Thursday, February 15: Woke up early today and got ready to go to Los Algodones, right across the border into Mexico. Los Algodones means The Cottons or Cotton Buds in Spanish. It is believed to be derived from the name of the tribe that lived there, Halchidomas. It realized its first big growth boom during prohibition when people from the US went there to drink and party. Now it is booming from people going to get cheaper prescription drugs and dental work, and also to drink and party.

The Keenans, Bryants and I loaded up into Bill’s truck and took off around 9:00. It is kind of funny because there is a parking area run by the tribe where they charge $6 to park. Some people are too cheap and will park along the road just outside the parking area and walk. Then you just walk straight into Mexico. No customs, immigration or anything except an X-ray machine for bags which was new. Just like any tourist place in Mexico, there were men lining the walkways trying to sell you something, but instead of time shares or tours, it was drugs or dentists. Then there was a warren of stalls selling all the regular Mexican stuff like blankets, jewelry, metal wall pieces, metal yard pieces, ceramics, you name it.

Judy went to get her hair cut and Bill wanted to price some metal lawn art. He found some that he liked but wanted to check out the place close to here in Yuma to see what the price difference was. They are so close to Los Algodones that it isn’t a big deal to go back if need be to get what he wants. Their new yard has been cleaned up and rock delivered and spread and is starting to look real nice. He doesn’t want any real plants besides the 5 palm trees already there, hence the reason for looking for other things to add interest.

We then went to the El Paraiso restaurant and bar to wait for Judy with Margaritas or cervezas. Funny thing was they didn’t start selling them until 11:00, which I have never heard of in Mexico. The waitress said something like it was the law in California, and I said Baja California? And she replied, yes.

By noon the place was packed and a two man band was playing loudly right next to us. There was a turtle that wandered through a couple of times and one of the waiters gave it some strawberries. It was funny to see it in the middle of the bar eating them with everyone taking pictures.

We ended up leaving and going to the casino a short distance back over the border for lunch. They had a nice salad bar with two soups. It was really nice salad bar with lots of variety. After lunch, the guys played a little blackjack and Judy a slot machine. Trish and I went to the bar and had a drink. It was kind of funny because when the bartender put down my drink I heard her say $25! I thought, OMG, guess I won’t have more than one. I pulled out 2 twenties and handed them to her. She handed one back and I said, “I thought you said $25?!” She said, “no, $4.25” and we both laughed. I played $4 worth of video poker with a $1.50 return when the guys came back to leave. The most I have spent gambling in years!

I had purchased a big chuck roast on sale the day before and had the little yellow potatoes from the farmers market so had said I would make pot roast. Not something I normally would have made in the desert but the weather has been fairly cool in the evenings (in fact, it had rained quite a bit overnight) and everyone always likes pot roast.

I decided to use the Instant Pot. Even though it has a sauté function, I browned the meat on the stove top. I don’t think the sauté function gets quite hot enough for a good sear. Every time I do anything at a high temperature in the oven or stove top the damn smoke alarm goes off. So, I finally took a paper towel and covered the thing up.

Dinner was outside around the fire pit since it stayed fairly warm. I had cooked the meat for an hour in the pressure cooker before putting in the vegetables for another half hour. I had carrots and Marianne had a few more carrots and a little cauliflower. The vegetables were a little too done so next time I would add them for maybe 10 minutes. I had sautéed some mushrooms in the skillet I used for browning the meat and made a mushroom gravy from the juices from cooking the roast. It all tasted good if a little mushy.

Misty spent a lot of the time after I got back from Mexico outside. She just loves rolling around on the gravel and cement. It is probably fairly warm when the sun comes out. She also isn’t so skittish now that we have been here a few days and is getting to be more of her friendly self. She isn’t going to like going back on the road, I don’t think.