Day 11 Our First Day Travels in Mexico

WHERE ARE WE? Matahuala, Mexico

We were up at 6:45 this morning and headed for the Columbia Bridge Border crossing into Mexico.  As usual there was a line of cars waiting to cross when the border opens at 8 am.  Most of them are just driving in to Mexico and have a quick inspection and off they go.   We require a FMM which is like a visitor visa as well as import papers (TIP) for RRV and the Jeep.   The whole process took us 2 hours which is kinda average for this process. Any way about 10 am we were headed south toward Monterrey.

It wasn't long and we were getting into the mountainous terrain that we will have on either side of us for most of the trip.  They are awesome mountains with lots of greenery on them right now.

We soon began to notice a change in the police and their presence on the roads.  The last couple years we used to see lots of Guardia de National policia on the road but this year there is a change.  We have seen a huge showing of Policia Cival in SUV cruisers.  They are patrolling the highways and always travel in 2's and are in no hurry, usually going less than the speed limit.  We went by one headquarters and there were probably 50 or 60 of these cruisers sitting there.  Something is changing and I hope it results in keeping the highway thugs restrained.  Good job Mexico!!

Anyway we arrived at Las Palmas Motel at about 4 pm and drove around back down a little road an a guy meets you at a gate and there is an RV park way in the back.  

We got set up and had a little nap before supper.  I noticed that the Green Angels are staying here as well.  These are the guys that patrol the highway giving assistance to anyone who needs it.  We have never used them but its nice to know they are there.

We didn't have much for food in the fridge so we went out for supper. Sue had fish and I had pork chops.  Both were great.  We even had chips with hot sauce.  It will take a few days to get used to all the hot things down here.

Well thats what we did today and where we ended up after todays journey.

 The temperatures are wonderful here and it should be a great sleeping night.  We will have brace ourselves for the heat in La Penita.  

We have an easy day tomorrow so we won't have to get in a rush in the morning.  Good Nite!!!

Day 10 We Are on Deck For Mexico

WHERE ARE WE? Laredo Texas

We took our time doing some things we need to get done before going into Mexico.  We have to buy special Mexican vehicle insurance because Manitoba Public Insurance doesn't cover us in Mexico.  MPI does reimburse us for all the time we are in Mexico, so the cost is sort of a wash.  We get our insurance through a broker.  Bill Bell is a Canadian sells insurance and the nice thing is that he actually lives in La Penita in the winter.  If you have an accident, you call him and he looks after you personally.  Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.  After we got that done, we went shopping in Walmart for some things we will need for our stay in Mexico.  Like Miracle Whip, Bush's Beans and of course some small bottles of Coke for the check stop cops along the way.  One thing I noticed were these faucet caps.  They were made of Styrofoam and were to cover your outside taps so they wouldn't freeze.  Doubt that would work back home right?

As we headed south, we started to get into that rough tough scrubby looking countryside that we will be travelling in for the next few days.  Sort of bordering on a desert except there is more greenery.

Our route today was a short one but we had to run into Laredo to fuel up.  Red shows where we have to go in the morning to get to the border.

I like to have enough fuel to get through the first day without having to fuel up.  Gas was $3.78 a gallon there.  

Then we backtracked about 10 miles to a Rest stop north of Laredo.  It is about 50 kms from Columbia Bridge where we will cross.

Archie and I went for a walk and he sort of ignored the signs around the Welcome center.  I guess he figures the snakes are not out and about when it is cooler.  I still keep my eyes open just in case.

Some pretty flowers on some of the trees around here.

We got all parked up in the truck parking area for the night.  We will be up and atter about 7 am tomorrow to be at the border when it opens at 8.

Sunset was nice again tonight.  A few more nights and we will see them over the ocean again.  

We watched a little Survivor and it was off to bed.  Good Nite!!!

Day 9 Cold and Windy and a Story

WHERE ARE WE? Uvalde, Texas

Well when we got up this morning, it was back to wearing blue jeans.  The wind howled all night long and temperature plummeted!!!  By the time we crawled out of bed it was only like 12C with about a 50 km wind from the north.  Thoughts of going to the dirt track races in this weather was not a great option as well as the fact that the spectator stands are on the south side of the track, so there would be nothing but dust in the face all night long.  So I convinced myself that we should take advantage of the wind from the north and get in RRV and head south.  I got all my stuff done and before we left, I quickly checked facebook to see who had read my blog!!  Have you checked out the comments on it??  My family have ganged up on the fact that I had little to blog about last night!!!  Thanks SO much!!!  LOL   Anyway, we headed south about 11:30 with the wind pushing us along.  It will be good gas mileage today.

