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It has been about a month now that I’ve been on a central and southern California road trip that also skirted into Nevada.  It was a good trip and now I was heading back into Arizona.  The two most obvious things I noticed when getting to AZ were that the gas prices looked to be averaging around $.50 to $1.00 a gallon less and the increase in temperature.  Two days ago when I was on the Harley riding the coast, I could have used some heavier riding gear, it was brisk and windy.  Now when crossing the desert nearing Yuma, the temps got as high as 106 degrees at one point.  Yes, I know, it’s a dry heat!

I crossed the boarder and into Yuma in the late afternoon and headed for the local library to catch up on emails.  The place was open until nine that day and between email and text conversations I overstayed my planned visit and it was already getting dark.  Since I had no place to stay yet and there’s no moonlight tonight, it was going to be difficult to find some of the BLM free camping spaces somewhere off the highway.  I calculated that after 26 days that I’ve been on the road I only spent $40.00 for two camp sites and all the other nights were free. So after living exclusively in my camper since I left Sedona, I decided to get a hotel room.   I’ve been using Dude Shower wipes as my “shower” option and was really looking forward to a hot shower.  So I found a bargain hotel and brought my shave kit and change of clothes to the room and got ready take a long hot shower.  Turns out the water only reached room temperature even after running the shower and the sink next to it for a while.  Oh well, at least I got wet, soapy and squeaky clean.  Since I try to economize on my stays I usually pick out inexpensive hotels and most times that means less amenities, if you want to consider hot water an amenity.  When picking a hotel I will usually drive once around the parking lot just to see if it looks like the camper and bike will be safe during the night.  Not sure this is an effective strategy but it makes me feel better.  However, sometimes you miss obvious signs like this locked, stripped bicycle I saw on the way to my room after I registered.  

I have been to Yuma before and it’s a nice town.  The Snow Birds pack the place in the winter months and between Yuma and Quartzite, AZ there are tens of thousands in their RV’s.  Now that it’s already getting hot they are mostly gone and it is much quieter.  I did some looking around while here for a couple of days and visited the local Harley dealer as I often do when going somewhere new.  Nothing about Yuma called out to me, but wait, maybe if there was something exciting to do. I know, how about a dose of … Mexican dentistry!

About 10 miles from Yuma is the Mexican boarder town of Los Algodones, also know as “Molar City”.  The population there is about 5,500 residents and there over 300 dental offices.  Also there are a good amount of pharmacies, liquor stores and optometrists.  These places are a whole lot less expensive then in the US. And people flock here to get their dental worked done.  To me the term “Mexican dentistry” has a certain frightening ring to it.  I’m not a huge fan of going to the dentist anyway, but with prices in Los Aldogones typically ranging 50% to 70% lower then in the states, it’s worth a look see.  Do you get what you pay for… I hope not.  I haven’t been to a dentist in about three of four years, no longer have dental coverage and haven’t had any issues except for a molar that is chipped.  I did a little research and found what appeared to be several highly rated dental offices.  Took the Harley to the boarder parking lot and crossed over on foot into Mexico.  You are immediately met with people asking if you need a dentist, eyeglasses, Viagra and liquor.  All the necessities of life. 

Walking around for a while to check out this small town, it really is incredible how many dentist offices there are.  Around 11:00AM I found the office I was looking for and went in.  Compared to the other places around town this one was really busy and they still took walk ins.  So I signed up and went into the waiting room.  First step, wait a while and then sit down with a girl that asks questions, explains the general process and puts you back in the waiting room.  Step two, get a 360 degree X-Ray of your teeth and jaw.  The tech told me the machine didn’t go up and down right now because it was broken, so I needed to stand on a stool, hang onto the machine and squat to get into position.  He also put a led vest on me, that slipped down as the machine started.  I did not get charged for the extra radiation.  Back to the waiting room to wait for a consultation with a dentist after they get my X-Rays.  In a while I got called into an office with a dentist and a person who worked a calculator as the dentists tells you what he is recommending.  Except for the chipped molar I am in good shape.  Plus the chip isn’t near the nerve. 

