To Yuma for Dental Work in Mexico

While traveling back to Casa Grande from a Major League Baseball Spring Training game about a few days ago, I chipped a crown on my lower teeth.  Oops.  After considering the option, we decided to cut short our time at the Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort and go to Yuma.

While in Yuma we went across the border to a Sani-Dental to get my tooth fixed and to get our teeth cleaned.  And to do some shopping which we were there in Los Algodones.

We parked on the U.S. side and walked the 300 yards across the border into town.  It seemed a lot more crowded than the last time we were there which was probably five years ago.  We had no trouble finding the dental office signed in.  Then we waited in the hallway before an assistant took Pam back to get her teeth cleaned.

At this facility the doctors do the teeth cleaning.  Pam was finished before I was called to go back to see my dentist.  I got some X-rays on this machine.

Then the dentist took off the old crown and put on a temporary.  We were done a couple of hours after we arrived.  There procedure is to come the next day to check the temporary crown so we scheduled our second appointment.

Then we enjoyed our time at the Fortuna De Oro RV Resort.  We parked near friends Gerri and Art.  We hung out at happy hour and had some fun.  This resort is not quite as fancy as Palm Creek, but then neither was the price.

We went back to Mexico the next day for a quick followup to the dentist and then back to our campsite and hung out.  While there we were able to schedule a wash and wax job for the Roadrunner and got that done.  $100 was well worth it.

There was also time for some pool and some golf at the campground.  

I originally was told the visit to the dentist would take 72 hours and that my last appointment was going to be Monday.  It actually got done on my third visit on Saturday.  I was pleased with the result and I also got my teeth cleaned.  Total bill for two teeth cleanings, consultation, X-ray and a crown - $310.

Saturday after the visit to the dentist we walked around and did some more shopping.  It takes a minute to get shopping game face on.  The shop owners don't give up on the first try.  We had some lunch, talked with a couple from Montana that had been going to Yuma for a number of years and had a nice time.

Saturday was also the town's annual party for the winter visitors.  They had free food and drink and 

entertainment which was a nice gesture.

Thankfully our three trips over the border we fun and uneventful.  The lines at the border crossing office were not too long.  None lasted more than 30 minutes so it gave us a few minutes to meet some more people and hear about their Mexico experiences.

On Sunday we went to the two flea market in town and got a few things and then worked on some stuff around the coach.  The weather was nice on Monday too and there was some time for another visit to the pool.  It was a little more crowded than the other days and their was a band who played for a couple of hours.  They were pretty good and a number of people got up and danced and enjoyed themselves.

We saw our friends some more and watched a number of winter visitors at the campground depart for the journey north back home.  Some said adios and took off, one couple spent two or three hours after they hooked up and pulled out of their space.  It was just too hard from them to say goodbye.  They had such a good time, leaving was something they really didn't want to go.

We on the other hand, had to get on with it and we departed early on Tuesday morning for the trip to Albuquerque.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Getting Fixed Up

Pam and I have been a little bit overdue on physicals and those periodic medical appointments.  One of the specific things we decided a few months ago was that we were going to get caught up and 'fixed up' if necessary on our medical and dental needs.

Six months ago we made appointments for when we expected to be here in Virginia Beach.  And we have systematically checked them off.

• Pam got a mammogram done and then a few days later had a follow up.  We did a different test and they took another look and now issues - everything is as it should be.

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• Next were our physicals - both were scheduled the same day and again we both are healthy 61 year olds.  

• We have missed our dental exam last year and it was time for cleaning and a check on cavities. I am always at a disadvantage when I get my teeth checked.  Pam is diligent, regular and thorough at cleaning and flossing.  It's hard to fake it when your mouth is open and the dentist asks, "Do you floss?".  Well no, not much and it showed.  He said I should do it and that failure to do so causes heart disease...What??... I had no idea and am not sure he is right, but really, I need to step it up and get with the program.  Too many of my friends at my age are losing their teeth.  Enough said - better dental hygiene is underway...
• Next stop was everyone's favorite -- a colonoscopy.  First Pam's then mine.  It was 10 years since her last and 11 years for mine.  We picked up the prep stuff and she soldiered through it with no problems.  They put her under so to speak, but she was talking a bit and semi with it during the whole procedure though she could feel no pain.  I like the way Sentara  has their system set up.  We have Tricare military healthcare were in and out in about 3 hours.  No issues.  Everything looks good. After being on a liquid diet for 24 hours, we celebrated with lunch at Chick-Fil-A.
• I didn't want to miss the fun, so a few days later it was my turn.  The challenge is the prep for the procedure.  How in the world am I going to get down 17 gallons of that stuff?? OK it might have only been one gallon.

