May 2, 2017 by Rae

Mérida or Bust — Day Seven: Laredo, TX, to Matehuala, San Luis Potosí (Mexico!)

Total Kilometres to Drive: 5,400

Kilometres Driven Today: 575

Total Kilometres Driven: 3,430

Kilometres Left: 1,970

Amount of Trip Completed: 63.51%

The first time I drove down to Mexico, I was so broke I had to sleep in my truck as much as possible. It hit me last night in Laredo just how much my life has changed as business has improved. I was staying in a studio apartment in an extended stay hotel that was very luxurious (which you can always tell when there are different soaps for different parts of the body!). Sure, I got a great deal on booking.com, but it was still a $75 a night room and right on budget. I’m starting to feel like I’m “middle class” and I’m wondering how living in Mexico, where I will pretty much be wealthy, is going to change me and my values…

At any rate, I actually slept pretty well last night and would have gone the night through if the very loud alarm of the person sleeping in the room above mine hadn’t gone off around 4AM. I still managed to fall back asleep after, a very good pre-border night! I finally got up around seven and refused to be rushed. I’m travelling at a time of year where the days are longer and I only had about 500KM to do past the border, so I had some of my coffee before taking off, although I definitely was in no mood to eat (the hotel sent me off with a granola bar and I had bought more bars yesterday as well).

Getting out of Laredo and to the Colombia Bridge crossing was more trying than it would have been had there been some signage saying that I was on Mines Road, which takes you up to the Colombia crossing road. The portion of the road between Mines and I-36 is a tollway for which you need a pass. So if you don’t have one, you have to go all the way into Laredo and then back up again. I was going about 80KM out of my way, 40KM on each side of the border, to cross at Colombia, but research told me it would be a quiet, non-busy, one-stop crossing, compared to using one of the crossings in Laredo. The only caveat is that staff there don’t have much, if any, English.

It was only as I approached the bridge that I realised there might be a toll to cross it and that I’d left my last few dollars as a tip for the hotel cleaner! Thankfully, they took pesos. The exchange rate for US to MXN today was 1:20. So 1USD=20MXN. My bridge toll was 3.50USD, so 70MXN.

Unlike when you cross at Nogales, the checkpoint is right at the border. Signage was a bit confusing, but I saw a sign for Banjercito and vehicle importation, so I pulled over to deal with that. A customs officer promptly came over to check me out. She said to go in and do the visa and vehicle stuff, then return to the truck and she’d do the declaration thing.

It was maybe 8:45 when I entered into a very neat building where all the windows were numbered to make it clear in what order to do things. First stop was INM where I asked for a 30-day entry since I have a residente temporal visa sticker in my passport. I didn’t have to fill out anything. The officer just stamped some stuff and gave me my entry paper. I had no fee to pay since I’ll be paying muchos pesos for my residency card when I arrive!

Next stop was a copy shop for a copy of the entry paper, then Banjercito for the vehicle import. That was easy since I’ve done it twice before. The lady started to explain that I only have a 30-day TIP (temporary import permit), but I told her that I know all about that and that I have friends at my destination who will help me get sorted with aduena so I hopefully don’t lose my 200USD deposit (but I’m already resigned to losing it).

I then went back out to my truck and pulled out my inventory list. The customs lady (about my age, maybe younger), came back over and explained to me that I wasn’t eligible to bring in everything for free because I didn’t have a consulate certified menaje de casa (list of household goods). So she was going to have to go through everything, figure out what it was all worth, and then charge me 16% IVA (tax) on it all.

Thankfully, it was still cool out! I began to pull out things and she went though a bunch of it. You can see one of my Mexican blankets there — it was wrapped around a painting, then wrapped in paper and a garbage bag. She actually handed me a knife to get into the garbage bag, which was taped pretty solidly.

I suspected I was in trouble when she started to count the number of DVDs I had in one of my boxes (hundreds!). She made me go almost all the way to the back of the truck bed, but not entirely, and she cut open several bags of clothes while asking me if I had any weapons of any kind (only kitchen knives!). We then went into the cab and she made a note of the printer and stuff I had in a bin. Finally, she told me to leave everything out while she went to calculate what I’d owe for import duties while a colleague came by with a sniffer dog.

I was just rewrapping my painting when said dog came and he was clearly very bored by my truck. His handler gave me a big smile and a gracias before telling me that I could repack. Just as I was doing that, the customs (aduena) lady was back and telling me that I owed 800USD.

Needless to say, I had nothing in the truck save maybe my computer that would be worth paying 800USD for. I didn’t even have 800USD to give her! I finally told her flat out that I couldn’t pay and she gave me a horrified look and apologised for not having been clear. What she actually meant was that she had evaluated my stuff at being worth 800USD and that I had to pay 16% of that, which she pegged at 120USD. So if I agreed to pay that 120USD, she could clear me for customs and I could be on my way. I’m still laughing with relief.

