DENTAL TOURISM

A few months ago a piece of tooth filling in one of my front teeth broke off....leaving a jagged edge.  It had to be fixed.   We drove to the small, nearby town of Valentine, Texas to see a lady dentist who operates out of a single wide trailer.   I was in the chair less than an hour and the bill came to $340.00.   The fix involved only a small amount of drilling and a small amount of filling.   Outrageous dental prices have become the norm in this country.   I vowed right then that I would travel to nearby Mexico for future dental work...at a fraction of the price.

Bridge to Ciudad Juarez from EL Paso

More recently, one of Pam's molars broke off and had to be surgically removed.   After a thorough examination in EL Paso, it was noted she required a 3 part procedure to "fix the tooth".  First was the surgical removal and bone graft; a few months later would be an implant; and this would be followed a few months after that with a new crown.   Quotations from the dentist in EL Paso were in the $5000.00 range for the 3 part procedure.   So we looked into dentists in Mexico.....once again, the internet is invaluable.   We found two that had very high ratings, both in Ciudad Juarez; but only one did dental implants.   After further due diligence Pam decided to "take a chance" on having the work done in Mexico.  Here is how it worked out:

We drove from Fort Davis to EL Paso TX and booked a motel room, discounted given our affiliation with Rio Grande Dental.  The following morning at 8:30am Rio Grande's driver, Ozzie, picked us up at the motel and drove us directly to the dental office in Juarez.

                        The entrance to Rio Grande Dental.

The dental practice is co-managed by brother and sister, both fully licensed dentists.   Jessica Nunez and her brother Eduardo both graduated from the dental school in Juarez and then pursued additional, specialized training in the US.   He does general dental work as well as endodontics, while she specializes in dental implantation and mouth reconstruction.  Both receive excellent reviews from the many US and Canadian patients they have treated in the past several years.

The offices are rather "spartan" compared to those in the US...but they are clean and well equipped.

The waiting area is attractively and comfortably set up....and one of their signs says "a smile is the same in any language".

Here is Pam being examined by Fabiola, the receptionist / dental assistant / dental hygenist.   (talk about many hats!!)

Here Fabiola is cleaning my teeth.....a cleaning is $35.00.




The first part of Pam's 3 part procedure is complete....the broken tooth has been surgically removed and a bone graft stitched in.  Next step in February 2015 is to have the implant done....and then 4 months or so after that have a new crown installed on the implant.  And all for about 1/3 the estimated price we were quoted by the EL Paso dentist.   Needless to say, we will frequent Rio Grande Dental in the future whenever we need dental work.

After our procedures, Ozzie took us to the pharmacy to get Pam's prescriptions, and then back to the main bridge / border crossing, where we walked across back to the US while he took a special bridge with the car.   After going through US Customs (not the most pleasant of experiences) we once again joined up with Ozzie for the ride back to our motel.   Mission accomplished and without any qualms whatsoever.   

Here are photos of a Jeans shop and a burrito / clothes shop on the border....you are "mildly assaulted" by hawkers on the walk back over the bridge....but you simply say "no, gracias" and move on.

Some of the best burritos are found in non-descript places like this.

And what a way to advertise the Jeans.....this really made us chuckle.

The end of the story is that dental tourism is alive and well in Mexican border towns.  You simply do your due diligence and go from there.

NEW WHEELS

Wow......has it really been a month since the last post???
Well, we have been busy.   We departed Texas October 14 for New Hampshire....to pick up our new vehicle, have annual doctor visits and visit a few folks, including my 90 year old Mom....who is still going strong.

               Here is our new (2015) Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

It hasn't always been convenient to have just the Mini Cooper here in Far West Texas.   That plus the fact there are many off roading opportunities out here, led us to order this jazzy new Jeep so that we can travel the good roads and the not so good roads in relative comfort.   The Trail Hawk is the only Cherokee with the Trail Rated designation....complete with high clearances, skid plates and special incidence angles for serious off roading, this Jeep can literally take us almost anywhere.   It sits above in the lot at Crosstown Motors, awaiting our arrival from TX.

Here we are.....Pam and I with Steve Northrup, who sold and ordered the Jeep for us.   (Yes, shorts even on October 15 in northern NH).

This design of the new Cherokee and the Trail Hawk model first appeared in 2014 and represented quite a design departure from Jeep's historic round head lights and standard front end grill.  Critics mostly praised Jeep for the interior upgrades, but they split over the front end design in particular.....many thought it was too dramatic a departure for Jeep to make.   Pam and I are obviously in the group that loves the new design and praises the Jeep folks for being bold enough to think out of the box and do something dramatically different.

The new front end.....no typical round Jeep head lamps....and the eyebrow running lights on the top were disdained by many....and the Rubicon Jeep folks (top of the line Wrangler) were particularly upset that Jeep adorned the Trail Hawk with the red tow hooks, hitherto found only on the pricey Rubicon.

So, joined by Amy Remick (Pam's daughter) we drove the 2400 miles from NH back to West Texas and couldn't wait to get the Jeep off road in Big Bend National Park.   Here we are putting the Trail Hawk through its paces for the first time....with the Sierra del Carmen escarpment in Mexico in the background.   We look forward to all kinds of off road experiences....and will blog about same.   Great Stuff!

