4x4ing, Algodones, and more

The last week has been filled with activity after activity after activity.  I really could be blogging daily but I’m generally so tired after the day’s events that I crawl into bed and get as much sleep as I can!  Multiple 4-wheel-drive trips, a couple trips to Los Algodones, various pot lucks and shared meals, dance parties, sand dunes, there’s everything here!

Sometimes the weather’s bad, and a group of us will hide inside somebody’s rig and play silly party games.

Sometimes there’s a dance party going on.

And then there’s Algodones.  I ended up going to Los Algodones twice this week, basically just for lunch and to wander around.  In the photo above, from left to right (clockwise) is Jessica, Me, Brandon, Kerensa, Rebecca, Tami, and a bit of Joni.  Not pictured to Jessica’s right is Mark, Kurt, and Margot.

One of the four-wheeling trips took us into one of the open-pit mines.

It’s fun to see different things, and ponder what sorts of chemicals lay in the pool of water visible above.

Another 4-wheeling trip to somewhere or another.  We wandered about all over the place.

On another trip to Algodones I took this shot of one of the merchant’s walls.  I’d say they’re well stocked.  You’ll also notice there’s no prices on anything.  It’s all negotiable.

This is one of the main roads in Algodones.  The shops spill out into the sidewalks, so you’re pretty much walking through the fronts of shops as you wander about town.  The workers at the shops are always trying to get you to stop and “spend your money”, or they’ll say things like: “buy something for you wife!”, or “hey this will fit you great!”  Some are of course better than others, and it can be fun to go back and forth with them for a bit as you’re strolling through.

An example lunch in Algodones.  Two tacos (fish and carne-something) with beans and rice with various toppings.  $5.

One day we went to Valley of the Names to create an Xscapers name.  This is what it looked like while people were planning (after we had fetched rocks from the nearby “chocolate mountain”).

And Presto!, here’s what it looks like when it’s done. Kerensa also made a time-lapse video of the construction.

After that we went to a place called “Palm Canyon”, if I’m remembering the name correctly.  Essentially the jeeps were just able to squeeze through most of it.  At one point the leader (and largest vehicle) actually got stuck and had to turn back after putting a good dent in one of his doors.

I was riding with Brian on this little adventure.  He’s driving a Geo Tracker, and it was better suited than all the jeeps were because it was so small!

Last night we headed out to the Imperial Sand Dunes to catch sunset over the dunes.

Some of these shots look like something out of the Sahara desert, I just had to take ’em.

Here’s a shot of Hannah that I thought turned out really well.  Being able to get facial details while pointing the camera at the sun is a neat trick!

And we get some fun shots in too.  Starting with Jessica in the front, then Me, Kurt, somebody I can’t quite tell, and Brian and the end.  And Margot’s squatting down in there too!

When we got back to our rigs, a random pot-luck was thrown together with burgers and various sides.  It’s a cool group.

Tomorrow a lot of us are caravanning down to San Felipe where we’ll stay for a week.  Some people have other things they have to do, but for many of us, the party continues.

3 thoughts on “4x4ing, Algodones, and more”

  1. you need to get out some, meet some people, do something fun. ..oh wait.. er thats me. Seriously good pictures. (Sahara Desert) Prolly ____–––not the place to be in the summer!

  2. They have largely displaced many of the open-air shops and restaurants immediately across the border, and have effectively shifted the town’s focus from tourism to medicine. Nevertheless, a number of shops and restaurants remain, and Los Algodones capitalizes on the tourist trade with frequent

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