Before getting into our trip to Mexico, I just thought I would mention that it seems to be that people LIVE LONGER down here in Texas.  Many 90 year olds are still living in their own homes rather than in nursing homes.  And lots of them are living on big acreages with family living nearby to check in on them.  As Miss Nila says, “We just keep on carryin’ on”. . .

A few days before heading down further south, John noticed that the cords were showing through on his front tires.  Off to Walmart we went to replace the front tires (we had purchased the last ones at the same Walmart 4 years ago).  While getting signed up at the garage, I asked him if he had checked the back tires and for some unknown reason, he hadn’t.  He sheepishly returned and told the attendant “better make that 4 tires”.  When the young man brought him the bill after the tires had been put on, John looked at it and said “There must be a mistake”. The attendant reviewed it and confirmed that everything was right.  It was beyond comprehension that we could have 4 new tires installed and balanced for under $400 with tax, installation and the whole works!!!  These two Canadians went away happy with that price!  Now we feel safe driving down the road again… 

There are few things to not like about Texas (in my view) – but ONE is the many dead “polecats” lying alongside the highways!!  It is impossible to breathe for the next 5 minutes . . .  Obviously the skunks LOVE Texas too!  There were several on the highway as we travelled further south.   As our dental appointments had been arranged for the morning of February 9th, we were out on the highway headed off to Weslaco early on the 8th.  It was a beautiful sunny drive and the trip went well.  We located the motel which we had chosen on a brochure, not realizing it was about as close to the Mexican border as we could get, and we were amazed as we drove up to it, to see that it was right beside the highway down to Progreso!  We drove in on “the racetrack” (being the 8 lane highway, four travelling one way and four the other, going all across the Rio Grande Valley).  Ironically, on the way out, we learned we did not even have to tackle that highway at all, but could just take Hwy 281 (the “normal” highway) all the way up to San Antonio and “home”, and we could have come in on that highway as well...

We stayed at the America’s Best Value Motel.  When we called for a reservation, the desk clerk had warned that there was construction on the outside of the motel, but the inside had recently been completed renovated.  Our brand new room was awesome, with one exception.  After our long trip, hopping into a beautiful deep bathtub, complete with bubble bath and my favorite book was high on my list.  Unfortunately as soon as the bathroom light was switched on, the very loud exhaust fan also kicked in and the ambiance was gone.   Couldn’t read the book with the light off…  So much for that plan!  With the minor exception of that little glitch, we would certainly recommend this accommodation to anyone going down there.  It was clean, extremely reasonable in price ($124.00 US for two nights including $20 fee for the dog and all the taxes), and as I have said, one of the closest to Mexico.

We had previously boarded our little dog at the Border Animal Hospital along the way to Progreso and were happy to find their price was still reasonable, at $9 a day.  Our appointment with Dr. Alors to have dentures relined was for 9 a.m.  This dentist had made a new upper denture for me some years ago and I had been completely happy with his work.  John decided that both of his plates needed relining as well.  We had to wait three hours for the plates to be re-done, and I was happy for the time to scout the many vendors on the street (wall to wall vendors selling all kinds of interesting things – at various prices, so one had to be discerning, because you could buy it at one place and then find it quite a bit cheaper down the way).    We didn’t know anybody down there so it was not an issue to be going shopping toothless…

Upon returning to the clinic, our dentures were ready and the dentist made sure we were happy with the results.  He said that if we had any problems at all with them, we should simply come back and he would fix them.  We went to have something to eat at a nearby shop and then spent some more time looking at the vendors and shops on the other side of the street.  The prices have gone up quite a bit from the last time we had been there and we soon decided it was time to go and pick up our little dog and head back to the motel.  We tried to connect with some friends we knew were in the area, but they were at the other end of “the racetrack” and they had other plans for the evening.  We picked up some food for supper and took it back to the motel to eat.   The next morning, John mentioned that his bottom denture was hurting and he decided to go back – it was not that long a distance and only cost the price of gas plus 50 cents to get into Mexico and 25 cents to get out.  As it was a very pleasant morning and not too hot, the dog and I sat in the gazebo at the border entrance and I worked on my diary while we waited.  It was not a long wait and he re-appeared with a satisfied result.  Because of the return trip to Mexico, we were unable to connect with the friends we hoped to see, but there were priorities…

We stopped at a roadside stand and bought a big bag of grapefruit and a small bag of oranges, as well as a large watermelon.

It was certainly nice to have internet access for the two days we were in Weslaco.  We were also thankful for another safe trip back to Smithwick.

Unfortunately we received news that John’s cousin’s husband in Warman has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and is already in palliative care.   Prayers for peace and acceptance for him and his family are being answered, Praise the Lord.