12/7 Friday and D-Day Many years ago I was visiting Pearl Harbor on this day. I hope it is as emotional today as it was about 30+ years ago. I am afraid that so many of the members of the Navy that were there back then have gone on to their final reward. I am afraid our nation, the one that seems to forget the history of this country, likely still celebrates the day but less the fervor it had when I was there.
With plans to head to Florida for Christmas, we made a run to Nuevo Progreso to get a little Kahula to carry with us. When we were there last week we found the bottle sold in the US for about $36.99 sells there for 7.80. With out of state licenses, we were able to get 4 bottles each. We did have to pay federal and state taxes of $19, but even with all expenses like tolls, parking, gasoline, we still saved over $220 vs. the same thing here in Texas. Likely we will need to make another run or so to stockpile some of the expensive stuff. Progreso is not a bad place to visit and the second time across is far less worrisome than the first time.
The trip was almost uneventful had it not been for a tanker driver who decided he owned the road and wanted to go faster than the rest of the traffic. To do this, he just pulled into the opposing lane and began to pass everyone and everything. Fortunately the road had a very wide shoulder so opposing traffic could jump onto the shoulder while the traffic he was passing was also heading for their shoulder. Unfortunately there were no police anywhere around. We did see a local slick top on the way home at a fire. He looked like a normal tan car until he turned on his lights. It has been a long time since I saw a police car that had more lights than this one. The side of his car was marked, but by the time you saw the markings, you had already seen his lights and you were so busted.
Friday, December 7, 2007
12-4 It is cold in Mission, Texas and other stuff
12/4 Tuesday We arose to some cold temperatures after having pulled the covers up to our noses in the early hours. At 7 the temp was 49, then 2 hours later it was down to 47 with NOAA showing the official temp at 44. Checking around I felt warmer as Houston and northern Florida are 39. Looking at the New York City area, there high through the weekend will not even get close to our current low temperature.
Thinking back a few days ago when we went to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, I forgot to mention our experience coming through the border checkpoint into Texas. There was only guard for the walking traffic, thus there was a line. They had widows so you could watch the cars going through. They had a dog that was checking every vehicle. He suddenly acted a bit different on one car. The guards were opening the trunk and the dog walked away a few feet, then turned and jumped into the trunk – busted. The car was moved to another area for a more intense inspection. Meantime the Border Patrol stopped a car that had over $1M in marijuana so there are individuals that are attempting to smuggle drugs into the US. In the case of this driver, he took off and dove into the Rio Grande and swam back to Mexico. Meantime the drugs belonged to the Border Patrol.
Thinking back a few days ago when we went to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, I forgot to mention our experience coming through the border checkpoint into Texas. There was only guard for the walking traffic, thus there was a line. They had widows so you could watch the cars going through. They had a dog that was checking every vehicle. He suddenly acted a bit different on one car. The guards were opening the trunk and the dog walked away a few feet, then turned and jumped into the trunk – busted. The car was moved to another area for a more intense inspection. Meantime the Border Patrol stopped a car that had over $1M in marijuana so there are individuals that are attempting to smuggle drugs into the US. In the case of this driver, he took off and dove into the Rio Grande and swam back to Mexico. Meantime the drugs belonged to the Border Patrol.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Off to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico
On the bridge over the Reo Grande there is little turning back here.This is the Mexican border check. They are not very worried about what you are bringing in so only one person on duty.
Main street Progresso. It is crowded and there are many vendors set up outside stores to sell their stuff. Walking through is a one-lane operation
most of the time. Several stores are really nice and air conditioned while others; we will just say they were a little rough.This was the most impressive sign of all the many medical related businesses we passed. We have many here at the RV park that have dentists in Progresso.
11/30 Friday I began the post and had to look at the clock that tells me what day it is; ain’t retirement great!! I had it wrong, I thought it was Thursday and I had a day to take care of some business before the weekend – Oh well, who really gives a flip?
The day began a little early as the dog said she needed to take a quick trot outside. Me, once up it is hard to head back to bed. Coffee and looking at the Internet seemed to be important at the time.
