March and April

I started this post in early April.

I was really getting "hitch itch" as we whiled away the last few weeks of our winter stay at Jojoba Hills. In March we went down to the border town of Los Algodones, Mexico to get a little dental work taken care of. Craig had a very old crown come off that he needed  to have replaced. I needed a cleaning and ended up getting a "deep cleaning" on one quadrant because I had a pretty deep pocket next to one of my teeth. We go to Sani Dental and have been very satisfied with their work over the years.

I also do enjoy looking at all the colorful goods offered by the vendors, and as usual did buy one little thing: a new handbag. I had hoped to find some yard art, but the only things that grabbed my attention were the colorful ones, and I learned they require recoating with lacquer every six months or so if kept outside. I don't want anything that needs attention to look nice!

We spent a very nice low key Easter Sunday at our daughter's home in San Diego. Coincidentally, April 1 was the fifth anniversary of the sale closing of our mountain home. Time flies!  

We spent another week there in mid-April as dog-sitters when they (daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons) went to Houston for the National FIRST Robotics competition. We enjoyed watching the Regional near San Diego recently.

The boys have been very active on their school robotics team, which qualified for one of two National finals.  This was the last competition for the older grandson. He will be heading off to college at MIT in Boston next fall. We are very proud of them both.

The weather here at Jojoba Hills has been wonderful this winter. We have had very few cold or gloomy days, and on the other hand, not many extra-hot ones. 

Saturday night there was a very nice sunset to enjoy. At the other site we could see the sunset from our windows, at the new site there is a tree blocking the view, but if we step out we can see the western sky quite well.  

And now I have found a nice spot on our site where we can put our chairs and enjoy the sunsets.

This is the view from the center of the road outside our coach. Not much traffic! I can stand out in the center of the road without danger. The speed limit is 9 1/2 MPH, and most vehicles are golf carts.

Sunset, zoomed in.

The passenger side of our coach faces southeast. The clouds often catch some sunset color as well.  

I know I have written that Jojoba Hills was built by volunteers, and that the members/residents help with maintenence by tackling tasks according to their abilities.

 Above, one of our more flexible members is repainting the pavement stop signs. Yes, she is a "senior citizen." But she also teaches Zumba!

Many RVers have pets.

Our neighbor across the street has an enclosed garden where three  Desert Tortoises live.

They do travel in their motorhome, but they stay at Jojoba in the winter, and one of the full-timer summer residents cares for the garden and keeps them fed and watered.

Tommy is the big male above. Our neighbor had his father and mother as a boy, and Tommy was the result of one of their clutches of eggs. You know he gave them really good care because they have had sucessful offspring! Tommy's mother is one of the three. 

They like roses. 

The smaller tortist is called Rosie. She was a "rescue."

Last year she was a bit shy and avoided Tommy, but now she is willing to get right in there and claim her fair share of the flower.

All gone! You can see the size difference between them.

After eating she went into the shallow water dish and our neighbor sprayed her. He said that they like to get wet down even though they are desert criitters.

The end of April full moon is called the "pink" moon. Not because it is actually pink, but for the many pink flowers that will be in bloom soon. (Except it seems in California, where yellow is the dominant color for wild blooms.)

It was quite bright, and rose over the hills beyond our back yard.

The picture was taken our last night at Jojoba Hills for the season. We set out for our summer travels first thing Monday, April 30th. an are now in Las Vegas at the Duck Creek RV park.

Watch for more frequent posts!  We are on the move.

Hello, Where Have I Been? Why did I stop blogging? Where am I now?

In September, after a very nice summer traveling throughout the East Coast and up into the Maritime Provinces of Canada, we started our journey back west. It was time to do several maintenance jobs, a bit of appliance repair and replacement, our normal annual Freightliner service, and some dental work. Our route was not straight west, nor did it seem to provide particularly  "fun" subjects for my blog.

We:

• Went to Memphis for two days of Freightliner service on the Alfa.
• Went down to Choudrant, Louisiana to get a new microwave installed, and tried to get a few other things taken care of on the rig, including getting a new door on the refrigerator. 
• Since our service man was unable to get a new door for us, we went back to Kentucky to a shop that specializes in RV refrigerators and had the job done.  
• Then we went to Yuma AZ. I finally got the tooth for my implant and several other new crowns in Los Algodones, Mexico. Craig had a root canal.
• Because his tooth root showed some infection, he had to wait two weeks before getting a new crown on the tooth.
• Rather than waiting in Yuma, where it was very hot, we drove up to Aguanga (more about that later) for the wait.
• Went back to Yuma, Craig got the new crown, and on November 5th we went up to Las Vegas to visit good friends for a few days.
• We are now back in Aguanga, at the SKP Jojoba Hills RV Resort, and will be here for several months.

Jojoba Hills RV Resort, is an Escapee club co-op park located in Aguanga California, about 18 miles east of Temecula. We stayed there a couple of times as visitors, and last fall put ourselves on the buy-in waiting list. In March our name came to the top of the list, and we  were offered site 719, which we took.

In the month we have been here I have been busy with some of the many activities available. I will save discussions of them for individual posts in the near future. Craig has been doing some small chores around the rig and relaxing with a few good books.

One nice thing is that we are only about 80 miles from our daughter's home in San Diego. We have been down several times and enjoy seeing family and friends there.

I'm using a picture of the Alfa at Jojoba Hills as my header right now, but when I change the header that picture will go away, so I've included another one here.

This is the Alfa on our site at Jojoba Hills: 719 Mourning Dove Way.

I like the fact that there are no rigs facing us from across the street. This is our view out the dining room window.

Our site is pretty basic at this point. 

We will be making improvements to it, but are in no big hurry. 

