Algodones, Mexico

We got up early yesterday, dressed and headed out to Brownees Restaurant for breakfast. It is an old 40's or 50's looking restaurant on 4th Avenue that looks like it has been operating continuously for many decades. It is always full at breakfast time, the prices are great and the quantities large!

We then headed for the huge parking lot on the USA side of the border and walked into Algodones. We were immediately inundated with calls for us to come and look at some wares or other but we are used to this and headed straight for Algodones Optical, a short block from the crossing. We were there early and were sent in for our exams right away. I had forgotten to get a new prescription written before we left Canada but over the years I have grown to trust the local doctor. He examined my existing glasses and then tested my eyes using the existing prescription as a baseline. He told me that my left eye had not changed over the last two years but my right side needed a very slight adjustment. He then tested the pressure and declared my glaucoma under control.

I was getting new lenses for the glasses I bought in Nuevo Laredo last year which were never right. The prescription on the right was fine but the left was way off. Wearing them gave me a headache so they went into the drawer. Norma was also getting new lenses for a pair she bought last year. She had taken them into an optical shop in Canada to be tightened up and they succeeded in breaking both lenses! We were told to come back for the new glasses in four hours. Mine would be ready in three hours but Norma's would take longer because they required an additional process.

We wandered around town noticing all the improvements that had been made in the last year. New plazas, storefronts and sidewalks were noticeable. It is very nice but the hawkers are just as loud and annoying, employing their old tricks like putting things into your hand and then refusing to take them back while trying to engage you in negotiating a price. I have been around too long to fall for this and simply refuse to take anything from them. These tactics disappear as soon as we get a couple of hundred miles below the border. We stopped for some fish tacos in a favorite spot and they were as good as ever. We then found a seat on a plaza and people watched until the four hours were up. We arrived back at the optometrist to find my glasses ready but Norma's not. A call to the lab told them they would be a little longer so we sat in the office until they got there. Mine cost $160 and Norma's $240. All were progressive focus and transition as well as scratch coated. Prices are going up a little for glasses and our friends Muff and val have been recommending a different store. We stayed with Algodones Optical because we have been going there for well over ten years and have always had good service.

Today we are having a communal dinner here at our spot here in Cocopah. Norma is out grocery shopping and my job is to hook the barbecue up to the RV propane tank. It 10:30 and is 70 degrees out. It will get warmer by dinnertime. Life is Good!