•  I drank half the night before my appointment.  The good news is the anti nausea pill that we had in order to get the 'oral solution' down.  No doubt about it, its a challenge.  They say to get it down as fast as you can.  So I did and 6:23 minutes later I got it done.
• I had a 7:30 AM appointment so I was up at 3:30 AM for my pill and then again at 4:30 AM to drink the rest of it.  I almost got it all down. Then over to the appointment and into the procedure room at the hospital.  The last thing I remember the doctor saying was, "I am going to give you some magic juice".  Then the nurses were saying, "Wake up, we're all done." The doctor said, "Do you have any questions for me?"  I thought like---Who am I?, Where am I, etc etc...?
• Good news no issues.  They removed 3 benign polyps. Come back again for this fun in 5 years... To celebrate, we went over to Waffle House.  Bubba Watson, the pro golfer who has won 2 Masters Championships - went to one after he won this year.  

• I thought I'd try it out.  I haven't been to one in 40 years. Ugh - there's a reason I haven't been there in so long... It  got the job done.  I had a cheese omelet which was fine but

So much for our checkups and exams -- probably more than you wanted to know but its a major item on our 'To Do' list while here in Virginia Beach.  We are in good shape and nothing to worry about.  This lifestyle suits us.  Just need to keep up the exercise (and flossing) and eating more of Pam's great food and we should be OK.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Roadrunner Financials - October 2011

Roadrunner Recap

We spent the majority of the month of October in the Virginia Beach area after leaving Joan and Mike's place in Maynardville TN where we did some "mooch-docking".  We spent one nite in a Wal-mart parking lot en route to Virginia Beach and then spent the rest of the month at military RV campgrounds at Oceana Naval Air Station and at Dam Neck Annex.

Kelly (our daughter) lives in Norfolk and Adam (our son) lives in Washington DC so we spent a good amount of time seeing them during the month.  Normally when we see family, we like to take them out to eat, buy groceries and maybe buy a thing or two for their house.  We were able to build a shed for Kelly and install a counter top for Adam in his kitchen.

Here are the stops during the month:

• Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground, Maynardville TN
• Ocean Pines Oceana NAS, Virginia Beach VA
• Sea Mist MWR Campground, Virginia Beach VA

Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled.  You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.  

Here's a static map if that is easier:

This is a snapshot of the budget for October 2011:

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

- Gas (diesel). Our bill was low because we only had one fill-up.  We started the month in Tennessee and drove to Virginia Beach.

- RV Maintenance. We replaced our Select Comfort Bed motor/pump and I had a couple of RV projects.  Still we were under budget.

- Campground fees. Normally Military Campgrounds are about $20.  We got a weekly and monthly rate break and averaged $13.30/night.

Biggest Expenses

- Groceries/Food. We went way over budget on groceries and eating out.  But we usually do when we see family.

- Gas (car). we had a couple of trips to D.C. from Virginia Beach and a lot of commuting to Kelly's place.

- Internet. In May 2011, I upgraded my internet service to Verizon (from Autonet Mobile).  I went from $29/month to averaging over $165/month.  With an iPad, iPhone and laptop, I am still figuring out how to minimize my costs there.

- Medical.  We found a Groupon for dental and exam and checkup and then decided to get fillings and crowns done.

Large One Time Cost Items
We spent $104 on getting a replacement Select Comfort bed motor which was pro-rated.

Monthly Average

Monthly average for year 3 (starting in June 2011) - 
Yikes!  We are $2100 over our monthly average.  But we were able to save that amount and more so it didn't affect our cash flow.


We began our third year of Full-Timing in June.  Since then we have three big cost drivers:

1. In September we installed a new $6700 residential-sized refrigerator which was not in the budget
2. We spend more on food when we are near our kids and buy things for them.
3. We decided to get dental work done.

