February 7 & 8, 2005

February 7 & 8, 2005

LaFeria, Texas & Nuevo Progreso, Mexico

DAYS 234 & 235

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and hot. This morning when I went to register for 2 more nights in this campground, I met Ken Hammer at the registration desk. Ken and his wife Jean are members of Escapees Maple Leaf ( Ontario ) Chapter 18. We have met them twice before at the Maple Leaf Chapter 18 Fall Rally in September 2003 in St. Thomas and again at the Maple Leaf Chapter 18 Spring Rally in June 2004 in Kingston. Ken and Jean are here waiting for the start of the annual Escapees 3 week pilgrimage to Mexico called Mexican Connection. Ken told me that the McGeachy’s and the Schweyers are also in this campground. Small world ... again ! After registering for two more nights, I went over to say hello to Sandy and Peachy, and Harv and Louise.

Then it was time to head for Mexico. A few miles west on Hwy. 83, a few miles south on Hwy. 491, and a few miles west on Hwy. 281 brought us to Progreso, Texas, and the International Bridge over the Rio Grande River to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. This is an extremely popular border crossing point for tourists. There are a couple of very large parking lots on the Texas side of the border where you can park your vehicle all day for $1.00, and walk across to Mexico. We parked the truck, and walked across the International Bridge. The pedestrian toll is $0.25 per person. The main street of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico is about 5 blocks long. The tourist area extends the length of the main street, and about a block in each direction off the main street, so the tourist area is about 5 blocks by 3 blocks. A nice long day of strolling ! The tourist area is comprised of about 1/3 dentists, 1/3 pharmacies, and 1/3 souvenir shops, bars, and restaurants. The many dentists’ offices have their prices posted on their shop windows. Extractions ; $10. Fillings ; $15. Cleanings ; $10. This is a very popular place for dental work and prescription refilling for the RV crowd. I have qualms about letting cut throat competition cut rate Mexican dentists into my mouth. We bought some gifts for Joanne’s little nieces. As I said before, every kid should have a rich, old aunt ! I bought some Mexican chocolate bars. We bought some $1.00 Margaritas. All along the tourist strip, bars sell Margaritas for $1.00, served in Styrofoam cups. Drinking while strolling down the street is permitted. At the end of theday, we walked back across the International Bridge, paying the $0.30 per person toll. Clearing U.S. Customs took about 5 seconds. “What did you buy today ?” “Twenty bucks worth of souvenirs.” “OK ... goodbye.”

We walked back to the truck, and drove back to LaFeria RV Park, and joined the already in progress Canadian Happy Hour at the Schweyer’s motorhome. Beer, wine, pizza, as a prelude to the RV Park’s wine and cheese party at 6:00 P.M.. At 6:00, we all went over to the Club House where many winery sales reps had tables set up for tasting their products. We spent about an hour and half tasting various Texas wines, munching on cheese, and socializing. We won a bottle of red wine as a door prize. I hate red wine. Just my luck !

We wobbled back to the trailer, had a late supper, and I fell asleep a few minutes after 9:00 P.M. as we were starting to watch TV.

Tuesday ; Today started out sunny and warm. It got cloudy around noon. I slept very late this morning. A week of driving, a day of walking, and an evening of wine will do that, I guess.

After lunch, we headed to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. West on Hwy. 83, south on Hwy. 1015 to Progreso, west on Hwy. 281. We parked, went into and walked around their Visitor Centre, watched a short introductory video, then hiked around the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge for a couple of hours. The more interesting things we saw were ; Green Jays, Altamira Orioles, Great Kiskadees, Chachalacas, Snowy Egrets, and a Rosebelly Lizard. When we left, we wanted to explore the rest of "The Valley" by car, before returning to LaFeria. We drove west on Hwy. 283 until it ended at Hidalgo, then turned north on Hwy. 115 to the city of McAllen. We drove into, and through McAllen, then turned east on Hwy. 83. We drove through Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, Donna, Weslaco, and Mercedes, before getting back to LaFeria. We stopped for groceries in Pharr, and bought Popeye's Chicken ( similar to KFC ) in Weslaco.

We ate our fast food fried chicken while watching the 2 hour finale of Amazing Race.

DSK