We decided to head to Progresso, Mexico today and see what everyone is taking about. Yes, it is a darn sight better than our experience in Reynosa two days ago. Although the streets are not that much better, there is signage we are able to read. There were also lots of cars with Texas plates unlike Reynosa. This town does cater to the American tourist and offers very good dental care are great prices. They also offer medical services, glasses, hair cuts and of course medicines and liquor at much better prices.
We shopped around for a while and then picked up some liquor to see what would happen at the border crossing. As none Texans, we were able to bring back 4 quarts each vs. only one for a Texan. Arriving at the Texas checkpoint for liquor and cigarettes, we were only charged $1.25 for each of two quarts we had and $1.75 for the 1.75L bottle we brought in. Considering we were dealing with Kahula that cost about $35 in the states, we made out well considering we paid $8.70 for the bottle in Mexico. Even with the tax, we were still under $10. So it cost .25 to cross the border going south and .30 going north and $1.50 to park, we still had money in the pocket even after buying gasoline. After all, we were going to go somewhere and do something, so we could have been out some money for travel in any case.
Progresso is not so bad a town to visit. Just like many years ago, the kids are panhandling anyone who comes by. There are also many adults who are sitting out there with a cup (normally a clean, white Styrofoam cup) hoping you will drop in coins or better. Walking back across the bridge there were kids with a hat or cup extended through the railing of the bridge looking for coins. You could not see them at all, nor could they see you until you were immediately in front of them. As an educator, the number of kids begging instead of in school disturbed me. No, I have no confidence that they were home schooled, so what future could they have? Still, it was an experience and causes us to realize just how blessed we are in life.
Thanksgiving and Reynosa, Mexico
11/28 Wednesday Thankfully we are back in Mission! Seems we have been on the road long enough to develop an appreciation for non-chaotic life, one that is quiet, organized and lacks sudden outbursts that grate on the nerves. First night back we slept like we had not in many days. Yes, we did enjoy going and visiting the daughters, but they live in the rush of work and getting it done along with touching base with this person and that person at prescribed times. To us, it was an exhausting race to get things done. Our lives, as retired people living on the road, we have discovered the slow lane and are quite content to stay there. In fact, if the speed limit is 70 or so, we still drive at 61; better fuel mileage at 1600 RPM! If we don’t get there by a certain time, who cares? There is a Wal-Mart just down the road and we can just ‘drop an anchor for the night’ and we will maybe get to where we should have been tomorrow! Our bed was so wonderful; we did not wake up for about 1.5 hours past the normal time. The alarm clock in our life style is not an option. It is funny how your employer gives you a ‘gold watch’ like keeping track of time is critical when you retire. I have not worn a watch since before October 2004; however I know where the watch is but I am sure the battery ran down at least a year ago.
Well, to the more current, we did enjoy some time with the kids in the Dallas and Houston areas for Thanksgiving. We managed to find turkey on Thanksgiving with one group but then switched to Mexican on Friday with the kids. We enjoy Mexican, or more a Tex-Mex food offered by Nifa’s Restaurant. This Houston based chain cranks out some good food; our estimate.
Back in Mission after a 12 day absence finds the weather more pleasant than Dallas or Houston. It got to about 51o here, but the days are more like low 70o. For folks who enjoy the shorts and T-shirt life, this is much better. We actually had to dig out long pants in both Dallas and Houston. I did find a pair of jean I had not had on for 3 years that still fit; Mom says much better fit now than before, something about I have a butt. I will take this as a complement.
Today we made a trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Returning to the campground, we learned you do not go to Reynosa, instead you go to Progresso, Mexico if you are American. The former is just a large Mexican town (by their standards) with many rough edges. Signage in town is very lacking and I went down at least two roads the wrong direction. Unlike the US, Mexico, or Reynosa has no interest in dual signage to aid Americans find their way. One way streets are sometimes marked with an arrow, but the locals are just as likely to park on the left of a road as on the right, so looking at cars does not give you a clew if you are on a two-way street or not. Yes, we did drive the car into Mexico; our first and last such activity. Not sure what the insurance company would say about being less than 5-miles inside the border, but we managed to get home intact. We were really happy to see the Texas sign as we drove back into the state!
