On Monday February 9, some neighbours took us to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico which is only about a half hour drive from our RV park. We parked on the Texas side of the border and walked across the bridge that spans the Rio Grande River to Mexico. The main street of this small town is filled with sidewalk vendors selling jewelry, knock-off purses, belts and other assorted items – much like a giant flea market. The biggest surprise was the number of pharmacies and dentist offices that line both sides of the street. People had told us that the Americans and Canadians go to Mexico to buy their prescription drugs but we were amazed to see the number of people doing so. We also talked to people here in the park who have had their dental work done there at a substantially cheaper price than at home. While Linda and I walked down the street, we were offered prescriptions, dental work, laser eye surgery and even cosmetic surgery. The funniest thing was the store selling jewelry and liquor which advertised that if you spent $25.00 you got your teeth cleaned for free.
The liquor was quite inexpensive in the shops – many of the pharmacies also sell liquor so you can be medicated one way or another. Once you leave Mexico and walk back across the bridge, the Texas state liquor board collects a small tax of $1.00 or $1.50 depending on the size bottle you have purchased. .
People had mentioned to us that this area of Texas is quite windy but we were not quite prepared for what they meant. The winds blow here constantly and we have had a few days of above average wind. Hurricane Dolly went through this park last summer and we met a couple who stayed here through the hurricane in the park model rv.
The park presents entertainment two or three evenings a week – last night we heard Jennifer Wilson from Branson, Missouri. She is just one of a group of entertainers touring the whole Rio Grande Valley performing for the Winter Texans. This is quite a poor part of the state so the Winter Texans do a lot to subsidize the local economy.
Well it is time to head off to my aqua fitness class. We will report back again after our visit with Jennifer who arrives tomorrow on Saturday the 14th.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Winter Texan report #1
We are in Texas and are back in the Kralik-mobile full time. On Jan. 30th we arrived at the Lagoons RV resort in Rockport, Texas. It is a coastal town about 30 miles north of Corpus Christi and was recommended to us by an RV’er from New York State whom we met at the Texas welcome centre. We explored this area to find the beaches and the northern portion of Padre Island National Seashore. On Feb 1st we headed to the Rio Grande Valley and checked into the Fun ‘N Sun RV resort where we plan to spend the month of February.
We had a good 2 weeks on the road getting to Texas. We left Ottawa on January 18th. Our first stop was St. Augustine, Florida where we toured the old city and found some good seafood restaurants. We then headed south to Cocoa Beach where we spent 3 fun-filled days with Guy and Monique in the condominium apartment they had rented overlooking the beach. Since the weather was so cool Monique and I only made it into the hot tub, not the pool. Paul enjoyed a game of golf with them on a course where the alligators regularly harass the golfers searching for their balls.
Our next stop (On Jan 24th) was the Sheraton Vistana Villages vacation club resort in Orlando. The weather warmed up enough to enjoy the pool and deck. Unfortunately we had one incident while we went out to dinner in Kissimmee – the back window of the truck was smashed and our GPS was stolen. Incredibly the local sheriff deputies were able to recover it for us since they caught the criminal who had broken into 3 vehicles that evening. We found a local glass repair shop which replaced the window so we were able to leave the resort on January 28 and head to Tampa to hitch up our Titanium. The trailer had weathered December and January well, so we started heading west with our RV. We spent the first night parked with other RV’s at the Flying J truck stop near Tallahassee, Florida. We then drove through Mississippi and into Louisiana where were we stayed in a motel in a suburb of Lafayette (just like real campers….LOL). We didn’t take time to tour the city but managed to find a great Cajun restaurant where we enjoyed local specialties of crawfish, gumbo and catfish. We hope to tour these areas next year because there is so much to see.
Paul had to navigate the Kralik-mobile through the construction in Houston, Texas but once through there, the drive south was great. We passed lots of cattle, a few small oil wells, lots of pickup trucks and very few houses. We were surprised to find the Lagoons RV resort right in a residential area. We headed down toward the beach for dinner and found that it must still be off-season because the restaurants were not busy.
The Fun N Sun RV resort is an over 55 park – so we are definitely on the younger end of things. The park has such an activities calendar we hardly know where to start. But the 8 am ballroom dancing class won’t be part of our daily program… YIKES!
We’ll report back later.
Jane & Paul.
View our pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/pjkralik/WinterTexansReport1#
We had a good 2 weeks on the road getting to Texas. We left Ottawa on January 18th. Our first stop was St. Augustine, Florida where we toured the old city and found some good seafood restaurants. We then headed south to Cocoa Beach where we spent 3 fun-filled days with Guy and Monique in the condominium apartment they had rented overlooking the beach. Since the weather was so cool Monique and I only made it into the hot tub, not the pool. Paul enjoyed a game of golf with them on a course where the alligators regularly harass the golfers searching for their balls.
Our next stop (On Jan 24th) was the Sheraton Vistana Villages vacation club resort in Orlando. The weather warmed up enough to enjoy the pool and deck. Unfortunately we had one incident while we went out to dinner in Kissimmee – the back window of the truck was smashed and our GPS was stolen. Incredibly the local sheriff deputies were able to recover it for us since they caught the criminal who had broken into 3 vehicles that evening. We found a local glass repair shop which replaced the window so we were able to leave the resort on January 28 and head to Tampa to hitch up our Titanium. The trailer had weathered December and January well, so we started heading west with our RV. We spent the first night parked with other RV’s at the Flying J truck stop near Tallahassee, Florida. We then drove through Mississippi and into Louisiana where were we stayed in a motel in a suburb of Lafayette (just like real campers….LOL). We didn’t take time to tour the city but managed to find a great Cajun restaurant where we enjoyed local specialties of crawfish, gumbo and catfish. We hope to tour these areas next year because there is so much to see.
Paul had to navigate the Kralik-mobile through the construction in Houston, Texas but once through there, the drive south was great. We passed lots of cattle, a few small oil wells, lots of pickup trucks and very few houses. We were surprised to find the Lagoons RV resort right in a residential area. We headed down toward the beach for dinner and found that it must still be off-season because the restaurants were not busy.
The Fun N Sun RV resort is an over 55 park – so we are definitely on the younger end of things. The park has such an activities calendar we hardly know where to start. But the 8 am ballroom dancing class won’t be part of our daily program… YIKES!
We’ll report back later.
Jane & Paul.
View our pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/pjkralik/WinterTexansReport1#
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