So there it is for October 2011, our 29th month of Full-Timing.  Hopefully there is some information that is of value and/or interest.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it.  That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...  If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Dental Work and a Fixed Bed

One thing we haven't quite figured out during the last 2 1/2 years of full-timing is getting regular checkups on our teeth.  We have looked a few places but $75 or $100 to get our teeth cleaned just doesn't appeal to me.

Shortly after we started full-timing we were in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas along the border of Mexico and we went to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico.  We both got our teeth cleaned for about $25.  But that was two years ago when it was relatively safe.

So we have put off teeth work.  Back when we had our house and I had a full time job we got our teeth worked on at least yearly.

Our daughter Kelly knew we were coming to the Virginia Beach area and saw a Groupon advertisement for a Mahanes Dentistry in Virginia Beach.  -Really?  a Groupon ad for a dentist?

It advertised a dental checkup, x-rays and teeth cleaning for $49.   Sounded like my kind of deal.  So we scheduled an appointment and arrived on Wednesday.

We were seen promptly and I was very impressed.  Renee, the dental hygienist explained how she wanted me to bite for the x-rays and I watched them appear one at a time on the monitor as I sat in the dentist chair.

She also poked around and checked out old fillings and new areas for some work.  When the dentist came in they pointed to the teeth in question and wrote up some notes.

Again I could see exactly what they were talking about.  It was my first experience with monitors mounted on the wall for patients to see notes, x-rays and charts.

My cleaning went fine.  Just for old times sake I was admonished to floss more.  Unlike Pam, I only occasionally floss.  She had periodontal disease years ago and flosses daily.  As a result her gums and teeth are in great shape.

So we were very impressed with the dentist and the treatment.  So we will be back.

How about you?  What do you do for dental work?  If you are Full-timers or extended-timers, do you have a new dental situation for when you are on the road?

On a different subject..., we replaced the controllers for our Select Comfort bed.
Over the past few months we noticed the digital readouts on both controllers were going bad.  Then finally about 6 weeks ago, we lost the readout all together.

I called Select-Comfort and they wanted $300 for a new unit to fix the bed.  Yikes!  I didn't like that number….

While we were back at the factory in Red Bay, Alabama last month, we went to the old parts store and found a couple of used controllers.  We got the circuit boards from each one and we were all fixed up!  Total cost: $ 25 each.

That solution worked fine for about 6 weeks.  But,,,,then we had no display in either controller.  Those controllers went bad.  This time I asked about the warranty when I called Select Comfort and the replacement cost went down to $105.  They prorated what was left on the warranty.

So we ordered a new unit and a single wireless controller.  They no longer make one for each side of the bed.

The package arrived last week and we did the installation.

We had to plug up the mattress while we unhooked everything. Then we removed the mattress so we could get to the bed frame.

The bed sits on a frame that folds in the middle.  It is secured with six screws underneath the top of the mattress.  The bottom half of the platform is over the storage area.  We removed the arms that hold the bottom end of the bed platform up over our storage area and then removed the entire platform.

Then we unhooked hoses and changed out the power unit that was plugged in underneath the top half of the bed.

The new unit is a little smaller than the old one so it fit well into the space.  Once we double checked the air hoses and power unit, Pam screwed down the bed platform again.  (you can tell here who is doing the work and who is doing the videography….)

The new unit works like a champ and we are happy campers so to speak.

The new unit has a left and right button and the two unit version is replaced with the single controller.  As per the directions we pumped up both sides to 100, then backed it down to 40 and 45.  Then we put the mattress back in place and we were done!

I was wondering, what kind of bed do you have in your RV?

Two more things taken care of this week, now on to the next project…

That is it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Thanks for joining us and until next time...

Los Algodones, Mexico

We are about two miles from the border town of Los Algodones, Mexico, right on highway 186 in California. I needed to get some cash, so I went in to the Quechan Casino & Resort, where we are staying. Well, we are staying in their RV / Truck parking lot-- not the casino resort hotel.

I found the ATM machine which also serves as a machine where people can redeem their winnings. Everything worked like an ATM and it was a bit of a surprise to see that I could get some money for the price of $13.99!

I am used to seeing high priced ATMs and try to avoid them. High priced is charging more than $2.00 to get access to your own money! $13.99 is nuts and it saddened me more than anything. You know there are people at these places who to pay that kind of money for the chance to lose a lot more. You get my drift...

It was only a few miles into Yuma so we went there and found a convenience store with an ATM that charged $1.90. And we were on our way.

