Thursday, October 10, 2013

OFF TO MEXICO

Wednesday, October 9 –  This is one of the reasons we decided to spend some time in the Texas Rio Grande Valley......dentist appointments in Progresso, Mexico. We have a 10:00 a.m. appointment with Dr. de la Rosa. We are both getting crown work done and regular scheduled cleaning.

US Mexico sign

We arrived early to avoid the crowds. Several times in the past we have found ourselves third or forth in line – even with an appointment. Thankfully this morning, we were the first to arrive and the first patients to see Dr. de la Rosa.

He works on us both at once....Marsha in one chair and Paul in another. The room has a divider down the middle. He started with Marsha's x-rays and then moved over to Paul. The good news is Paul doesn't need a crown. The doctor felt he could do a deep cleaning and fix things up. So that's the work Paul had done.

de la rosa

Marsha on the other hand needs two crowns and a cavity filled. He's been warning her about the one cracked tooth needing a crown, but the second one was a surprise. He did the preparation work,3.5 hours worth. Marsha will have to return in two weeks for the permanent crown.

For anyone wondering about our dentist's credentials, Dr. de la Rosa lives right here in Mission, TX, and was educated in the USA. For those wanting  a comparison to similar work done in the USA, Paul's bill for a deep cleaning and two x-rays was $80. Marsha paid $560 for x-rays, a cleaning, two crowns, and a filling.

With our dentist visit done for the day, we stopped at the Red Snapper for lunch and then did some shopping among the many vendors along the street and some strolling through some of the many shops selling just about everything an American tourist would want in Mexico.

Winter Texans haven't arrived yet. We have never seen the streets and sidewalks so bare.
Mexico

Our daughter, Carrie, wanted a pictured painted by the same guy that did ours last year. José is excellent. He paints only with spray paint, a piece of cardboard, index card and Walmart bags.

José

Finished product.
mexican paianting

For those of you having visited Nuevo Progreso in the past, there's been one big change crossing the border. You still pay 50¢ at the turnstile when entering Mexico. Now you must feed new turnstiles 35¢ when leaving Mexico too. Gotta get the gringos! Ha ha!

The migration of the butterflies continues. There are just thousands of them down here. They love the Lantana bushes.

butterflies

butterflies

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!