stay at there’s too much sun hitting those windows so I have reflective insulation in them most summers…so I don’t get to enjoy the great outdoors as much as I’d like. So decided to get one of those awnings too. And to do that with the company I wanted to use, Shadepro, I’d have to travel south to their service area. Which includes every medium sized town south of Lake Havasu City. So Havasu, Parker Dam, Parker, Quartzsite, and Yuma. Probably some others in that area too.

But as it worked out, the only time I could catch a break with an appointment time between Dr. visits was the week of March 15th in Yuma. Only opening in their and my schedule that fit for both of us. So, off I went to Yuma! Here’s the map to Yuma…

First though, I had to install the electrical for the Saturn so I’d have Running/Turn/Brake lights. Took longer to decide what to do then to do it. All I did was run the flat 4-wire flat cable from the front connector back to the trunk. I’ll write up an article about that soon for the ’02 Winnebago section of the blog. This was the first trip I’ve taken when towing the Saturn L200. Tested the electrical before I left the park of course and it was good.

Here is some of the countryside in the desert. This is close to the turn off to someplace…I forget. One of the sort sections of 4 lane highway along the route I’m taking. There is a casino based town near here and a nice rest stop too. Most of the time I’m on US95 with short freeway sections where it’s convenient.

And I decided to stay at Goldwater RV Park 

Not the best RV park I’ve ever stayed at but it was the least expensive for a weeks stay there in Yuma when I searched last week. Only cost $175/wk. They tried to make it $185 when I arrived but their web site says $175 so I protested and only paid the $175 amount.

The place had the advantage of being closer to Mexico then most RV parks in town and it also had a trailer for sale right next to the space I chose so I could park my car in the shade of the RV at that trailer space’s spot and not be chased off by anyone.

Later in the afternoon, when it was the hottest, the shade from the RV covered most of the car. Handy. In this shot you can also see both the fabric awnings on top of the slides that I was getting replaced. And those two windows facing the car will get the new pull down awning.

I had arrived on March 15th, contacted Shadepro, they sent a tech out for measurements a couple days later, then he came back the following Saturday to install everything. Meanwhile, had time to mess around in Yuma and down in Mexico.

So first off, here’s a short picture visit to downtown oldtown Yuma. I’ve been here before of course but I sort of like it. That is I like it when the weather is mild like it was on this particular day. Just strolled around. Eventually had myself a nice ice cream cup. This is the actual center of the original town and the rest of it is a sprawling mess of residential and business. There must be over a hundred RV parks, manufactured home parks, and trailer parks scattered all over the area around here, a few strip malls and service businesses, and this is really the only picturesque upscale public area of Yuma…IMO. 
So without the heat of summer, it’s a nice place to stroll. And since I’ve really cut back on drinking, note that I only showed one bar/saloon/pub this time. There are like 5 of them on this street. Couple of them brew pubs, the rest serve microbrews, and one is a casino. All serve food too. I’ve eaten at 3 of them and they all serve pretty good food.

A couple days after that, decided to run down to Los Algodones to have my teeth looked at and cleaned. This time I didn’t bother driving across the border, I left my car ($6) on the US side at the giant parking lot they have right at the border and walked in. Probably a mistake as it took 45 minutes to cross back over when I’d finished visiting, might have crossed back faster in the air conditioned car. Getting in is no problem. Walking or driving. It’s getting back into the US that’s the hold up.

So here’s the dentists office. It’s just a few blocks from the border crossing and I walked down here around 11 AM straight away and made an appointment. And they were able to accommodate me 30 minutes later.

Meanwhile, there is a town park right across the street so I went over just to sit in the shade.

Here’s a look at the dentist I use. There are 200 dentists in this town. I like these women though. And the looks of their office. And their low rates. Cost me $40 USD for a cleaning by a Dr. and her hygienist.

Before that happened though, saw this guy with a cane in the park and paid him $5 USD to play for me. Also bought an ol’ timey soda. I forget the brand but it was cherry and very tasty. They use real sugar not corn syrup too.

Here’s a look at the town’s park. Kinda small for this sized town so this must only be one of many.

While I was waiting for my dental appointment, and after I’d hired the guy to play for me, the owner of the small food court type wagon I was sitting near and where I’d bought the soft drink brought over a free taco for me. Turns out, he told me, that his was the first taco cart here years ago but the cart next to his does a better business. Kinda funny. Except maybe because their cart is the first one in line? His is second? That’s the only difference I could see. Maybe their food selection was better, his taco tasted great though. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wasn’t hungry when he handed it to me. Ate it anyway as street vendor tacos are snack sized.

Everyone from the US visiting here was polite and wearing their masks. So was I. Wanted to mention that in case you were wondering. So was nearly every Mexican I met. The dentists office even had this fancy schmancy mister that kills bacteria and viruses. Neato.

After the teeth cleaning, wandered back downtown window gazing. Noticed a barber shop and stopped in for a $5 senior haircut. Wearing it right now! Also got a pedicure and a manicure. It all came, with tip, to $20 USD. Afterwards, did a bunch more walking, stopping to gaze at all the junk, and eventually wore off the taco, so stopped at this great Mexican restaurant on the main street. I forget the name but I do remember that I had to pass through a large bar to get back to the restaurant part. They had someone there to take your temp and hand you a mask if you needed it. Also had some squirt bottles of disinfectant and paper towels.

