Progreso, Mexico

The day after Christmas we packed up with friends and drove to the Mexican border, a lengthy trip of a whole 12 miles. We parked on the American side and walked across the border into Progreso, Mexico.
















Main street is busy, crowded, and tight.














There always seems to be new construction or reconstruction going on, but it just never seems to get finished. This building looks like it will be quite nice and there were workers actually working!!!



Shopping is usually colorful.














Sharon liked the clothes in this shop.













And here we find Sharon paying the Texas tax on the liquor she bought in Progreso. Kind of knocks the edge off the great buys on alcohol in Mexico.





All in all, it was a nice day. Had a good lunch. Saw interesting and colorful shops. And best of all didn't buy anything (except Sharon's liquor).

Hildago - Festival of Lights

Christmas is approaching. Last year about this time I sent you all pictures of Christmas lights from Mesa, Arizona. This year the pics are from Hildago, Texas. This display was quite impressive considering the town's population is only a smidge over 7,000.

We also were lucky enough to attend a concert by the Valley View High School Mariachi Band, and they were really good. Last year they won the national championship at a competition held in South Florida. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and you'll just have to take my word that the band was as good as I say.









PS Last issue I said we were in southeast Texas, but one of my readers corrected me. This area is referred to as the "Valley" of south Texas.

The "Valley"

We are now in the Rio Grande Valley of Southeast Texas and only 40 or 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We will stay until next March. There seems to be no features that would help one to see that this is a valley, as the land is flat as far as one can see (and then some more). Maybe I'll do a little research about the valley and get back to you later.

As for The "Valley", well that is what the section of the Rio Grande Valley from Rio Grande City, Texas to Brownsville, Texas is called. It is a favorite area for snowbirds, whom the locals refer to as Winter Texans. We haven't been here long enough to make any fair judgments, but here are some observations. RV park prices average considerably less that what we experienced in Arizona or Florida (and so is golf). The humidity is high, but we are seeing only occasional showers. This is a Hispanic area. I am guessing the permanent population in this area is 80% Hispanic. Based on what I have noticed, they hold most of the public offices, are the anchors on the TV news, and I hear Spanish as often as English. More than half of the TV stations on antennae broadcast in Spanish. The scenery here is not dramatic and I expect my future blogs will have more architecture than landscape.

During the trip from Big Bend National Park we made several stops, including staying several days in Del Rio, Texas. While there we walked across the border to Cuidad Acuna. As like most border towns, it was attuned to the tourist trade. Here, however, it seemed to be more the nighttime tourists looking for bars and nightclubs. We saw few Americans walking the streets that afternoon. The three pictures are of the Rio Grande River taken from the international bridge, a statue (I think it is significant of Mexico), and looking down one of the main streets.







This next picture is a blooper. You probably think that I searched all over to find this, but in fact I've seen many similar bloopers just since we arrived. The "C" in combo blew off in the wind, but the "u" in double??? I expect that when English is you second language, spelling might just be a challenge.