February 9, 2005

February 9, 2005

LaFeria to Laredo, Texas

DAY 236

 

Today was cloudy, with a bit of rain as we drove. It started out warm in LaFeria, but was a lot cooler by the time we got to Laredo.

There were about a dozen noisy, small, bright green parrots on a utility wire over our trailer at LaFeria RV Park. We were told that they are paraqueets, in the same family of birds as budgies / parakeets.

This morning we hitched up and prepared to leave, then went over to say goodbye to the McGeachy's and the Schweyer's. We headed west on Hwy. 83, following the Rio Grande River and the Mexico border. We stopped at Rio Grande City to buy groceries at Wal-Mart, and tomatoes at a vegetable stand. I parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot next to a fifth wheel rig with Manitoba plates. When we came out of the Wal-Mart, their door was open so we chatted with them. They were from Killarney, Manitoba. It was their first time to Texas. They were travelling towards where we had just come from, and vice-versa. They left Manitoba on January 15, and will be returning on March 15. A long way to travel in just two months. We had to cross a 5 lane freeway on foot to get to the vegetable stand. Not that easy to do !

I wondered why so many people in Wal-Mart had black smudges on their foreheads. Joanne explained that today is Ash Wednesday. She knew that from being raised Catholic. HEY ... that means yesterday was Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras.

We are always willing to try local fare, so in the grocery store we bought some Mexican cheese, which is somewhat like Feta, a Mexican dessert sweet bread with Pecans in it, like a nut bread, and a package of fresh nopales, which are "tender leaves of Prickley ( sic ) Pear Cactus" They are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Okkkkkaaaaayyyyy ! ! !

West of Rio Grande City we left "The Valley" and entered the Chihuahua Desert. As we drove across the desert, it rained on and off. The truck and trailer are now filthy from driving through a dusty desert while it rained lightly. We stopped for diesel in San Ygnacio. Most of the signage along the Rio Grande River / Mexico border is Spanish. Down here, the GAP chain is Gonzalez Auto Parts. I'm not kidding ! The Rio Grande, the Mexico border, and Hwy. 83 all turn slowly northwest. At Laredo, we left Hwy. 83 and got onto Interstate 35 which runs north to San Antonio. About 13 miles north of Laredo, all traffic was routed offthe Interstate, and into a truck scales and inspection area. Every vehicle had to stop while border patrol agents with sniffer dogs circled the vehicle. I think they were looking for vehicles with illegal immigrants aboard. While we were at Livingston, I was following the newspaper story about the trial of a trucker who was charged with murder after 19 illegal immigrants died inside his truck while being smuggled across from Mexico.

We are stopped for the night "boondocking" in the parking lot of the Texas Travel Information Centre about a mile down the road from the border patrol inspection stop. The fifth wheel rig beside us is running power off a very small, very quiet, Honda 1000 portable generator. I want one ! I'm going to get one !

The local news seems too bizarre to be real. I was just reading tonight's Laredo newspaper while eating dinner. There is a story about a Mexican woman who was found on the Texas side of Laredo, drunk, with her hands cut off, newspapers and duct tape wrapped around the stumps of her arms. She was too drunk to know how it happened. HUH ? ? ? Another story was about the local 55 year old judge who was forced to resign because he was caught using a penis pump under his robes to masturbate during trials. WHAT ? ? ?

I've just returned from taking Bo out for an evening walk. WOW ... is it ever windy here in the desert at night.

DSK