Just a short trip down I-8 from Yuma, Arizona will land you at the U.S. border to the small town of Algodones, B.C. Mexico. You’ll pass some of Yuma’s notorious green farmlands and make your way towards the region’s renowned sand dunes (Glamis being the most famous area). But just before the turn off for the dunes and Felicity, California home to The Center of the World – which boasts a portion of the original staircase up the Eiffel Tower, and a vast history of human existence, you’ll turn off to the border crossing. After exiting the interstate, to the right there is a large reminder not to bring weapons across the border, and a campground. A little further up, you will come to a parking lot managed by the Quechuan tribe, where most folks leave their vehicle. On your way through the gate, you will pay (currently 2024) $11 in exact cash. Strolling through the white turnstile on my most recent trip there in December 2024, I was surprised when we were led down a modern hallway, complete with a nice restroom.

In the white hallway the Mexican border guards will now check any purses or bags you may have and then you can proceed into Mexico. Previously, after proceeding through the same turnstile, you remained beside the main road for cars, alongside the armed guards and car entry. Now, once out of the hallway you veer a hard right and end up on another street, directly beside the famous towering metal border wall and have to wander your way back towards where, I find, most of my favorite places are, like the little coffee shop where I get a Mexican chocolate coffee.

Your first step across the border can be overwhelming. It is quickly apparent that you are in a different country. Motorbikes speed down the roughly paved street, there are vendors with fresh meat sizzling from tiny carts. Occasionally there is a burro with a cart lazily waiting for his owner’s return in a parking space. Salespeople in suits and scrubs will line up on either side of the sidewalk, shouting, “do you need dental care?”, “vision?”, smiling and promptly pressing their business cards into your hand. You will even be prompted with sales pitches at the gate of the parking area, before you enter Mexico. I smile and say “no, gracias”, and continue on my way. “We have health insurance in the U.S.!” my husband now tells them as we walk by. “You’re very lucky!” they say.

It’s easy to accomplish everything you need within the first two streets too and be in and out in less than an hour, but I’ve found that the couple of times I’ve wandered down a few extra streets, I usually run into a new charming walkway, restaurant, coffee shop or fountain that reminds me just how beautiful and charming the Mexican culture and people really are. Years ago, in one of these hallways I used to wait with my iced Frappuccino drink while my grandma got a perm. You will want to sit down at one of the gorgeous courtyards painted over with bright colors and decorated with flags in every color of the rainbow, strewn about in the open air, and enjoy a cafe de olla (coffee in a clay cup), Mexican mocha, chilaquiles, or the local tacos and a Corona.

Many locals to Yuma cross the border regularly. I remember walking through the foreign country as a kid, my tanned desert skin and sun soaked hair absorbing heat there, as we went year around. Being an asthmatic, it was a big deal for us with the rising costs of medication. I cooled off with a glass bottle of Coca Cola and sometimes got a tiny handmade papier-mâché creature whose head bobbed along with my footsteps as we made our way back to the border. If you have ever had Mexican Coca Cola, it’s hard to forget that real sugar taste on your tongue.

I’m sure I have underutilized Algodones throughout my life. Nowadays, along with my soda bottles, I pick up some Mexican vanilla, and if I’m feeling spicy, some pottery gifts like the clay coffee mugs, or Talavera pots. You can find beers, coffees, tequila, candies and most of the usuals at the small purple grocery store along the path back to the border crossing. There is also no shortage of salespeople asking to braid my hair or sell me cute handcrafted toys (Mexican Nintendo anyone?), shouting “Miss America!” as I walk down the narrow streets, or belts, wallets, or jewelry. Many locals (and winter visitors alike) utilize Algodones mostly for the wildly cheaper dental, vision, and veterinary services offered there. With the extreme rise in costs of veterinary care in the U.S., and increased traffic for vet visits in Mexico, many of the vet clinics now offer pick up directly from the border, also at the nearby border crossing of San Luis. In high school my friends would get their dental work, especially braces, over the border.

Crossing back over to the U.S. has always been pretty straight forward. You show your passport or ID to a guard just to prove you have it, before entering a very securely gated waiting area. The line makes its way into the air conditioned Border Patrol station where you are asked to present your identification to the agent to be scanned and declare whatever it is that you are bringing back. There are limits on certain commodities such as cigarettes, alcohol and controlled prescription drugs, but I am usually just declaring Coca Cola, and use my passport (you will not get a stamp), without issue.

A fun fact, once you leave Yuma Arizona and West up I-8 to the border crossing, you actually enter California for a few short minutes before your trip to Mexico begins. That means you can say you visited Mexico, Arizona and California all within 15 minutes. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a quick trip over the border to catch a glimpse of our closest southern neighbors and experience the kind hospitality of Mexico.