Yep......a windy morning, a very warm morning, and after the morning rituals, I enjoyed that fabulous way to begin the morning by sitting on the patio with that steaming mug of French Roast coffee!! Wishing many others "good morning!" as they walked or pedaled or rode by is always such a joy because EVERYONE responds in such a friendly manner. It certainly makes this sagging hulk of Me feel great!!!
By a few minutes after 10, the 1st Lady, Jane, Buzz/Moe, and myself were loaded into my truck and on the road to the border; arriving at the bridge we turned left into a really very full parking lot.....the largest number of vehicles that I have seen in that parking lot since we arrived on January 2nd!!!!! WOW.......the thousands of senior citizens and their guests are all very confident of their safety while in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico.....and that is a great vote of confidence fo the Mexican Army and the N. Progreso police force.......both units in full view at the other side of the bridge and along the streets, shopping arcades, and many shops.
Paying our one quarter to cross the bridge over the Rio Grande River, we arrived very quickly on the other side, and began trying to walk along the main street sidewalks.......bumping into soooooooo many others who were there just as we were to shop, to dine, to have a drink or two, and to just enjoy the windy, slightly dusty ambience of this little town which caters to the Winter Texans, as well as manages to survive because OF the Winter Texans!!
It is quite difficult to put into words an accurate description of this little town......for four blocks along main street it is nothing but shops, cafes, bakeries, tortilla making shops, bars, pharmacies, dentists offices, and hundreds of street vendors with their stalls on the edge of the sidewalks next to the street. And you know......as many times as we have been there (at least once each week since we arrived here on Jan 2nd), we are still fascinated by every bit of this!!! Many of the shops are sooooo colorful with all of the items and clothing and blankets that are for sale.........and many of the larger stores not only have furniture, but also bars that are in operation from early in the morning, catering to those who arrive early to take advantage of smaller hordes of people.....and, YES, I did say "hordes".
It takes much longer than one would imagine to just try to make any progress along the sidewalks.....tooooooo many people going in both directions. The streets are full of cars, push-carts being pushed by street vendors, and at times you can't even get into the doors to go inside the shops. All types of aromas are wafting through the air.....from fresh tortillas, tacos cooking, fresh corn-on-the-cob being cooked on braziers on these little carts, the smell of fried shrimp, fried tortillas, along with very loud music of all kinds but mainly Hispanic music with those wonderful percussive sounds. Along every block you are stopped by very poor appearing mothers with small children in their arms or on their backs or along their side holding hands with "Momma" trying to get you to buy whatever small wares they have in their hands.....and among the most prevalent are tiny little packages of Chicklet gum!
If you look up at the corners there are some security forces standing on the balconies above, as well as just fascinating electrical poles with sooooooooooo many electrical wires all running to and from these poles in some type of harem-scarem, unsafe-looking, configurations. How they manage to survive without electrical outages, I do not know!!!
What do you see the most of???? DENTIST offices......God only knows how many there are there......and next to them are tons of pharmacies which are all selling medications for which prescriptions are NOT needed....and some really great prices compared to those which we have to pay in the USA!!!!!!!
Silver jewelry for sale is everywhere....EVERYWHERE!!!! Leather belts, cowboy hats, Mexican blankets, pinatas hanging from the shop ceilings as well as from the protective coverings over the sidewalks, wallets, cowboy boots from exotic leathers, and I could go on and on and on!!! WHAT a cornucopia of items......WHAT a shopper's paradise it is!!!
We decided to rest our weary feet and get out of the crowds, so we planted our aging bodies in a little bar. Ordering some cold beverages....OK...a couple of beers and a couple of Maragaritas......we sat and enjoyed this "down" time....literally. And then, we continued down the sidewalk, being pushed and shoved and stepped on and...and....and...and.....until....
We finally found ourselves at The Red Snapper, a wonderful and very busy restaurant on the second floor of a building about the third block down the street. I have written about this great place previously........and discussed the great fried shrimp which they have there. We were seated fairly quickly, our drinks (more beer and Margaritas at a very, VERY cheap 2-for-1 price) arrived as well as the delicious tortilla chips and very warm and spicy hot salsa!!!! Soooooo damn good!!!!! Our food arrived quickly and also very hot........and their kitchen staff must really be working their butts off since this place was absolutely packed with Winter Texans!!!! WHAT a GREAT lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!
About an hour later.........we went back to the sidewalks kept on walking away from the Rio Grande River/border....and after turning off of the main street, we walked along their elementary school which is certainly a very poor looking school. One block and we were at a shopping plaza with most of the shops vacant, we went inside and found Arriba's.....a great bar and dance spot with lots of country music, as well as some Mexican tunes. And, once again......this IS a place for the Winter Texans to enjoy....and enjoy they were!!!!!!
We purchased some really beautiful Talavera pottery pieces at great prices.....and then began the walk back to the border. By this time it was mid-afternoon and the throngs and hordes had disappeared and so our return walk took much less time than earlier!!!! One more stop at the Duty Free liquor shop.......but nothing new there that we needed.
$.30 into the slots to cross the bridge which might be a small block long in length, a quick check of our passports by the American officials, and we were soon in the truck. Hmmmmm........I had parked under one of the very few trees there.....and OMG, OMG, OMG......my truck was absolutely covered with white bird crap!!!!! NEVER have I had my truck ever look like that, or any other vehicle for that matter!!!!! WHEW......I know what tomrrow will bring for me.......a job washing the truck!!!
After a brief bit of down time inside TheHowserHouse, I rode my bike over to the other side of this "North Section" of Llano Grande Resort and located our good friends who had arrived here from Wisconsin........John and Julie!! It was GREAT to see them again.....and with a glass of Sangria in my hand, we visited and talked........and soon Pete/Jane, Buzz/Moe, and the 1st Lady arrived. We sat outside for about an hour until it began to get dark and cooler. While sitting there.....hahahaha......Pete jerked quite suddenly and we all thought he had spilled his beer, but.....HAHAHA....the inground water sprinkler system came on right UNDERNEATH his legs.....spraying him with cold water!!!! It was sooooo damn funny!!! He moved really quickly to escape getting drenched!!!!!
As you can tell......it has been a fun day, a day which we all enjoyed. The only negative of the day comes each time we cross the bridge.....and that is the sighting of that dumb ass wall that is being built.....in various length sections.!!!!! WHAT a WASTE of our country's money.....the taxes that we pay. As I have stated before.......the memory that is in all of our minds is the Berlin Wall, and just how much we all wanted that to be torn down for all of those decades!!!! And then what do we do.........begin to build one on our southern border!!!!!! There HAS to be a better way to control the illegal immigrants that are coming across our border with Mexico.....there HAS to be!!!!
And soooo, as everyday that I write..........
LIFE IS JUST REALLY INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
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