Looks nice, but was cool and really windy

The mid to southern part of Texas south of Abilene is rolling with lots of hills and trees and grasslands.  We enjoyed the drive and the wind pushing us made the up hills less of a battle. 

 We did have to stop for gas today along the way and it was 3.78 a US gallon.  About 0.53 a gallon more than when I came through in the spring.  I always love to see when the real rancher Texan pulls up to pumps and has to hold his head sideways to get out of the car.  This guy had his on lock because the wind was still blowing.  Of course he was driving a Lincoln Navigator.  Everyone is soooo friendly and especially in Texas it seems.  I'm sorry our schedule is not allowing us to spend some time here before continuing on to Mexico.

So today daughter Sheri had a little deal at work because she is moving on to a new job in Regina area.  She has given her notice at Rhino Property Management in Brandon with some reluctance.  She liked the job and the people, but has another chapter to her life that needs writing, so she is moving on.  So they got pizza and cake for her.  Nice of them.  

Anyway there is more to this story.  This morning as they were arriving at work one of the guys saw one of the other employees get hit by a car at the pedestrian crossing near their office.  He of course went and helped and the cops and ambulance arrived very quickly. The poor lady was hit pretty hard and has suffered 2 breaks in each of her legs for a total of 4 breaks.  She has since been transported to Winnipeg for surgery apparently and we wish her well.  Not a great way to start your day.

Once they got the lady all loaded up in ambulance, Sheri went over to give the lady a hug in the ambulance while the cops picked up all her stuff off the road.  The lady says to Sheri that she had baked her a cake to have at the office and made sure Sheri still got it from the cops.  We think it may of somehow got a direct hit before it was retrieved.  Maybe it saved an arm or something from being broken as well!!!

Well our trip saw us end up going another 400 kms down the road.  We have travelled a total of 2735 kms since leaving home.

We started seeing some cactus along the way today, so we know we are in the south.  We will see lots of these for the next few days.

We are Wally docking again tonight because we need a couple things before heading into Mexico.  About an hour before sunset, the grackles started moving in and will be on the wires and in the trees right beside us to serenade us starting about 4:30 am.  These ones actually sing unlike the ones in Mexico that make the most God awful grating noise.  

We only have about 200 kms to go tomorrow to the Laredo Rest Stop on 35 highway where we will spend the night before heading across the Mexican Border on Sunday.  So tomorrow we have to get some Mexican Auto Insurance and make sure we have our paperwork ready for that crossing so we will just take our time.  This is our spot for tonight.  Good Nite!!!

Day 8 From Hot to Cold

WHERE ARE WE? Abilene Texas

We started out with a warm day about 32 degrees so we decided to hang around and go to some dirt track car races here.  They start today with practice and the real racing is tomorrow.  We were in the Walmart parking lot so to run the AC we needed to run the generator.  Just down the road was an RV Park so we decided to splurge and get hooked up to power.  

I was at the check in desk when the wind blew the door shut on the office and I looked out and there was a big red cloud of dust heading toward us.  We hurried with the check in and then headed over to park.  By the time we got levelled it had started to rain and the temperature had dropped off to where we didn't need the AC anymore.  Well that was certainly $50 USD down the drain.  And it continued to rain all day and into the evening so the car racing practice was a wash.

We found a good movie and curled up in our chairs and that is how we spent the evening.  It was still raining when we went to bed.  We will see what tomorrow brings I guess.  Good Nite!!

Day 7 Rain Rain!!

WHERE ARE WE? Abilene, Texas

We had a tough night last night only because the thunder roared and the lightning struck all night long.  Archie was as good as could be expected but did have to bark when the sharp loud cracks woke us all up.  I don't know how much rain we got but water was running all over.  As we headed out, we could see lots of spots where the rain had run over the road.  As we got further down the road we ran into more heavy rain and watched as the water rose in the ditch as we drove beside it. 

We went across a bridge and the sign said Red River.   No doubt how it got its name!!  Normally this river is dry this time of year.

A lot of bigger towns have some massive stately government centers and this one was no different.  I believe it was in the town or city of Aaron.

The price of grass is slowly coming down as we head farther south.  Today we paid 3.78 a us gallon for it.  We did see it as low as 3.55.

And the temperature was a bit balmy.  At one time the temp on my dash said 35C.  

Our route today went from Shamrock TX to Abilene TX and was 336 kms.

We went out for supper today at the Cracker Barrel across the road from the Walmart we are at.  I had a smaller meal but it was still too big!!

 Well we are all parked up doing some Wally docking.  Sue did a big shop while I veggied.  

I didn't get a sunset picture because this is what happened.  Probably 1 inch in a 15 minutes.  Now the humidity is through the roof but no complaints here!!!  Good Nite!!!