PAM'S BIG DAY IN HALLOWEEN LAND

Welcome to Halloween Land....is the "witchy message" you get when you visit Sarah and Sam Kent of Limpia Crossing.  Sarah has 6 or 7 bins of Halloween "stuff"  she keeps in storage only to have it come out and end up in every nook and cranny of their house.  It's great!

We went down for dinner with Sam and Sarah on the 9th of this month....Pam's birthday.  Sam made a southern fried chicken dinner with garlic mashed potatoes.....talk about good....I made a loaf of sweet butter bread to go with dinner and Sarah, bless her heart, made this huge, 3 layer spice cake with THREE cans of butter frosting on top and between the layers.  YUMMY!!!  

               Here Sarah and Sam welcome the birthday girl.

Halloween decorations on a corner table.....many lighted with candles....note the Halloween  art hanging on the walls too!!

Dracula's cape hangs in the corner.....he is out and about biting far west Texas necks.

Sarah really gets into the spirit.

         The Halloween pumpkin complete with witches hat.

Back to the birthday party.....here is the cake Sarah made, complete with candelabra....and a home made gift for the birthday girl.

Pam blowing out the candles.....hurry....cut the cake...Sam and I are                                                waiting!

          Halloween even made the "Deity Shelf"....good stuff!

It was a great night with the Kents.....as usual.  We had many a good laugh, sang to the birth day girl and enjoyed a chiminea  fire on the patio after dinner.

My favorite Halloween-scape is Sam's matinee case, all decked out with funky stuff Sarah put together.

            Happy Halloween.....and Happy Birthday, Pammy!

EARLY FALL IN THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS

Was it something we said.....?

Miss Ali sticking her tongue out at us...well!

Ali and her pal Velik...(velik means "giant" in slavic).   Veronica stops by to let Velik and Ali romp around a bit.  He is a 4 year old English Mastiff...who outweighs Ali by some 70 pounds!

Pam talking with Veronica (right) and Sarah and Sam Kent, our neighbors and good friends.   We will miss Veronica and Velik... they are moving soon to Oregon.

Sam and Sarah "horsing around" with Velik.  Sam and Sarah have a 10 year old English Bulldog named The General.  But he doesn't like other dogs so he is either left home or in the car.

The Mini sitting outside the Jeff Davis County Courthouse.

The drive from Alpine, TX north to Fort Davis is a gorgeous one.

The "altiplano" (high plain) on the south side of Fort Davis.

Looking West at days end.   The pad to the left and the 2nd set of RV hookups are for friends Larry and Lainie when they visit.

Another great sunset over the Davis Mountains.

RAINBOWS

Rainbows bring lots of ooh's and aah's when they appear....not to mention sending folks scurrying for their cameras.  Rainbows are both a meteorological and optical phenomenon that is caused by both reflection and refraction of light in droplets of water that result in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky (hope this doesn't take the fun out of them for you!!).

Here is a fantastic rain bow that we experienced late in the afternoon yesterday.  It is arcing over our little building almost perfectly.

Shortly after appearing, our rain bow became a double rainbow!  If you look closely to the left you can see the faint second rain bow.  I took this photo next to our building....you can see our drain pipes and the top of our 600 gallon water catchment tank...and that closest roof line just behind the tank is the home of our good friends and neighbors, Sam and Sarah Kent.

In 1672 Isaac Newton (wouldn't it have been great to have lunch with him and DaVinci??) divided the color spectrum into the five primary colors of red, yellow, green, blue and violet.   Later on he added orange and indigo....there are many theories as to why....but indigo ....seriously?

The angle of the refracted light that forms the rainbow is always 42 degrees....(don't ask...it just is).   That explains why some folks can see a rain bow perfectly while their neighbor says "what rainbow". 

Especially late in the day one can experience a mono chromatic rainbow...which in this case is dramatically affected by the setting sun.   These are rare...but I am keeping the camera at the ready just in case.

                                  "Rainbow" trout anyone?

Rainbow cake?   (I think I'll pass)

                               A rainbow hairdo.....fancy that.

Rainbows will always keep their fascination...they appear rarely and they are so colorful that despite the technical aspects that describe their existence, they will always be something of a "visual sonnet in the sky" that is sure to bring a smile....yes, even to  curmudgeons!! 

LIMPIA 360 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Here is the view to the Northeast from our entry door....and note the window to the left....yes, the Pella Impervia windows arrived and are installed!!  These are high altitude windows with a capillary system rather than Argon gas between the panes....recommended for locales above 5000 feet....that's us!

Facing East from our soon to be finished living room area....the 6'X6' sliding door and the two large sliding windows bring a lot of the outdoors inside, helping to make our small space seem larger.

To the left we are looking into our small but very function-able kitchen (soon to be)....to the left is a peek into the bathroom and the glass block that makes up part of the shower.

Here is the hallway from the living area to the bedroom....with the bathroom midway to the left.    Note the tray ceiling, which will look very nice indeed when fully painted and with our oriental hanging lamp.

Bedroom is long and narrow but with two large sliding windows (5'X6') facing West....and these windows will let us star gaze from our bed!!

Of course, Pam had to have the Texas Star for a vent in the eaves!!

Looking West and north from just outside the bedroom windows.

The motorhome and the mini sitting on their pads just North of the building....with Mount Arabella in the background.   

So we think we have done all that we can to make our small space seem larger and to bring in as much of the outside and the outdoor light as possible.   With all the glass we also have maximized our 360 degree views.......our next construction blog will show some before and after photos....so stay tuned.