Spring Break McAllen, Tx.

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

I just made it to McAllen and it was a great day. I packed up the car last night, got the cats ready and send the new dog I had found (Friend) off to the vet to get fixed and another treatment on her skin. She has "hongos" fungus. Then this morning I set up the lights and timers, had coffee, showered and headed out the door. I stopped at an ATM to put more air time on my Movistar phone. I got on the highway and headed for Reynosa.

When I stopped at the ATM I also picked up the El Norte newspaper, a coffee, yogurt and some multigrain crackers. Set for the road I was able to catch the sunset above.

Along the highway from Monterrey to Reynosa I passed two smaller tolls on the autopista. The first was 38 pesos and the second was 37. Traffic was picking up and by the time I got 100 kms into the trip I passed the big toll which was 174 pesos. Here you could see a little more traffic. This was at 7:45 in the morning.

I also made a pit stop at the caseta de cobro. This is a large truck stop and they have a restaurant, Circle K convenience store and restrooms. They also sell liability insurance for Mexicans and Mexican residents like me heading across the border. Our new policy includes liability in the U.S. so I didn't need to buy any. I used the restroom and took the picture below. The restaurant has excellent food, but being the only place in town, or should I say "nowhere", it is very expensive.

Off again and heading to Reynosa I passed one checkpoint but was waved through. The town of Reynosa wasn't too busy as everyone is at the beach. Yesterday there were more than 500,000 people at the beaches along the coast of Matamoros. They also passed out 30,000 condoms. Finally, some common sense.

As I got closer to the bridge line up the traffic became horrific. Once I was able to fight my way into line it was 9:45. Good thing I had the newspaper with me along with the sales ads from the RGV that they hand out while you are waiting in line. My wait was 1 hour and 52 minutes. When I got up to the U.S. customs booth the agent asked me where I was from, what I did for a living, and if I had any fruits, vegetables, liquor or live animals. I said "no" to all of the above and she waved me through wishing me a great Easter holiday. Wow, that is really something!

I headed for Bentsen Palms Village RV park. As I said the other day, we rented a park model for five days. Great thing I didn't bring the trailer, imagine the hassle crossing the border and the long lines. So here I am, right on time for my afternoon nap. The park model is fully equipped, we only need to do some grocery shopping and get some liquid treats.

I pick Juan up at the airport later on tonight. That gives me a chance to watch some news and maybe go for a swim later. See Ya!