'17/#31 Still Just Tourists

It has not been quite two weeks here in south Texas but we are starting to find our way around. We have found the stores that we are familiar with and are checking out the ones that are known in this region. This is one of the joys of Rving. We get to experience so many different things throughout the country. There is a Walmart and Target nearby as well as a Walgreens and CVS. Good things to find when on the road. We have found our new grocery store called H.E.B. It is a chain primarily in Texas with great looking produce and really good prices over all.

Since we not working full time we will be doing a lot more cooking at home and will be trying some of the local vegetables and other products. With that said, we will still go out on occasion so we are looking for restaurants in the area. We have found some of our favorite chains in the area and are looking into some with a more local flavor. That local flavor will be leaning towards Mexican since we are only ten miles from Mexico as the crow flies.

Speaking of Mexico we took a drive down to Progresso TX which is supposed to be the place to cross the boarder for us gringos. As instructed, we parked in Texas and walked the International Bridge across the Rio Grande. As you can see we were underwhelmed by the actual crossing.

It is like going to an old school amusement park or subway. Put your quarters in and walk through the turnstile. Once in Progresso Mexico it was a whole different story.

The sidewalks were crammed with vendors selling anything from hand painted items to NFL team wear. Kind of what to expect if you ever went on a western Carribean cruise. Now the actual store fronts were something else. Over half the the stores were dentists or pharmacies or both with people outside trying to get customers to come in and see all that they offered. If it wasn't a dentist or pharmacy it was a general store with tourist oriented products and a pharmacy! Are you getting sense of what we are seeing?

We had to check it out. Once inside the general store we found all the usual Mexican trinkets that are meant to entice tourist to part with their money. There was also the food section where if we didn't recognize the product the label was no help. And then there was the pharmacy. They had a lot of what we buy over the counter at very reasonable prices but what really got our attention was all the prescription drugs that they sell as over the counter. Everything from A to Z literally, amoxicillin to Zoloft, and at prices 50% to 70% less than in the US. It makes you wonder about the truth behind the claims that the drug companies are ripping off the American public.

Well we are back in the good old USA and taking it easy in our home here in Pharr Texas because...

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary