Monday, January 8, 2018 - Crossing the Border; Nana's Taqueria; Laundry Day

Monday, January 8, 2018 - Crossing the Border; Nana's Taqueria; Laundry Day

Yesterday one of our Heartland friends, Nancy texted me to see if we would like to go to Mexico with them today.  We said yes, of course!

We had our walk this morning, a total of 1.25 miles, then ate our breakfast, and did our normal morning chores it was almost time to leave.  Before we walked out the door, I made sure we had our passports, then we walked to our friends park - right next to us.  While it is located right next to us, we are at the back part of our park, and they are at the back part of their park so we got in some more steps.  There are a total of 5 couples going, besides us.  There is Nancy & Dave, Corbin & Flora, Phil & Cecilia; and Lin & Debbie.  We split up for the ride.  I rode in Phil & Cecilia's truck and Dean rode in Dave & Nancy's truck to the Mexican border at Progresso.  While Dean and I have both been to Mexico a couple of times, it's always been to a resort.  This is our first time to actually walk across the border from the US to Mexico.  

We parked on the US side, and walked into Mexico.  We each had to pay $.50, then we entered through a turnstile.  There were restroom facilities as we walked off the bridge over the river into Mexico so we decided to take advantage of them before moving on.  Once everyone was accounted for we began our walk in Progresso. 

As we entered Mexico.

While I've read quite a bit about other RVer's visiting Mexico, I was not totally prepared for what we saw.  It was much more crowded, and there were way more dentist offices and pharmacies than I imagined.  They weren't on every corner, it was every two or three doors and the blocks seemed really, really long in comparison to what we have in Oswego.  Lots of places to eat, both street vendors and places along the block.  All kinds of wares being sold inside, outside and as vendors walked down the streets.  Two of the guys in our group were getting their hair cut and they went on ahead of us, while the rest of us took our time looking as we begin walking toward the barber shop.  I couldn't help but be thankful for the life I have; and wonder, how do these people all make a living doing the same thing in such a small area.

After walking quite a distance, we met up with the guys as they were returning from the barber.  We crossed the street at this point and begin walking back the direction we had come.  A short distance down someone approached one of our group and asked about shining his white tennis shoes.  They agreed on a price and I have to admit he did an excellent job of sprucing those shoes up.  We noticed a few vendors with these visors you can stick to your window with a suction cup.  Several of our friends said they had them and they really liked them, so when one of them asked Dean about buying some, he agreed to buy some after getting him to lower the price from $10 to $7.  Our last stop was at a pharmacy where I purchased two bottles of vanilla, one of the regular dark color and one clear for $1.00 each.  I love Mexican vanilla.  

Soon after that we made our way back across the river, paying $.25 for our return to the US, then passing through another turnstile, where we then showed our passports before returning to the vehicles.  It was an interesting visit and I'm sure we'll probably go back a time or two before we leave the area.

We stopped for lunch at a wonderful place called Nana's Taqueria, where we ate outside on a beautiful terrace. 

The waitress took our picture.  I borrowed this from Nancy's Facebook page.

Dean and I selected the lonches - sort of a fry bread that was stuffed with ground beef (you could also choose steak or chicken), cabbage and tomato; a baked potato, bean soup and a drink for $7.50 each.  I asked for cheese and avocado to be added to mine.  The bean soup was amazing.  I could have ate a bowl of it and been happy!  The baked potato was perfectly cooked with lots of butter and cheese.  The lonches were very, very good as well.  The meat reminded me of the meat in the beefburgers we used to get at Dave's in Chetopa many, many years ago.  I ordered sweet tea and when I took the first drink I was shocked.  It had lemon in it and even though I love lemon I do not care for it in my tea - at all.  However, I have to admit by the time I was finished eating I had acquired a taste for it - enough so that I actually ordered a refill.  Interesting, how our tastes can change so quickly sometimes.

We headed back to the RV Park.  Dean and I walked back to our park and rig.  I needed to do some laundry, so I immediately went in and sorted clothes and had Dean take me up to the laundry area.  They only have 3 washing machines and 2 dryers so it took me awhile to get everything done.  The dryers were taking forever to dry.   I finally checked to see if the lint had been cleaned out of them.  It wasn't too bad but I cleaned what there was and it seemed to do a little better after that, so note to self - check those first next time!

A short time after I began drying the clothes I learned the water had been shut off to the park, due to a water line break out in the street.  I am so glad I got my clothes washed before that happened!  Can you imagine 3 washing machines full of clothes and the water quits running in the middle of it!!!  Thank you Lord for taking care of me!

I was really tired by the time we got back to Bentley!  I rested a bit and then we had a light dinner - some of the pineapple, cheese curds, summer sausage with a few saltine crackers.  I need to get to a grocery store so we can get some better crackers.  I just had a few but it was just right to satisfy me for the rest of the evening, after the big lunch we had.  I went to bed early again tonight, after such a busy day.