The restaurant features several mature trees which give lots of shade. As you can imagine, if it hadn’t been mid March, the shade would be welcome relief for tourists. Today it was just nice to have, not a desperate need. Anyway, I like trying taco soup when I go to a Mexican restaurant so I ordered a Pina Colada. Oh, and soup. HAH!

Yummy! The soup was amazingly good. The colada was great as well. Big chunk of tasty pineapple to go with the coconut. Nothing like a nice lunch to make me all warm and toasty inside. Accompanied by a cool and refreshing drink. Hmm, just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I should mention how freakin’ fast they are with your order. Just took a couple minutes to have everything I ordered.

This particular restaurant has a DJ rather than a mariachi band. I’d prefer the band, but the music the DJ was spinning was welcome. That’s not him in the picture, that’s one of the waitstaff.

While you’re visiting this place to have some food or drinks at a sit down table, about a million vendors come by and try to sell you all sorts of weird stuff. Same junk that you see in all the tiny shops along the sidewalk. Anything from small trinkets to large metal sculptures. You just shake your head no and off they go. Not a big deal, and they aren’t aggressive.



And the biggest tree ever is the center piece of the restaurant. Very comfortable under that tree, temp wise. A bit too hot when not under it…so as you can imagine, most of the tables with shade were taken when I walked in around 2 pm but I did find an empty table with full shade soon enough.

My table was that one there in the center of the picture next to the brick whatcha callit…I wanna say arch? They’ve already cleaned up after me. Nice and shady.

Pretty cool place huh? I really like it here. Have fond memories from all the trips I’ve made to Los Algodones; nice people, friendly, helpful, lots of good places to have your teeth worked on, an auto body shop where I’ve had work done, great restaurants, barbers, vendors for trinkets, and so on. So if you visit Yuma, be sure to cross the border and visit Mexico!

As I was leaving, passing through the bar, there’s this tortoise walking through the place. Seems as though he lives here. Has a pretty good life what with everyone dropping him veggies and whatnot.

Thing about this restaurant is that it’s like exactly the same layout as that other restaurant about 2 blocks away that I visited my last trip here. Looks like they were built by the same construction company. Even has the same type of giant tree in the middle of the place. The other one you pass a bunch of drugstores on your way inside, this one you pass through a bar. Kinda the same thing, huh?

And just after I walked out and turned left, this is what the sidewalk looks like. Kinda crowded. Most of the town’s sidewalks are like this…at least near the center of town very near the border crossing. Any kind of Mexican trinket your heart might desire. For me though, rarely see anything I’m interested in. If you’re driving your car, the next block over is just a typical Mexican street with very few shops like these. BTW, if you want to drive your car over, as long as you carry your registration in the glove compartment, your DL from whichever state or country you’re from, your passport or that special state issued ID, you’re good to cross both ways. Don’t need any special insurance, and don’t need a TIP either. The TIP and insurance is needed if you plan on driving 125 KM into Mexico. Beyond 125 KM, you can stop at most banks and get a TIP. And then what most people do about insurance if they’re planning on staying a while is buy 1-3 days worth of insurance at the border (I saw ONE place in this small town selling Mexican insurance, often the town on the US side, in this case Yuma, would sell policies too.) Then after you reach your destination, you buy a much less expensive policy to tide you over during your stay.

After a great day wandering around Los Algodones, I lined up with everyone else to cross back into the US. Used my new passport card (same size as a CC) and they waved me right through…that after I’d stood in line for 45 minutes slowly advancing to the border kiosk. Note that if you don’t have that new card, or your passport, you are going to end up in an office while they research your history online with the government…it’ll take 1-3 hours for them to verify you’re you, but they can’t (legally) deny you entry if you have some sort of picture ID. And that’s if you have your DL or that new ID verification card with you.

Nice to have shade from these fabric awnings while waiting in line, but it was still uncomfortable most of the wait. Places to sit did help. There are lots of vendors too so you can buy a water, trinkets, or snacks if you want.

And soon, you are on the US side heading towards the parking lot.

My knees were killing me when I reached my car but it was worth it. Great visit.

And the next day, ShadePro guy arrived with my new awnings and began the process of removing the old and installing the new.

And then he got onto putting the new awning assembly over the slide windows. You can see the slide bracket already in place screwed to the wall of the slide over the window.

This is an awning device I’ve wanted for years. Seems that many times I have to park where the afternoon sun beats on that side of the RV and I’d have to use reflective insulation in the windows. With this new pull down awning, I won’t have to do that anymore. 

So that’s all for this article. I headed back to Pahrump a couple days later and had an uneventful trip except once again, I missed the weird turn off to Pahrump from the freeway approaching Las Vegas so was forced to take a serpentine route through mostly neighborhoods rather than commercial zones to get back onto the Blue Diamond highway. Several miles out of the way with slow going but my GPS knows I have a bus so makes allowances and doesn’t take me on narrow streets or anything.

Eventually though, I was back in Pahrump. Next time, I take another trip to Ash Meadow and visit areas I didn’t know existed there the last time I visited. Got clued in by my friend John. And then the follow up trip to Darwin Falls. So don’t miss that.

Thanks for reading!