Sunday, January 10, 2016

VISITING MISSION, TEXAS, FOR JANUARY

Monday, January 4 - We pulled up stakes and headed South out of Houston, TX, this morning. Nice to be heading in the opposite direction of all the commuters going to work in Houston. We have a long day ahead of us, but it's pretty easy going. We should be at Leisure Valley Ranch in Mission, Texas, by early afternoon.

We arrived as planned after an uneventful trip. We are parked at friends, Amy and Steve's, place. They have an RV lot with a cassita that we have used several years. This past summer, they built a beautiful new house next door with a nice RV pad. They plan of eventually selling the place we are currently using.

Amy and Steve's place Mission Texas

Amy and Steve's place Mission Texas

Looking left.
 
Amy and Steve's place Mission Texas

Looking right.
 
Amy and Steve's place Mission Texas

We are here to visit friends and enjoy Mexico. We didn't waste any time with that agenda. Angie and Rick had a social at their house a couple of hours after our arrival. It was a nice welcome and a chance to renew some old friendships.

Wednesday, January 6 – We are off to Noevo Progresso, Mexico, this morning with friends, Angie and Rick. We've made this trip many times and always enjoy our day in Progresso. We park at one of the lots on the USA side of the border ($2 for all day) and walk across the bridge into Mexico. We do pass through a pay turnstile ($.50) upon entering Mexico, but we do not need to show a passport or go through customs. Only on the return to the USA.

Rio Grande River dividing the US from Mexico.
 
Rio Grande River

Upon entering Progresso, we needed to quickly become accustomed to the numerous fellas trying to hook us up with a dentist, pharmacy, or sell us some trinkets of pirated movie CD's. A simple nod of the head, a smile, or simple “no” and they quickly move on to the next “gringo.” If you have never visited Mexico, you will get use to it rather quickly!

The lifestyle is noticeably different in this small Mexican town, that's for sure. We should mention that at no time do we feel uncomfortable or threatened. The people of Progresso are very friendly to Americans. They want you and your money to visit often. They want you to feel welcome and go out of their way to assure you have a safe and enjoyable visit.

We often come here for inexpensive dentistry but not today. As a matter of fact, we have an appointment next week at the dentist we normally visit for a cleaning and a check-up. Today is a fun visit and a day to do some shopping. Marsha has vanilla to buy for friends, some medication to price, and is looking for some Tekali Tequila she was introduced to in Arizona last winter. She had no luck finding the Tequila, but she did find a place where she could purchase a new body.

Marsha's new body

The vanilla is available in almost every store here. It it twice as strong as that sold in the USA. Marsha and her friends love it for baking. Prescription medication is very inexpensive here also and can be purchased over the counter without a prescription. The tequilla – well of course that is the “national drink of Mexico.”

We stopped at our favorite restaurant, Arturo's, for lunch. This is a very nice restaurant with very good food and reasonable prices. We paid $6.95 for our lunches, and all Margaritas are two for the price of one.

Marsha needed a new prescription for her contacts. We go to Frank Bautista at Medical, Dental y Optica Center. Paul got his eyes examined last year. He will tell you that it is the best pair of glasses he has had in a very long time. Marsha’s exam is $20. Each box of contacts is $25. She pays $45 in the US.

Marsha' eye exam

We enjoyed the afternoon visiting the 100's of small shops looking at pottery, sombreros, silver dishes, and what-not. The following are just a few “special” gifts that we could buy but didn’t.

available in Mexico

available in Mexico

available in Mexico

available in Mexico

On the way back towards the border, we stopped at Jessica's, our usual pharmacy store to get our medicines. After our purchase at Jessica's, we are invited next door to their cantina for a free Margarita and to enjoy the music. That's right. A free Margarita with every purchase. I told you life here is a little different.

Paul, Rick, Agie and Arturo, the owner of Jessica’s.
us at Jessica's

We then headed back across the bridge toward good old USA. Again we pass through a pay turnstile ($.25 on this side of the bridge.) and enter US Customs. We showed our passport and answered a couple questions concerning our visit and any purchases we made. If we bought alcohol or cigarettes, we would have to pay taxes before entering the country.

We returned to our car and headed down the highway for the 30 minute drive back to our RV park in Mission, Texas. It was a fun day and we'll be going back next week for the dentist and to visit Paul's favorite barbershop for a haircut. Come back and travel along with us!

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

15 comments:

  1. Isn't it nice to return to familiar areas! New adventures are always a blast but I do enjoy knowing where I'm going and what to do sometimes. Sounds like the perfect welcome back to Mission:) Good luck with your dental visits next week!

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  2. I truely hope that someday you make it to the real Mexico with your RV. It is soooo much better than the tourist Mexico that you experience at the border towns.

    Just a note on the vanilla...you are likely not getting pure vanilla extract, but maybe you already know that and simply don't care.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  3. It's always fun to go back to visit old haunts. Noevo Progresso is so colorful! What a fun day to share with good friends.

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  4. Oh yeah ... the hawkers of Mexico. We have not visited the border towns, but have had our fair share elsewhere in the country. You're right that a polite "no, gracias" is all it takes for them to move onto someone else without much fuss.

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  5. When you buy vanilla in Mexico you need to make sure that it does not contain Coumarin/e. This product is from another plant entirely but smells and tastes like vanilla but is not good for you plus it makes the product much cheaper to sell because they aren't using the real product. When buying vanilla you need to check the ingredients and they should include vanilla bean extract, ethyl alcohol and water. And that is providing they are telling the truth on the label, fingers cross they are because that is the type of vanilla that I buy down here. Check this out on google.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  6. Enjoy south Texas and fun in Mexico. Nice to move around.
    But the Real Mexico is even more fun we really loved it in the small town and villages.

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  7. We always have a great time in Algodones. It feels comfortable coming back to the same area and friends. Have a great time.

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  8. We always have a great time in Algodones. It feels comfortable coming back to the same area and friends. Have a great time.

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  9. We needed you and your sombrero at our Mexican fiesta the other night. Where were you?

    Let the fun times begin for sure!

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  10. Sounds like you got your batteries recharged in Houston and are ready to roll now.

    We've been thinking about taking a trip to Algodones and have some dental work. The local dentists around here charge more than any place we've had work done before.

    Have fun out there.

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  11. How fun! I look forward to the day my husband retires and we can explore while on vacation. We usually drive straight through, exhausted when we get to our destination. We bought Disney World passes and have been several times in the past year, we still haven't stopped at the beach. :-/ Hope to on our final trip in May, though.
    Look forward to hearing about your trip to the dentist. ;)

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  12. We love Arturos. Have eaten there many times. Never a bad meal and the waiters are so attentive. I have my dental work done there. On the left right after crossing the bridge is a plaza. The office is in the orange building upstairs. I think the name of the dentist is Cardone?

    Enjoy your time in the RGV. After 3 years we decided to winter elsewhere.

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  13. Is Marsha visiting Dr Mejia? Ha ha I might not recognize you, if ever we meet somewhere someday.
    We did enjoy that Margarita at Jessica's, as we took head of your suggestions.
    The grapefruits in Mission Texas is the Best, hope you are having those or just try one. It is sweet!

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  14. Mexico border towns are an experience for sure

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