What is disturbing to us is the way the border is patrolled, or not patrolled. We went in to Mexico and had to stop because we got a red light instead of a green light; a random check. They looked in the back of the car – no sweat. On the way back, we had to stop at a post and show our passports. Once cleared there we were clear to run through a maze of pylons and structures like those you see at a tollbooth. Once through this, with no stops and no people other than drivers who wanted to get ahead and bet the rest of the drivers into Texas, we saw no American or Border Patrol people or big dogs with equally big teeth. I guess this is why we are finding so many Hispanics on the Texas side of the border.
Listening to the radio here in Mission, we are finding there are about twice the number of Hispanic radio stations broadcasting in Brownsville, McAllen and Mission as English stations. On the TV, it is an even greater number of Hispanic channels. You can tell these stations with the sound muted because they broadcast more exposed flesh than we see on US channels. The only place we have seen more flesh was a channel coming from Canada where full frontal topless was the norm on late evening air signal channels (10 PM and later). We were trying to catch a Fox channel for news at 10 eastern time (regular news was at 11 in this time zone) and found the programming introduced by topless women. The show was presented much like Saturday Night Live. I will admit they were attractive women whether you look more toward the top of the screen or toward the bottom. Unlike the news in England that features the nude news, no subscription was required.
Going to margarita night here at the park, we learned no one goes to Reynosa. Instead they go to Progresso where the town caters to the American public. There it is safe to drive over and this is where you go to get some really good dental work at great prices. We will be checking this out soon. Meantime, Reynosa is off the list of places to visit! Otherwise, we are most THANKFUL to be back safely in Mission!
As we drove around McAllen (who says you need to come home by a direct route?) we saw the Hummer in the picture. I guess this is a step between a normal stretch Hummer and an RV of some description. We agreed it was generally ugly with the exposed shocks and the inability of many people, especially women wearing a dress, to reasonably access the thing. In addition, the A/C unit on the top would make a racket that would make conversation or watching TV difficult. It is understandable that they could not generate enough cooled air to handle this long back section, but I would hate to be the person who paid major bucks to rent this.
As a side note, liquor stores around here are thin. We are guessing this is the result of duty free stores along the Mexican border, but we have no idea how much you can bring back or how much tax you must pay. It would really suck if you found you could have bought the bottle in the states for less or the same as you paid in Mexico, but you had to lug the bottle home you bought in Mexico!
Well, to the more current, we did enjoy some time with the kids in the Dallas and Houston areas for Thanksgiving. We managed to find turkey on Thanksgiving with one group but then switched to Mexican on Friday with the kids. We enjoy Mexican, or more a Tex-Mex food offered by Nifa’s Restaurant. This Houston based chain cranks out some good food; our estimate.
Back in Mission after a 12 day absence finds the weather more pleasant than Dallas or Houston. It got to about 51o here, but the days are more like low 70o. For folks who enjoy the shorts and T-shirt life, this is much better. We actually had to dig out long pants in both Dallas and Houston. I did find a pair of jean I had not had on for 3 years that still fit; Mom says much better fit now than before, something about I have a butt. I will take this as a complement.
Today we made a trip to Reynosa, Mexico. Returning to the campground, we learned you do not go to Reynosa, instead you go to Progresso, Mexico if you are American. The former is just a large Mexican town (by their standards) with many rough edges. Signage in town is very lacking and I went down at least two roads the wrong direction. Unlike the US, Mexico, or Reynosa has no interest in dual signage to aid Americans find their way. One way streets are sometimes marked with an arrow, but the locals are just as likely to park on the left of a road as on the right, so looking at cars does not give you a clew if you are on a two-way street or not. Yes, we did drive the car into Mexico; our first and last such activity. Not sure what the insurance company would say about being less than 5-miles inside the border, but we managed to get home intact. We were really happy to see the Texas sign as we drove back into the state!