One thing I really love about our site is the fantastic views of the mountains and the sky.

November sunset from our site

We have had a couple of good stormy days. 

I have enjoyed lying on the bed, reading, and watching the clouds billowing up over the mountains.

So, in summary, we are alive and well, but not traveling for a while. One of my big projects for the winter is making plans for our 2017 trip to Alaska!  

I will try to post from time to time. I kept meaning to for the longest time, but was very disturbed by all the politics.
One thing I love about Jojoba is this policy:

This sign hangs below the TV in the workout room. 

Freedom from politics and freedom from religion makes for a peaceful, happy environment! Everyone is free to have their own, but discouraged from pushing their agenda or faith on others.

More About Mexican Dentistry

I choose to write more on this topic because I see there is a lot of interest in it.  Many of the other RV bloggers have also written about their experiences, and I highly recommend reading their input and checking out reviews before making any decisions for yourself about your own situation.

Starting as a teenager, going to the dentist was a regular part of my life. When reviewing my most recent x-rays, the dentist and I noted that I had only one tooth that had not been crowned, had a root canal, or was pulled to make way for a bridge. 

It seems, like everyone in my family, I have lousy teeth. I have always tried to take care of them, brushing regularly, and seeing dentists twice a year and at the first sign of any problems. I sometimes wonder if my brain has been partially fried by all of the x-rays I have had over the years!





I am the youngest in my family, and I two of my siblings have false teeth.  

I feel I have made a firm stand against getting dentures. It has been very expensive, and disappointing when my American made bridges or crowns have failed. A few years ago I spent over $3000 for a three tooth bridge, only to have it break in a couple of years, it had to be replaced with a five tooth bridge (only $5500). The dentist gave me a price break because I was retired. I have to say, this bridge seems  to be OK.  For now.

How much worse can Mexican Dentistry be for me? Will my new crowns hold up over time? Maybe, maybe not, but I am willing to give it a go. 

One of the crowns I just had replaced is on a molar that I have had trouble with for years. It has had a root canal and a crown, but always bothered me just a little. My American dentist checked it several times over the years and wanted to send me to a specialist if it got worse. He felt there was nothing he could do for it. I know it has only been a day since my crowns were put on, but this is the first time in seven years that that tooth has been quiet. I hope it lasts!

We chose Sani Dental in Los Algodones. We have seen both good and bad reviews, and except for the long waits in the waiting room, have been satisfied with their work, cleanliness, and cost. 

While writing this, I thought of another advantage for us as full time RVers. With my dentist in the States, I would have to make an appointment, weeks in advance, unless it was an emergency, get the preliminary work done, make another appointment for when the lab work was complete, sometimes a couple of weeks, and come back for the final work. When you travel the way we do, this just doesn't work. 

I have been able to get cleaning appointments by planning ahead, and a couple of times we had dental emergencies that we only had to wait a week or so to get in for treatment. We have found many small town dentists and doctors have offices in more than one town and it is not easy to get in as a traveler.  In Mexico, although we generally do make an appointment, the system is loose, you will be seen, and getting a crown or bridge only takes three or four days. 

Would I get a knee or hip replacement in Mexico? Probably not.  If my insurance didn't cover it, I would go to Thailand or Dubai.

[From Craig] I looked up Merikay's Zirconia crowns on Wikipedia.  The article said they are a good investment for both appearance and durability.  It finished with this sentence: "Zirconium crowns cost around $200 in India, $450 in Hungary and $550 in Mexico".  Which makes me wonder why they chose those three countries.  It's also an interesting data point for someone who needs most or all of their crowns replaced.

FYI Dental and Glasses in Los Algodonas, Mexico

I know several of you are interested in hearing about our opinion of our dental and vision experiences in Los Algodones, Mexico.

They are a bit mixed. I just had my teeth cleaned. I feel the dentist did not do as deep a job as my American oral hygenist. He seemed a bit tentative, but after years of having the same lady doing my teeth, and my encouraging her to really "dig in", I am not surprised. The cleaning was a painless experience, and the cost of $30 was 1/3 of what I pay in Califonia. I would not hesitate to do it again the next time we come this way.

Craig had a periodontic procedure. His last lower-right molar, which anchors a 3-tooth bridge, started hurting in February. Our dental clinic in Los Gatos drained an infection from there, and wrote recommended treatment procedures which he brought to the same periodontist who did his front teeth in November. He says it's hard to judge the results for a week or two. His treatment cost $210. It would probably cost $1000 in the US.

We both got new glasses. Craig got single vision transition glasses for driving, and is quite happy with them. The cost was $169. I got progressive Varilux lenses in one pair, and transition polarized sun glasses for my second pair. My cost was $378 for both. I am pleased with the regular glasses, but a bit doubtful about the sunglasses. Because they are more curved, the close vision is not as good as I would like it to be. I have to say that the gal at Best Optical told me they would not be as good as a flater style, but I went ahead and ordered them anyway.

 I brought my own prescription that I got in California from a good opthalmologist before we left. The sunglasses are for hiking more than reading, and I choose a more wrap around style for wind protection. I have dry eys, so they should be do the job.

They were all made in one day.  We got there about 11:00 am, and picked them up by 3:00 pm. Because non-glare takes several weeks we passed on it.

So there you have it. I think going to Los Algodones is cost effective and safe. I highly recommend the place. And if you go with the right attitude and a lot of patience, it's fun to visit!

Just smile and say no to all the vendors unless you really want a plaster donkey or turtle.  I did give some change to a couple of accordian players, and bought some fresh strawberries while we waited in line to get thru customs.  I ate them "out of hand" and I guess I'll know in 24 hours if I will get Montezuma's revenge because I didn't wash them myself.