Mexico and Meds

Both Ron and I take a blood pressure medication daily, and Ron also takes Metformin for diabetes.  While these are inexpensive drugs and have generics available, the cost of the medicine is a minor detail.  The big cost is having to go to the doctor once a year just to get the prescription renewed.  That seems a bit insane since years ago, the doctor (several doctors ago) said we needed to take the blood pressure meds for the rest of our lives.  More recently, Ron was told the same thing about Metformin.  Even with Medicare, the doctor appointment costs $250 each every year and we get about 5 minutes of the doctor's time while he signs his name to a new prescription.  

Since we were going to be within a few miles of Nogales, Mexico on our way home, we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Nogales, Arizona.  It was 90 degrees when we went to bed, but about 40 when we got up early to cross into Mexico to get our medicine.

The sun was up, but the many pharmacies and other vendors were still closed at 7:45 a.m.  We found a patch of sunshine and waited for stores to open.

After the landslide in Oso a few years back, all slopes look dangerous to me - I definitely wouldn't want to live either in the house on the top of the one at the bottom of this hill!

While waiting in the long line of people waiting to enter the US, we noticed a bunch of people ignored the line and went to the front.  The authorities let about 40 people in at a time to stand in another line to have ID checked and to declare anything they were bringing into the US.  I asked the lady in front of me about the line crowders, and she said that if you're over 60, you can go to the head of the line. Nice to know!
We bought about $30 worth of medicine - a year's worth for both of us, and declared it when it was our turn to be checked out.  We were passed through without comment, and back on the road for home by about 8:30 a.m.

Looks like Mexico?  Actually, it's Quartsite, AZ, where all the cars arriving from California on fumes stop to fill up on cheap gas.  Likewise, all the vehicles heading into California stop for one last cheap gas fill up.  It has developed into quite a haven for retired entrepreneurs who have something to sell who congregate there for the winter.  RV's in a variety of shapes and sizes cover all the flat empty space for a long ways along I-10 just into Arizona.