What is disturbing to us is the way the border is patrolled, or not patrolled. We went in to Mexico and had to stop because we got a red light instead of a green light; a random check. They looked in the back of the car – no sweat. On the way back, we had to stop at a post and show our passports. Once cleared there we were clear to run through a maze of pylons and structures like those you see at a tollbooth. Once through this, with no stops and no people other than drivers who wanted to get ahead and bet the rest of the drivers into Texas, we saw no American or Border Patrol people or big dogs with equally big teeth. I guess this is why we are finding so many Hispanics on the Texas side of the border.
Listening to the radio here in Mission, we are finding there are about twice the number of Hispanic radio stations broadcasting in Brownsville, McAllen and Mission as English stations. On the TV, it is an even greater number of Hispanic channels. You can tell these stations with the sound muted because they broadcast more exposed flesh than we see on US channels. The only place we have seen more flesh was a channel coming from Canada where full frontal topless was the norm on late evening air signal channels (10 PM and later). We were trying to catch a Fox channel for news at 10 eastern time (regular news was at 11 in this time zone) and found the programming introduced by topless women. The show was presented much like Saturday Night Live. I will admit they were attractive women whether you look more toward the top of the screen or toward the bottom. Unlike the news in England that features the nude news, no subscription was required.
Going to margarita night here at the park, we learned no one goes to Reynosa. Instead they go to Progresso where the town caters to the American public. There it is safe to drive over and this is where you go to get some really good dental work at great prices. We will be checking this out soon. Meantime, Reynosa is off the list of places to visit! Otherwise, we are most THANKFUL to be back safely in Mission!
As we drove around McAllen (who says you need to come home by a direct route?) we saw the Hummer in the picture. I guess this is a step between a normal stretch Hummer and an RV of some description. We agreed it was generally ugly with the exposed shocks and the inability of many people, especially women wearing a dress, to reasonably access the thing. In addition, the A/C unit on the top would make a racket that would make conversation or watching TV difficult. It is understandable that they could not generate enough cooled air to handle this long back section, but I would hate to be the person who paid major bucks to rent this.
As a side note, liquor stores around here are thin. We are guessing this is the result of duty free stores along the Mexican border, but we have no idea how much you can bring back or how much tax you must pay. It would really suck if you found you could have bought the bottle in the states for less or the same as you paid in Mexico, but you had to lug the bottle home you bought in Mexico!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Plano and Sunday = Church
11/18 Sunday We attended church with our daughter and son-in-law at Bent Tree of Life Bible Church where they are members. Pete, the senior pastor was less than our image of a ‘senior’ pastor. He is all of about 45 and now leads a congregation nearing 5,000; we typically see senior pastors with a lot more gray hair. Pete has a real relaxed style but surely gets the message across. He comes from a family with parents and siblings all in various ministries. In early January the congregation will move into their new sanctuary that will seat 5.000.
This week the minister of music had a couple as his houseguests whom he had worked with at a church in Chicago. He handled the piano and she was one of the praise team. Together they all made some great music that everyone wanted to join in singing.
If you want to take a look, their web site is btbf.org. We recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to attend one of their services.
As for the rest of the afternoon, after lunch it was home to catch the final NASCAR race for this season. It was not as nail biting as last week with Jimmy Johnson coming to the front in the last few laps, but it was a good race.
This week the minister of music had a couple as his houseguests whom he had worked with at a church in Chicago. He handled the piano and she was one of the praise team. Together they all made some great music that everyone wanted to join in singing.
If you want to take a look, their web site is btbf.org. We recommend taking advantage of any opportunity to attend one of their services.
As for the rest of the afternoon, after lunch it was home to catch the final NASCAR race for this season. It was not as nail biting as last week with Jimmy Johnson coming to the front in the last few laps, but it was a good race.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Heading for Dallas
11/15 Thursday Today was a long day of driving north. Mom has an appointment with a neurosurgeon to see why she is having problems with her neck and arms. To accomplish this we are going to Dr. Courtney in Dallas as our Dallas son-in-law has seen him with great success. Asking around, we could not find anyone who had first hand information on someone in this specialty. Although the drive was 574 miles from the Valley, hopefully it will be worth the time.