When I met up with her inside, I made sure to thank her for being kind and patient with me so that it would be clear that I was not upset with her and that I respected her job and the fact that I had to pay this money. I’d only been upset because I hadn’t expected to have to pay a huge amount and couldn’t see my way around doing that besides having to leave my things behind! She and I had a good laugh and she said it was a good thing my Spanish is so good or we might have had to wait hours for an interpreter to come! She finally got the bill together and I was able to pay it. She told me to present it to her colleague at a booth I would drive by and I could be on my way.

Well… I got to the booth and was sent off to have Moya X-rayed! Holy smokes are these folks thorough! I followed the instructions to get Moya to the X-ray booth and then stepped out to a safe area. The man doing pantomimes for me was very grateful when I told him he could just speak Spanish to me. LOL We had a nice conversation while we waited for the X-rays. As it turns out, he just recently did most of my drive since he went on holidays with his family to Playa del Carmen. Can you tell by now that this was a very relaxed border crossing with lots of chatty, friendly folks?

I then had to go back to a waiting area just after the booths to wait for the results of the X-ray. Finally, a guy came over to let me know I was clear. Woohoo!

Pause here to make a guess in the comments on what time it was when I finally pulled away from the border station…

It was only about 10:15. I’d been there at most an hour and a half!

Before I go on, I just checked the Montreal consulate website’s fees page and see that a menaje de casa is $178. I paid about $160 in duties, so I not only saved money by not having a proper menaje de casa, I still have the option of getting one done at a later date if I have something valuable to bring into Mexico with me. So my stupidity paid off. 😀 I think the woman’s evaluation was incredibly fair and extremely low ball, just based on the amount of electronics I had with me. I feel that she gave me a break because I declared everything I had with me. She matched my list to my boxes and there were no surprises. The amount certainly didn’t feel punitive.

Moving on, I got about two minutes from the border before I pulled into a very nice rest area to use the bathroom. I then pointed Moya south towards Monterrey, stopping in at the first Oxxo I passed to add $200 to my phone to get 1GB of data for a month since I knew there was a strong chance I would not have internet at the motel tonight (I must be psychic).

The first bit of my drive was painful like driving down MX-15, with huge variances in the speed limits. But once I got onto the cuoatas (toll roads), I was in a whole other world than the Mexico I’m used to, with good speed limits and no endless parade of stops at military, federale, and fruit checkpoints! I did have one inland customs and border checkpoint, but was able to just roll through it.

But the toll booths… OMG. So many tolls. Over $600 (40CAD) worth, starting with a big one at $219! I did something stupid at one booth and got in the wrong lane (in my defence, I don’t think any were actually marked). This was a no cash, tag only lane. Some very angry truckers honked at me for blocking it and a lady in the booth next to me yelled loudly to wait for her. I got exact change change ready for her and was quickly out of there, only to be flagged down immediately by a federale.

Well, it was bound to happen sometime that I’d get a moving violation here. Right? I pulled over in front of him and looked back to see him waving me off. I think he saw my out of country license plate, correctly figured that I’m a stupid gringa, and decided to be forgiving. 🙂

There is a dearth of taco stands on the road most travelled, so instead of not eating all day while hoping to find good food, I stopped at another Oxxo and after much label reading, found a ham and cheese sandwich with no mayo that looked almost edible. It was surprisingly soggy though, and one bite told me why — jalapeños! There is something about the combination of ham, American cheese, and jalapeños that is very “Mexico” to me, probably because of Panamá’s bakery, so my rather uninspired lunch ended up being satisfying.

I drove pretty hard all afternoon since I need to get used to the pace. I was very comfortable, not quite “home,” but definitely more than a tourist.

I was perhaps an hour from my destination when I pulled into a Pemex. I took on $500 of fuel and the attendant tried to scam me when I paid, telling me that I gave him only $50, not $500. He was very young and I let him have it, telling him he should be ashamed of himself. I left him practically in tears, but doubt that he learned his lesson. Always be sure to count bills that you hand over, make eye contact, and get verbal confirmation that you’d handing over the correct amount. I got lucky on this one.

Just as I was pulling out of the Pemex, I saw a sign for “dulces de guayaba” (guava sweets) and I roared to a stop by a couple sitting under an umbrella with their ware. I bought this huge triangular portion for $35. I knew I didn’t stand a chance in hell of eating it all, but I wanted some guava flavour and texture, dangnabit! I got through about a third of it (it’s not very sweet), but threw out the rest after it was in a hot car all afternoon. The texture of this sweet is a bit tough to describe. It’s a little gritty and it holds together. You can’t just break off a piece and it’s not gelatinous like Jell-O. Anyway, YUM.

