Arriving in the RGV & travel to Mexico

After a week in Mathis, TX, it was time for us to move on to our first winter destination, Angler’s Nest RV Park in Los Indios, TX . . . deep in the Rio Grande Valley.  Our site is a full concrete pad and patio in the back corner of the park.  We even have a small shed where we can store our bikes and Casey’s food.

It’s a quiet, no frills park in a small residential town right on the border, surrounded by farm fields so it’s pretty quiet.  Most of the people in this park are from Minnesota, and have been coming here for years . . . everybody has been really nice.

There are irrigation canals that run through the fields behind the RV Park, and they make good walking paths for Casey.

They make pretty decent biking paths, too, and we’ve ridden along a few of them.  One afternoon on our bike ride, we crossed the main road and rode along the canal toward the southern border.

Less than a mile away, we came to a road between the fields, parallel to the border wall.

Since the border follows the winding path of the Rio Grande River, there are some areas where it’s further away from us, and other areas where we were riding right alongside the towering wall.

There were frequent breaks in the wall, and we wondered how we maintain security with all those open spaces.

We felt like we shouldn’t cross that line of the wall, but really the border itself was at the river, which in  most cases was several hundred feet away, so we weren’t really in any danger of accidentally crossing the border.  We had our enhanced licenses with us, just in case . . .

We followed the wall for another couple miles and eventually came to an area where it just ended.  Looking at my phone, I could see that we were really close to the river at this point, so Tom decided to ride down the road to see if he could see the river.

I waited for a few minutes to see where he went.  He stopped at the river, and I could still see him, so I knew it wasn’t far, so I rode down to take a look, too.

The Rio Grande River

Well, it’s more impressive here than it was in Big Bend a few years ago.

We turned around then and rode back to the RV Park without incident . . . other than a dog coming out of a yard to chase us . . . luckily he gave up quickly!

When we went to church last weekend, we saw a bike path that runs alongside a river in Harlingen and San Benito, so we may check that out one day.

One of the main activities for these Winter Texans is to go to Progreso and walk across the border into Nuevo Progreso on the Mexican side.  We were a little apprehensive about it at first, but it’s really a pretty simple process.  There’s a parking lot right next to the International Bridge on the American side, where we left the Jeep for $2.  Then we walked through a turnstile for 50 cents each, and proceeded to cross the bridge . . .

over the Rio Grande River,

leaving the USA,

and then we’re in Mexico.

We had an uneventful visit by ourselves, and then returned the following week with a large group from the RV Park.

There’s not much to the town . . . just about three blocks that are considered safe for tourists . . . and we didn’t venture any further than that.

There are several large shopping centers with any Mexican trinket or food you can think of . . . I remember looking all over Cancun for these hats for the boys, and bartering until we got the best deal . . . here there are stacks of them!

Tom had to try a cowboy hat on!

There were also aisles of pottery, knick knacks, rugs, blankets, and food . . . mostof which we didn’t know what it was!  We did pick up a bottle of Kahlua to take home – a full litre for $8.75!  Even with the $3.75 tax we had to pay when crossing back into Texas, it was a good deal.

There were lots of options for eating, from little taco stands along the sidewalk,

to regular full-service bars and restaurants.  Pancho’s seems to be a favorite of many of the Americans, so that’s where Tom and I had lunch on our first visit.  We both had enchiladas, which were OK, but not great.  I probably wouldn’t eat there again.  When we went back with the group from the RV Park, most of them spent much of the day just hanging out at Pancho’s, drinking margaritas while the rest of us shopped.  We all met up for lunch at a different restaurant – it was a pizzeria/italian restaurant that was next to another mexican/seafood restaurant that we could also order from, so all the bases were covered.  Tom and I tried pizza that time, and again it was OK, but not anything I’d go back for.

One place that we found that we would go back to is the little bakery.  We stopped in for a cinnamon roll and donut to tide us over until lunch, and they were very good.

We ate them there, and there were people next to us getting breakfast and lunch, and their food looked very good – much better than anything we saw in any of the other restaurants!

We did a little bit of shopping during our visits, but mostly just walked up and down the three blocks, taking in the sights and trying not too look too interested in what the street vendors were selling.  If who hesitated to look at all, they were all over you, trying to get you to buy.  One guy followed us for 2 blocks, trying to get Tom to buy a hammock!

There were musicians on the street,

and pharmacies and dentists everywhere!  Every other storefront was a dentist and pharmacy!

There was one little dental village, off by itself, close to the border crossing, but it didn’t look too busy on the days we were there.

Tom did decide he wanted a cotton candy before we left, and was so proud of himself that he talked this guy down from $2 to $1!

Crossing back to the US was pretty simple, too.  Just pay 25 cents each at the turnstile, and walk back across the bridge . . .

the customs check on the US side could get crowded, but it was a simple check of our documents and we were on our way. 

Being from Michigan, we can get enhanced driver’s licenses that are good for North American border crossings on foot or in a car, so we don’t even need to carry our passports.

So, we’re no longer apprehensive about going into Mexico, but I’m not sure if we’ll go back again . . . there’s really nothing else we need to get, and I certainly won’t be going back for the food!