Heading out of Mission, we passed a tire store. What made this special or humorous is their sales gimmick. They rent tires to own. I heard of furniture you rent to own but not tires. Coincidently and likely important was the location of this tire store immediately across the street from the local pawnshop.
Heading north it appeared the Dept. of Public Safety was on focusing on the traffic speed on the road. They had multiple units patrolling in addition to at least two unmarked cars. Obviously one driver failed to recognize the dirty Crown Vic with the very dark tinted windows until the car suddenly lit up with all these pretty red and blue lights – okay, there were also some clear strobe mixed in.
Continuing on we saw a sign saying it was a federal crime to smuggle illegals into the country. Just a bit further all traffic was routed through a checkpoint manned by offices in brown uniforms and big guns. They also had at least one dog that kept reminding everyone both of his presence and how big and mean he could be. A quick salutation and we were on our way.
Fortunately the road is flat and the cruise control was working or I would have had a problem staying at an acceptable legal limit. Knowing we had over 500 miles to cover before seeing a bed, I found myself trying to fug on the speed whenever my foot was used to determine the speed. The only problem on our drive was the almost constant 25 MPH plus winds in our face. Running our gas mileage, on the second fill of the day and with the wind still in our face, we are up 11 MPG over the mileages in the previous 4 fills. I just wonder what the mileage would have been had the wind been on our tail instead of right on our nose.
Arriving in Dallas, we were caught up in traffic, something we have not experienced in over a year; we most certainly have not missed it! We were caught in the wrong lane and suddenly found ourselves on I-30 and off I-35. In this lower section of roads below the city, there is no way off I-30 until you get to I-45 south or US-75 north. Because US-75 is also Central Expressway and the other route to the daughter’s house, we rode this. At 5:50 PM, this is not the thing to have done. Going 30 miles took only 1:20 minutes so next time we will be sure to catch the right road.
11/16 Friday We saw Dr. Courtney this morning. He is younger than envisioned; maybe at our age almost everyone outside the RV park looks younger. Although we had been warned his ‘bedside’ manors were a little short or one person reported him to be a typical arrogant surgeon, he was anything but. He was cordial and took time to have a few laughs while sitting on the exam table and leaning against the wall for support. He cracked a few jokes but you had to listen carefully as his humor can be dry. Careful listening is also needed as he talks fast and he is giving you information you need that is woven into whatever conversation is going on. He gives multi-tasking a new definition.
To our surprise, our appointment was at 9:30; however, we arrived at 8:50 and by 9:50, we had seen the nurse, had X-rays, seen the doctor, talked with the insurance verification person, paid for our visit and were back in the car to leave. Did I mention he is very much business and talks fast?
With Rx for multiple prescriptions in hand we were off to the drug store and breakfast. Unlike our experience with CVS and Wal-Mart, our prescription was ready in 35 minutes. Before breakfast was over we had insurance clearance, two level MRI scheduled and a follow-up appointment with the doctor to discuss the results. We were even ‘back home’ at the daughter’s home before 11:25. This type of speed is unheard of in the general medical community. So, it appears the rest of the day is just kicking back and enjoying the cool (under 70 degree) day.
Heading out of Mission, we passed a tire store. What made this special or humorous is their sales gimmick. They rent tires to own. I heard of furniture you rent to own but not tires. Coincidently and likely important was the location of this tire store immediately across the street from the local pawnshop.
Heading north it appeared the Dept. of Public Safety was on focusing on the traffic speed on the road. They had multiple units patrolling in addition to at least two unmarked cars. Obviously one driver failed to recognize the dirty Crown Vic with the very dark tinted windows until the car suddenly lit up with all these pretty red and blue lights – okay, there were also some clear strobe mixed in.
Continuing on we saw a sign saying it was a federal crime to smuggle illegals into the country. Just a bit further all traffic was routed through a checkpoint manned by offices in brown uniforms and big guns. They also had at least one dog that kept reminding everyone both of his presence and how big and mean he could be. A quick salutation and we were on our way.
