Mexico

I sound like a broken record but guess what another hot windy windy day here in the Rio Grande Valley. Went exploring today.......only intended to go to the store but ended up going all over and because I was only going to the store didn't take my camera...........will next time........anyway drove along the border area and saw the "wall" The wall is a tall barrier the states are building along the border with Mexico to try and stem the tide of illegal immigrants. It is tall almost like a very tall picket fence made out of brown steel. I drove along a dike by the river and visited Pepee's on the river and saw the large chimney ......... this is part of the irrigation system down here and you see large pipes sticking out of the ground all over the place. Water is pumped from the Rio Grande to irrigate the land and make what was basically a desert into a rich farming area. I then drove through a free trade zone where lots of companies have set up shop.........I am assuming the taxes are alot lower here and then ended up near Nuevo Progreso soooooo decided to check out the other side. This is basically just a tourist area and most people walk across the border at this point. $2.00 to park on the US side all day then a short walk across a bridge. 25 cents to walk across and basically just go through a turnstile and your in Mexico. What struck me at once was the number of people begging and the sight of heavily armed soldiers at the border. ......... but half a block and your into the venders hundreds of them selling lots of different things. It seemed every few store front I was propositioned by hawkers enticing me with..............of all things need a dentist? looking for a drug store? how about vet drugs? Yes they have all the regular jewelery, arts and crafts but the major draws are dentists. It seems like there are hundreds of them and many tourists especially those without insurance back home get everything from root canals to whitening done. And if your looking for presciption drugs no problem of course the biggest draws seem to be Viagra and diet drugs that you need a presciption for in the states. I learned a lesson when I went into eat. I had a very nice and large T-bone steak with all the fixins for just $10 a real deal but I didn't check out the cost of the drink before I ordered.........bad mistake.....and I didn't have booze. I ordered a diet coke or as they call them there a light coke........and was still thirsty so ordered another............was I surprised when the check came the meal as I said was $10 each can of coke however was $3.50 so $7.00 for the soft drinks......way more expensive than if I had ordered beer. I won't make that mistake again. Anyway a very enjoyable meal. I walked back to the border and paid the 35 cents it cost to get back and the US border personal scanned my passport and waved me through. Oh I did eventually get to the store for the milk I wanted.