Wednesday, January 9, 2013

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

JANUARY 8 – We headed to Nuevo Progresso, Mexico, with friends Jan and Barry on Tuesday. It's about an hour southeast of Mission. Paul had a 10 o'clock dentist appointment, so we headed out early.

The river that separates the US from Mexico.river

We were the first people in the dentist office at 9:30, but the dentist was going to be about 20 minutes late arriving. So rather than sit and wait, we decided to walk around town for about a half hour. Upon returning, Paul found himself sixth in line. There were six people with 10 o'clock appointments. To say the least, Paul was not very happy.

Wanting only a teeth cleaning and knowing Progresso has about a 100 dentists, Paul decided to go down the street. He easily found another dentist and no wait! Price for a through cleaning.....$25.

Dental Clinic Olivares
dental office

We then went to our favorite pharmacy, Jessica's, to pick up some medicine.

Jessica's

We picked-up several Z-packs for future colds, etc.and some of Marsha's monthly medicine. As you may know, medicine in Mexico is a fraction of the cost of what we pay in the States and no prescription necessary.

Jessica's has its own little cantina attached. When we purchase anything in the pharmacy, we get a free Margarita or coffee…coffee???…bring on the Margaritas.

Jessica's bar

There is always some type of entertainment in the bar area.

entertainment

We then spent time walking around, checking out all the small shops and sidewalk booths. Marsha and Jan did find a couple of things they “bargained” for while Paul and Barry enjoyed several Margaritas.

We headed down to the Market area where we made traditional stop at the painter's booth.

Market

José is one of three brothers that make a living painting on vases, canvas, spoons......you name it. He is amazing. Using cans of spray paint, scraps of paper, and plastic shopping bags,  he produces unbelievable works of art. Jose' produced a piece of art especially for Jan that she was delighted to snap-up!

Can you guess what he is painting for Jan and Barry.
Jose

The squiggly lines of spray paint, he turned into mountains.
DSC02300

The finished, framed picture.
DSC02305

After watching José paint, we were all hungry and thirsty. We needed to head on in to the nearest restaurant. We all had a delicious lunch and a few refreshments.

More entertainment
entertainment

Jan and Barry
Jan and Barry

Finally, after about six hours “South of the Border,” we headed to the immigrations checkpoint and crossed back into the USA. With very little wait, we had our passports checked, answered a few simple questions and walked across the bridge to the States.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!