Algodones, Mexico

[Sparkle]

Jenny drove Beth and I down to Algodones, it's only about 22 miles away from where we are staying. Beth and I wanted to get our Visiters Visas, and change money to Peso's before we go in officially. Jenny just happened to know it was Party Time at a restaurant there. FREE Margarita's and FREE Food. So first off, we had no trouble getting our Visa's. It cost 23.00 American Dollars. Then we changed money. Talk about confused. We wanted to convert 300.00 American into Peso's. Duh, we were in the restaurant before Beth figured out that we had only converted 23.20. So after we drank and ate we staggered back to the ATM and got a decent amount of money. This is where we ate, and drank and drank.


An overall view of the place.


There was a band playing and these adorable little girls dancing.


Jenny and Beth, relatively sober.


The three of us - a little less sober.


Whoa - Jenny promised there wasn't much alcohol in the drinks. It must have been heat that got to me.


But wait till you see how it affected Beth. We passed THE GREEN DOOR, should have taken a picture! This is where Sharon had her infamous lap dance. One Margie, Two Margies, Three Margies - Pole.

[Bethers]

A girl's just got to have fun

[rvgrammy1953]

She dances and sings, too.......


Yep, the girl sure does have fun!!!!!

The devil made me do it, Beth.....

[oregontocal]

You three just had too much fun! And you were lucky. When I got my tourist card in Mexicali, woman told me I had to pay for it with cash - pesos. Would have had to walk several blocks down some street to find an ATM machine, and I had parked over the border in Calexico at a metered spot. So, time was of the essence. I've got the tourist card, and just need to pay for it when we cross the border. I'm just going to get pesos at ATMs because I understand they give the best exchange rate.

[Bethers]

Chris, they didn't do something right. And that will mean we have to stop in the border town to get you taken care of - which is what getting them in advance was trying to solve. We had to go to the office and fill out the information, then take it to the bank and pay, then take that back to the office to get the final card. If you haven't paid, you don't have the final card - it isn't issued until then. What you have is what we were given to take to the bank. Also, make sure they dated it for long enough. We told them 4 months to be on the safe side - they gave us cards for 6 months.

Yep, Lori - and you went searching to find that old pic. And no, I didn't have much to drink today. Sparkle was the one feeling a little wobbly.

[oregontocal]

Yes, they screwed up. My card is also good for 6 months, though. And I'll still need to stop at an ATM anyway to get pesos. However, the fee doesn't need to be paid until Ensenada or San Felipe. So no reason to stop at the border. Where we're going to cross doesn't sound like it will be very crowded, though, so we can play it by ear.

[Bethers]

Chris, you don't need to pay in pesos - but you need to pay at the bank - and while they didn't say we had to pay in the town we got the card - they held our passports until we did - then we return the paperwork (with much changed on it) to the office to get it formalized. We might have to take a trip down to Algodones after you get here to make sure yours is good to go. That said, yes, you can do it in other places, but what if we go a route that takes us beyond where you have to have it first? Would rather not take chances.

[oregontocal]

She originally held onto my passport and directed me to an office three doors down where they informed me I had to pay in pesos. I went back, and the woman in the first office, the one who issued the papers in the first place, stamped the papers and returned my passport, telling me I could pay at any bank, anytime. No problemo - I can just stop by Algodones on the way to Yuma Sunday. It's easy to park and walk across the border to get it taken care of, and I can get cash at the same time. If I have to get a new pass, no problem. But it didn't sound like that would be necessary.

[Sparkle]

Chris, just remember when it asks you how much money you want....300.00 ain't gonna do it.

[oregontocal]

Right. Not 300 pesos.

[oregontocal]

So the exchange rate is a little over 12 pesos per dollar. Sounds about right.

[Bethers]

It was almost 13, better than we expected. Double-checked my bank - was 12.93 or something like that

Weird they wanted only pesos - the bank in Algondones will take US - but there is an ATM in Algodones, obviously how we discovered we got the wrong amount. Hey, I'm proud of us - since it was all in Spanish - and we figured it all out - after that first booboo. I wouldn't recommend going on your way - it'll be Sunday, and I doubt the bank will be open. No problem, though, it's close and we have time.

[oregontocal]

Okay. Yep, very proud of you both. We've got to start thinking in the thousands instead of hundreds. Feels weird. I'm proud of me, too. I ordered dinner tonight speaking nothing but Spanish. It's going to take a while to get comfortable with it.

[avalen]

looks like your having a great time!! I've been there once, but I didn't have the
pleasure of having a great tour guide to show me all those neat places. My guide
happened to be my son and his friend many years ago and they just seemed to
know where all the pharmacies were, and thats a whole nother story which included
me and my grandsons getting stranded in Yuma overnight. Told myself I would never
cross the boarder again, but now I see it has some really cool places to go I just might
chance it again. Perhaps next time I will have a better tour guide.

[oregontocal]

looks like your having a great time!! I've been there once, but I didn't have the
pleasure of having a great tour guide to show me all those neat places. My guide
happened to be my son and his friend many years ago and they just seemed to
know where all the pharmacies were, and thats a whole nother story which included
me and my grandsons getting stranded in Yuma overnight. Told myself I would never
cross the boarder again, but now I see it has some really cool places to go I just might
chance it again. Perhaps next time I will have a better tour guide.

I'd love to hear that "stranded in Yuma" story.

It's pretty easy to do the border thing in Algodones now, at least if you pay your $5 to park on the U.S. side and walk across. Your choice of many, many pharmacies, eyeglass places, dentists, doctors, and so forth - almost too many to choose from.