We took a little trip to Yuma last week. We went down the California side from Blythe on hwy 78 which winds through agricultural land east of the Colorado river. The last 30 miles bordered the Algodones (Imperial) sand dunes. The Imperial Sand Dunes are the largest mass of sand dunes in California. This dune system extends for more than 40 miles along the eastern edge of the Imperial Valley agricultural region in a band averaging five miles in width. It is roughly bordered on the west by the Coachella Canal which delivers Colorado River water to the fertile agricultural valley to the north. Off-highway vehicle activity is permitted on more than two-thirds of the sand dunes, or over 118,000 acres. From there we continued into Yuma, ...too crowded for my taste, I like Bullhead City better. We visited the Yuma Prison, walked through the historical district and then continued on to Los Algodones. We heard about all the Dentists, Pharmacists, Oral Surgeons, etc so had to check it out. Crossing the border was easy, no one even wanted to see id. The tourist part of town is about 8 blocks wide by 5 blocks deep right on the border. There are about 30 dentists and 20 pharmacys in this area. The two main streets have venders selling leather goods, jewelery, western wear, hats, pottery, ironwood carvings, and various other art/craft items. In between the venders are the usual taco shops, and small resturants. The food is very reasonable and the water comes from Yuma. Most of the dentists have websites where you can make your appointment. For example a thorough cleaning is $20. We found the prices on drugs to be about 1/8 the cost of comperable in the us. The day we were there it seemed like half the town of Yuma was there. It took 2 hrs in a line a quarter of a mile long by 3 or 4 people wide to get back across the border. We found that everyone we met in the line had bright shiny teeth and big smiles.
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