Welcome to Texas

Saturday, March 7

My beauty sleep has been interrupted too many times. Finally, by 3:00 am things quiet down and I sleep until 6:00 am. It’s rather humid and there are clouds in the sky as we leave. I know, that as soon as the sun comes through these clouds will burn off.
We have gathered all our papers for the border crossing and continue north, while it is still quiet on the road.
This being a Saturday hopefully means less trucks on the road, but more passenger cars. Not sure what is worse.

The last 80 km stretch to the border is one long straight line on the map. On land it is no different, on both sides are continuous cornfields.
At every bus stop at the small villages, people wave us down thinking we are the bus. We hunk our horn and wave. Sorry, we’re not taking any passengers today.

As we get closer to the Mexican crossing, there is a mile of trucks and cars waiting in line. Our friends back in Chapala mentioned to make sure to turn off left to have the vehicle sticker removed, or you would have to come all the way back.

It’s a bit tight for big rigs but with a little manoeuvring we mange to pull right in front of the little booth of the Banjercito, where the officer removes the stickers, or hologramma, as they call it from the inside of the RV as well as from the car.
The stickers are placed on a weird looking screen outside where they are deactivated.
We receive two receipts and are told to hang on to these for life. If for some reason the numbers from the stickers have not been recorded correctly, there is no record of us taking the vehicles back out of Mexico and they may never be taken back into the country.
We make the turn back onto the road and pass through Mexican customs without having to stop. (little did we know that that’s where we had to turn in our visa) Next we cross an enormously long bridge. This is called the International bridge. It runs over a river, a railroad track and onion fields. On the side are high railings to keep any illegals from jumping off and crossing the border in a more convenient way.
At US customs is another long line up, mostly passenger cars, which all take the left side. There is a sign for trucks to the right.
“Where do we go?” Ramiro asks. “To the left, where the cars are” I suggest. Ramiro decides to take the truck entrance. WRONG Ramiro!!!!! Once he enters the gate, he is turned back. There is no way back, so he has to go trough make a large wide turn and return against the traffic to take the vehicle line. What is it with this kid, who just never listens. Doesn’t he know, that mother ALWAYS knows best?
We wait in line and see the cars pass through slowly, one by one. Now it’s our turn. Will we fit through the narrow opening with these large concrete poles?
Foot by foot we move through, the speed bumps don’t help, because they make us shake from left to right and there is not an inch to spare on either side. We pull through without any scratches and there he comes, the customs officer. They’re never the friendliest guys you know. I think they have been trained this way. “What are you bringing in”? he asks. I hand him the list of items we purchases and mention the two bottles of wine and the half tequila. “Fruits and vegetables?” I name of the list of items we have and of which I know we can bring.

“Pull over there to the other side and park behind the customs vehicle”.
Oh sh.......... we’re getting a complete inspection.
Three rubber gloved inspectors approach the RV and one asks Ramiro to open the outside cabinets. While he is doing that, I am told to stay outside, while the inspectors go inside. I hear cupboards being opened and closed. Will they find the six bottles of wine, and the gift pack of tequila? I wonder.
The lady officer comes outside with a dish of meat from the fridge. “What is this?” She asks. “It’s Chilorio” I reply. She does not know what it is, and ask her Mexican looking colleague. He tells her it’s beef with chile sauce. He may not know that Chilorio is available in beef, chicken and pork. I know it is pork, because I read it on the can. Pork or chicken is not allowed, beef is. She hands me the dish. “This is OK” she says, “But the bacon cannot come in, nor the salami”. I’m fine with that and give her the packages. No point explaining, that the bacon, which was cooked and put in the freezer, has been traveling with us all the way from Canada.
Next come the inspector with the dog, sniffing here and there. The officers leave one by one, without even checking the outside compartments. We use the bathroom and all of a sudden I realize that e did not trun in our personal exit papers at Mexican customs. I ask an officer, who tells me, that that’s Mexican customs, and this is US customs. Oh, well, perhaps I can mail it in.
As I return to the RV, the officer with the dog is back and is talking to Ramiro, who has given permission for the officer to place a target for the dog, for training purpose.
He lets the dog walk around the RV and then it stops at the back, where the licence plate is mounted. He sniffs, and sniffs and when his now is right at the corner. The officer throws him a towel, which is rolled up and tied down.
We ask the officer to ensure he removes the hide before we leave. We laugh about it. He reaches behind the licence plate and pulls out a condom filled with Cocaine and tied together with black tape. He explains what the dog looks for and how well he did his job, finding it. It has been trained for Cocaine, grass and also humans. It’s a good thing it is not trained for wine, as I really wanted to hang on to those bottles we brought in.

We’re now in Texas and head further east, direction South Padre Island.
Our destination to day is Port Isabel where our friends Al and Yvonne Keller have rented a winter retreat.
We make a phone call and Al suggests we park at Wallmart where they will meet us.
A friend of Al, arranges for us to park the RV at the club house at Long Island village, close to Al and Yvonne’s place.
There are no services for the RV so we have to be careful with usage of water and toilet. We are so close tot he club house, we can use the showers and bathroom right there. There is also internet connection. So we should be fine for a few days.
We unhook the car and back the RV in tight in a corner where we are out of the way. It is suppose to look, like we are only parked here. so no tables or chairs outside and no lights on at night.