Monday, April 20, 2015

Photo of the Week #207 Oasis in the Sonoran Desert, Winterhaven, California, April 2015





I have been staying at what can literally be called a manmade oasis. It's the Quechan Indian Tribe Casino and Resort Hotel, also known as "The Q," in Winterhaven, California, directly across the border (Colorado, River) from Yuma, Arizona.

The three photos show the architecture of the hotel and casino (there is also a well equipped conference and function center, too). It gives me the general impression of a Spanish/Moorish style. The property is pretty new, probably only a few years old.

As you can see from the photos, it literally is in the middle of a pretty desolate Sonoran desert region about 1 1/2 miles from the Mexican border and the small town of Los Algodones. Thousands of U.S. and Canadian visitors go to Algodones (including yours truly) to high quality, low cost dental work. There are in excess of 250 dentists in this little town. I'm very pleased with the work I had done and even happier with what it cost me.

Inside "The Q" is a very large and well equipped, modern casino, nice restaurants, a night club and a beautiful pool complex. And it's all located in the middle of the desert. It has become a ghost town through the middle of April and will likely continue like this until sometime in later October when the "snowbirds" will return for the winter.


2 comments:

  1. Exactly where I want to be right about now.

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  2. Hi Todd, it's mighty hot down in that area now. If you can wait until the fall or winter to go down there, the heat will be more tolerable. However, if you're going to Algodones for any dental work there will be lots and lots of people there and it could take tens of minutes to an hour or more to get through the long lines to go back across the border into the U.S. On the other hand, since the snowbirds are gone right now, if you can tolerate the heat, you can get into the dentists of your choice in no time and crossing back into the U.S. will take a couple minutes with virtually no lines.

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