Texas Trip - What Happened Behind The Scenes

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

It's great to be back home and this is a bit behind schedule as I needed a couple of days to do things around the rv and the house.  It was a fun trip and many things we learned along the way.  First off, we crossed the border on Thursday morning via the Juarez bridge in Laredo which is direct into Mexico via I-35.  It was decided that either way we weren't going to avoid Nuevo Laredo even if we used the Colombia bridge.  No more Hwy 1 for us!  We have Mexican plated vehicles and so we don't go to the TIP or immigration area which is to your right and under the bridge.  They waved us over to the right but above and checked our VIN numbers on both the SUV and the trailer.  Some minor changes in the protocol but it was very quick.  Before they used a handheld to check our VINs but this time we were ushered into the SAT office where we were asked for the title or registration cards.  

After that, it got interesting.   We've never used the official police caravan to the toll highway.  This time, after the registration check, we were told to go out the gate and around to the exit for immigration.  We're like, "huh".  The Aduana agent walked alongside and showed us where to go.  He said that we would be going with the caravan.  As we parked, an official from the Tamaulipas State Police came over and gave us her memorized script, "You are being escorted by the Tamaulipas State Police.  Due to an increase and high rate of abductions, disappearances, and kidnappings, this is for your security". 

In less than 5 minutes we were on our way with police lights flashing and several other cars in front of us.  As we approached the intersection of Donaldo Colosio and Hwy 85, another patrol with lights blazing swung around and blocked the intersection so we could pass through without stopping.  Several things have changed.  1) The toll highway starts immediately at Km 26 and the toll highway now has two casetas.  The first one is not expensive but the additional concrete highway makes it a breeze. 2) The small INM booths just before the Km26 actually had agents that checked our passports.  I refused to give him mine because it was in the trailer in my backpack.  I handed him my driver's license and my INAMPAM (old age card) and he was like, where's your passport.  I then told him that I would not be able to have either of these credentials if I were not a resident.  He let us pass.  He was old enough to have fought in the revolution and must have been some delegate's great-great-grandfather.  I kid you not.  In the end, we made it to Monterrey and took the route right through the city and onto the house.  I backed the trailer in on the first try.

Now to the "behind the scenes" part of the trip.  Here's what didn't go so well.

1) I wrote about the breakdown in Villaldama.  That was an easy fix.

2) The toilet leaked freshwater constantly when the pump was on.  If you remember, I attempted to replace the toilet with a porcelain throne that didn't fit.  If it ain't broken . . .

3) When we arrived at a friend's house in San Antonio, we discovered we had lost all of our propane.  The mainline had broken because the cheap straps they use to hold the pipe broke loose and the pipe gave way.  Lucky that nothing blew up or caught fire.  It was an easy fix requiring standard-sized pre-threaded pipe and a strong set of hands. 

4) The screen door handle broke and I had to remove the handle bracket from the inside.  

Back home now I replaced the miniblind in the trailer kitchen.  Two years ago when they cut the trees a branch hit the side of the trailer and poked a hole through the bathroom wall.  I "fixed" the outside with an outlet cover but the inside looked ugly.  I put up a tile backsplash to cover that.  Turned out pretty good.  

Now that we're back home I'm searching for a Pfizer booster here in Mexico so we don't have to go to Reynosa next month.   I went to see the consultant that set up my Mexican social security account.  On the way I stopped by my ex-accountant's office to say hello.  I haven't seen much of anyone since the beginning of the pandemic.  It is surprsing how many people had COVID around here and how many were hospitalized or died.  World governments don't want people to know the truth as if it is some type of competition amongst them.

Now that Elon Musk has purchased Twitter, our president and his oldest son who is now part of a scandal called Casa Gris, have asked Musk to take down tweets and bots that work against them.  Too funny!