The first thing we noticed as we approached the border was all the cars that parked along the side of the road instead of paying $10.00 to park in the big empty parking lot.

Once across the border, it seemed like a border town.

It was a bit cleaner than the border town of Nuevo Progresso south of Mercedes, Texas. And a lot smaller. But it seemed safe enough and there were hundreds of us retired Americans looking for something that we couldn't do without...

I looked for some glasses at Algodones Optical. They were probably a good price, but I didn't feel like I had the time to really check things out. This was going to take longer than I expected. If we were going to be here a few days I may have gotten some.

We were pretty hungry and found an open air restaurant with a patio. There seem to be a number of these places in Algodones.

It was a pretty day, there were mariachis and music and it seemed to be pretty festive.

We shopped for a hat, handbag, tablecloth, chewing gum and that was about it.

We wandered through a number of neighborhoods and went through lot of shops. One guy was selling pine needle baskets which I had never seen before.They looked sturdy and like they would last for a long time, but I didn't want to part with a $20 bill so we passed on one.

Down another street I noticed some building going on.

I liked the design and the way they put together the porch roof.

It always is an experience at these places. Some Mexicans are amusing and have fun with the bartering and sales pitches. Others are a bit aggressive like hawkers at a carnival. Then those are more needy and bargain as if they are desperate for a sale today. It is hard to tell if it is reality or just part of the persona.

We felt like we did a good job of not buying more things we don't need. But I needed another hat (sort of ) and got one that will do nicely when I am on the golf course or just working on my tan... :).

We got back to the border in time to join a long line of other shoppers.

It took about an hour to get through and we got back to the RV campsite at the casino in the late afternoon.

We went over to the casino (Quenchan Casino and Resort) and ended up having dinner there. We got the steak and shrimp special for $7.77. Gambling doesn't really interest us, so we went back to the Roadrunner and decided to go for a short walk.

The sunset was beautiful again. We watched some TV and went to bed and called it a day.

Hope you are having a good weekend and thank you for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Viva la dentist!

Obviously, I no spreche es habla espanol...but we had a very good experience at the dentist in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico.

We spent the better part of the day over there yesterday and did more than see the dentist. We are very excited about the care and result of our first trip to the dentist is Mexico. Great care, great people, great price, great experience.

I read other blogs about their time at the dentist and am glad to say ours was a good one also. We look forward to returning for more dental work.

We parked at the International Bridge again today and walked across into Neuvo Progresso, Mexico. The New Image Dental Clinic is 1/2 block down the first street on the left.We found the office pretty easily. I had the phone number of the New Images Dental Clinic (Veronic Munoz, DDS who has two other dentists on staff) and called to confirm the appointment and make sure I had directions. If you want the phone number, let me know. The office and waiting room are about three years old. It was nice, nothing fancy by U.S. standards, but it was clean and comfortable. There were two other American couples/patients there besides us. We arrived about 11:15 for our 11:30 appointment.I asked Lupita, my dental hygienist, if I could take a few pictures while she finished up my cleaning. (This was my first attempt at photography while in the dentist's chair...a product of my long arms and decent aim with my Canon camera...)Pam was impressed with how quickly her dentist picked up on Pam's history of periodontal disease and asked probing questions. He was very thorough and provided some insight into her occasional jaw pain that U.S. dentists have not been able to link together over the years.

While Pam was in the chair, I visited with Betty and Bill who are regular winter visitors to South Texas and clients of New Image Dental Clinic.

Bill was in getting bridge work done and Betty and I talked. After a while, I found out she is Lynda's sister. I have followed Bob and Lynda for a long time on their blog: The Slow Gypsy Life of Lynda and Bob. What a small world! We have yet to meet Bob and Lynda face to face but hope to one day soon.

After our time at the dentist, we got a few meds at a pharmacy on main street.
Then we had lunch at a nice restuarant and did some Christmas shopping.
We also got a streetside vendor demo of a veg-a-matic like tool before we returned to the Roadrunner.


We are glad to have been able to find a good dentist in Mexico. Pam had x-rays done and we got an idea of some things we will need to address later. And we look forward to returning.

Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles. And a special thanks to those of you the signed up to 'Follow' the blog. More on that later. We appreciate the growing readership and look forward to the possibility of getting to know you.

More later today on Twitter as we head out to Edna Texas for Texana State Park for an overnite stop.