Small Home – Big Yard

Winterhaven Fire

On Wednesday we had scheduled a cleaning/exam appointment at Simple Dental, across the border in Los Algodones. Mexico.  As we’re leaving for our appointments around noon, we notice thick heavy smoke boiling up just to the north of the RV park.  Worried that the fire might spread, we quickly tucked our laptops in the truck, handed the RV keys to friends that we’re traveling with and departed for the Mexican border.

About 1 hour later, just as I’m getting settled into the dental hygienist’s chair, my phone rings.  Our friends have been notified by the fire marshal that they are providing voluntary evacuation notices to the RV park, and that the smelly, eye burning, thick black smoke is likely to be present all night.  After a quick conversation with them, we decide to move to whatever accommodations they can find.  Within a few minutes, we are confirmed at the Cocopah Bend RV & Golf Resort, about 8 miles away.

After our dental appointments, we arrive back to the pedestrian border crossing to find the lines even longer than they were on Saturday.  With the prospect of waiting nearly 3 hours, we were quite appreciative of a dental office shuttle van that offered to drive us across the border for $5 each.  Filling the van with 4 other Americans, he had us back to the US parking lot in about 10 minutes.

“The Wall” in Los Algodones, Mexico

After an anxious exercise of packing things up, by around 4pm we were on the road to our new home.  More from Cocopah as we explore our new location!