Fortunately the road is flat and the cruise control was working or I would have had a problem staying at an acceptable legal limit. Knowing we had over 500 miles to cover before seeing a bed, I found myself trying to fug on the speed whenever my foot was used to determine the speed. The only problem on our drive was the almost constant 25 MPH plus winds in our face. Running our gas mileage, on the second fill of the day and with the wind still in our face, we are up 11 MPG over the mileages in the previous 4 fills. I just wonder what the mileage would have been had the wind been on our tail instead of right on our nose.
Arriving in Dallas, we were caught up in traffic, something we have not experienced in over a year; we most certainly have not missed it! We were caught in the wrong lane and suddenly found ourselves on I-30 and off I-35. In this lower section of roads below the city, there is no way off I-30 until you get to I-45 south or US-75 north. Because US-75 is also Central Expressway and the other route to the daughter’s house, we rode this. At 5:50 PM, this is not the thing to have done. Going 30 miles took only 1:20 minutes so next time we will be sure to catch the right road.
11/16 Friday We saw Dr. Courtney this morning. He is younger than envisioned; maybe at our age almost everyone outside the RV park looks younger. Although we had been warned his ‘bedside’ manors were a little short or one person reported him to be a typical arrogant surgeon, he was anything but. He was cordial and took time to have a few laughs while sitting on the exam table and leaning against the wall for support. He cracked a few jokes but you had to listen carefully as his humor can be dry. Careful listening is also needed as he talks fast and he is giving you information you need that is woven into whatever conversation is going on. He gives multi-tasking a new definition.
To our surprise, our appointment was at 9:30; however, we arrived at 8:50 and by 9:50, we had seen the nurse, had X-rays, seen the doctor, talked with the insurance verification person, paid for our visit and were back in the car to leave. Did I mention he is very much business and talks fast?
With Rx for multiple prescriptions in hand we were off to the drug store and breakfast. Unlike our experience with CVS and Wal-Mart, our prescription was ready in 35 minutes. Before breakfast was over we had insurance clearance, two level MRI scheduled and a follow-up appointment with the doctor to discuss the results. We were even ‘back home’ at the daughter’s home before 11:25. This type of speed is unheard of in the general medical community. So, it appears the rest of the day is just kicking back and enjoying the cool (under 70 degree) day.
Monday, November 12, 2007
11-12 A fun Monday
Dixie says "I hate the vacuum cleaner, so I will just take this and you can't make it work!!"
11-12 Monday We had a very pleasant visit from Bobbie Fosbrink, the one lady welcoming committee from the First United Methodist Church in Mission this morning. For some reason we both came bounding out of bed early this morning. For those who know my wife, ‘bounding’ and ‘early’ cannot be used in the same paragraph. Nonetheless, we launched into a cleaning binge. When dealing with a motorhome, this is normally a hour project on a bad day. Fortunately we were in the put-it-back-together stage when Bobbie called to say she wanted to drop by for a short time. We had a very pleasant time and Bobbie ended up staying much longer than I think she expected.
After other cleaning projects we decided the car needed a thorough cleaning. Neither of us could remember when it was last vacuumed. Dixie, the sweet little dog raised by the Florida granddaughter hates the vacuum cleaner. When it is run and the wife is around, Dixie just goes crazy and attacks something related to the vacuum. When there is nothing related to the vacuum, she attacks pill bottles or toys. Today she was outside when it started, so she found the crevice tool. When we attempted to retrieve it, she was more than a little reluctant to turn loose.
Once completed, it is just amassing how good the car looks. In the morning it gets a bath! When this is completed, our gas mileage is bound to go up at least 5MPG.
After other cleaning projects we decided the car needed a thorough cleaning. Neither of us could remember when it was last vacuumed. Dixie, the sweet little dog raised by the Florida granddaughter hates the vacuum cleaner. When it is run and the wife is around, Dixie just goes crazy and attacks something related to the vacuum. When there is nothing related to the vacuum, she attacks pill bottles or toys. Today she was outside when it started, so she found the crevice tool. When we attempted to retrieve it, she was more than a little reluctant to turn loose.
Once completed, it is just amassing how good the car looks. In the morning it gets a bath! When this is completed, our gas mileage is bound to go up at least 5MPG.
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