First they wanted to do a top of the line cap and it would take 4 visits and was around $600 with an extensive cleaning.  No thanks.  Then they had a lesser quality cap that would take three visits and costs a couple of hundred less, no thanks.  Then how about just the extensive deep cleaning for $200, no thanks.  How about a regular cleaning for $35.  Okay, sold.  If it was determined that I needed the cap or there would soon be problems I would have done it, but this was not the case.  So back to the waiting room.  To put this into perspective I’ve now been here well over two hours to get this far.  Now you wait another 30 minutes and they call you to pay for the services, then back to the waiting room.   I needed to pay for the x-rays, and I stayed to get the cleaning because I was already this far down the path.  In the waiting room which is actually a long hallway with chairs all along the wall, I heard one woman say to her companion that last time she was here she waited 5 hours past her appointment time.  Then another couple said they had been here since 8:30AM this morning and were still waiting and it was closing in on 2:00PM.  So I got up and checked with the desk and they told me, “no worries just 5 more minutes they are getting my room ready”,  20 minutes later I went back and the girl at the desk made a call.  She hung up and said, “no worries, just 5 more minutes they are getting my room ready”.  I asked her if that was a New York 5 minutes or a Mexican 5 minutes.  She stared blankly at me.  The other folks who had been here before kind of chuckled and said there’s no such thing as a real 5 minutes here and it’s possible I might even have to come back tomorrow.  After another 20 minutes I went back to the desk and got a refund and left.  Interestingly a block away I passed the dental office that I had as the second choice on my list and when I looked in the widow saw what appeared to be five dental workers sitting around watching TV.  I walked in and asked how long the wait would be to get my teeth cleaned.  Answer, right now AND for it was $15 less then the first place.  So I got my teeth cleaned and was back on the street in about 15 minutes.  I rewarded myself by stopping at a street vendor and having a couple of really good Shrimp Tacos. 

It turned out to be a fairly productive day.  I got to go into Mexico for the day to walk around Los Algodones and see what the town was like.  I got confirmation by way of X-Ray and a consultation that the molar I was concerned about was actually okay for now.   The X-ray was the most expensive part of the day at $60.00.  After that I got my teeth cleaned for $20.00, had two excellent shrimp tacos from a street vendor for $4.00 and got a haircut for $3.00 and to park the bike in the US lot was $6.00 for the whole day.  All in all a good day, except for the excessive time spent in the waiting room before I finally bailed out. 

The plan was now to get back to Yuma for my gear and head to Quartzite, AZ a little over an hour away and sleep there for the night.  Yes, there are a lot of BLM camping sites in Yuma too, but since I would be passing Quartzite tomorrow on the way north I thought instead of searching out a Yuma site I’d get the ride done tonight and I know where to camp in Quartzite.  In the winter Quartzite is overrun with RV’s and people, but the last time I passed through about a month ago there were only a few RV’s and there’s plenty of BLM land to camp. 

I got back to the hotel where I left the camper parked and drove the Harley onto the trailer.  I was going a little fast when the front tire went into the wheel chock and one of the bolts that secure it snapped.  I guess after repeatedly taking the bike on and off the trailer the bolt was stressed enough to break.  Basically the wheel chock holds the front tire of the bike in place on the trailer so I needed to fix this or I wasn’t leaving town today.  It’s a custom bolt and finding one would probably not be possible plus it’s already 6:00PM.  Back on the bike and off to several stores until at the Tractor Supply store I found some heavy duty screws and an assist from a young lady that had some ideas on how to patch up my problem.  Got back, did the fix which worked well and was off to Quartzite to camp.  It was already getting dark, but having been there before I knew where to go and could find it in the dark. 

I arrived at Quartzit, which is now basically a ghost town, and went to the BLM camp grounds.  I had my choice of spots because there was the not a single camper there.  Before turning in I poured a glass of wine, went outside and star gazed since there’s no light out there and it was beautiful.  Off in the distance I heard a couple of Coyotes howling and it occurred to me that maybe I should get back in the camper before something that’s hungry thinks I’m a good dinner selection.

The next morning I saw that even the trailer that belongs to the people that live there as the “Hosts” to check you in was gone.  So when I say nobody was there, I mean literally noooooo-body!  

Campers:  There is definitely plenty of BLM space to camp at Quartzite which isn’t all that far from Yuma.  I also know there are places like this to camp near Yuma, but never connected with them.  The area is really busy in the winter months, but in the hot season, not that much going on.

Bikers:  The area if fairly flat and desert like.  I didn’t explore too many alternate roads just taking the couple to get me in and out of town and to Mexico on this trip.  Plus a bit of riding around town.  If you’re looking for some fun and scenic riding in AZ, I would go north and west.

Stretch:  Mexican dentistry was a bit of a stretch for me.  Going to the dentist normally takes me a bit out of my comfort zone already.  Going into the unknown of a small border town in Mexico to potentially get work done on the cheap after reading the good, the bad and the ugly in some of the reviews ratchets up the “excitement”.  Not needing any major work done was a relief and I’m glad that I don’t have more detail to add to this post.  If down the road I need some extensive work done, I would most likely go back.