I had more tollbooth fun when I exited just before the Matehuala tollbooth to find a bar across the road. A man came running in my direction and said, “No worry, no worry. I speak very good English! My colleague he comes for your money. 23 pesos!” His English was not good and I failed at getting an answer as to whether I did something wrong turning off where I did. What I suspect is that traffic was light and instead of staffing the little tollbooth at the off ramp, they just had a young employee run down to collect money and open the bar for the odd car. The toll was actually $24. 🙂

It was then a very short drive to the Las Palmas Midway Inn, which Croft and at least a half dozen other people recommended highly.

I was quoted over $1,000 for a room and asked if they had a better price. I was offered another room for $864, with the only difference being that I’d be at the opposite end from the pool. Not a big deal! I was then led to my room by a man on a bicycle who showed me everything and gave me my key. The room is pretty basic, but nicer than other hotels I’ve stayed at in Mexico except for Durango. The bed is actually pretty comfy!

First order of business was to get my bathing suit out! I jumped into the freezing cold pool and enjoyed the dip immensely even though I didn’t stay in long. Despite wearing sunscreen, my left arm is pretty burnt from the drive today (should have listened to myself this morning and stuck to long sleeves), so the cold water felt nice.

Then, I went back to my room to start on this post before going to the attached restaurant for dinner. I had their pork chop special and that suited me just fine. Mexicans tend to prepare their meat the way I like it, well seasoned and well cooked. Some might have found these too stiff for their taste, but they were perfect for me. I just didn’t expect that much meat! I made it through half of my jalapeño. That’s a Victoria beer in front of my plate and some very bland salsa that I had with totopos. I teased the server that I got served the Gringo salsa and he understood what I meant, bless him. That’s why I have Tabasco sauce to the right of my plate and a jalapeño. LOL I have to get reaccustomed to eating spicy food, but the learning curve won’t be super steep since I did eat hot peppers often in the Balkans.

I added Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, and Nuevo León to my Mexico visited states map today, and also went through Tamaulipas!

The next three days are going to be long. I was going to go all the way to Córdoba tomorrow, but Google is telling me that’s a 10-hour drive (865KM) and I’ve got too much Mexico experience now to commit to that. I’m going to aim for Puebla (713KM, 8 hours).

That would leave me 628KM (8 hours) to Villahermosa on Thursday and 600KM (8 hours) to Chelem on Friday. I’m going to be wiped when I get there but, really, the budget can’t support more than two more hotel stays and, frankly, I’m ready to get there. This was never meant to be a tourism trip and I’m not on holidays.

Well, I think that’s everything. It was a full day! Yay for being back in Mexico!

February 8, 2013 by Rae

Visiting the Dentist in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico

I just got in from driving home from Mexico. Okay, saying I went to Mexico when I was visiting Nuevo Progreso is like saying I visited the United States when I was visiting Disneyland, but I needed my passport, so indulge me. 🙂

It was a short drive from my hotel in Harlingen to the crossing at Progreso/Nuevo Progresso. Parking is immediately before the border; don’t miss the entrance or your car is going to Mexico! It costs $2 to park all day in a fairly secure lot. You then follow the walkway to the border. There is a big bathroom right before you cross. The entrance is shabby, but the inside is beautifully appointed.

You need 50 cents to feed the turnstile that will let you enter Mexico. There is a change machine there, but having coins on hand (I was prepared) will get you through more quickly. You cross the bridge, then go through the secondary vehicular inspection point. After that, you’re in Nuevo Progeso. You won’t have to talk to customs agents at all.

Even though the culture change was striking, it wasn’t confusing the way it is in Tijuana. Walking down Avenidad Benito Juarez, vendors will try to hock their goods and peddle their drugs, but they are very polite and back off if you say no. It’s not an exhausting gauntlet at all. I just said, ‘No, gracias’ to everyone and earned myself a smile each time.

I started off by locating the office of dentist Gilberto Barajas, which was exactly where I expected it to be.

It was about 10:30, so I had two and a half hours to kill. I set off in search of a manicure! I stopped biting my nails (FINALLY) just over a year ago and have been wanting to treat myself to a manicure to celebrate, but haven’t bothered since I’ve been doing some much manual labour. I decided to compromise and just have the nails treated professionally and not get a full gel set on them. So anyway, off I went down the main avenue, glancing at the wares as I walked.

Very quickly, I noticed a blouse style that was ubiquitous. Every vendor seemed to have it in different colours. I was in love and finally asked about the price. $40?! That’s crazy! I’d heard that prices in Nuevo Progreso are set for gringos, but that was insane! I eventually ducked into a quieter clothing boutique and found the blouse yet again. A lady came up to me and asked “Se gusta?” (Do you like it?” I was surprised to be addressed in Spanish and thrilled that I was going to get to butcher the language a little. “Si, quanto?” I asked (Yes, how much?) I didn’t get her entire response, but the gist of it was “$30, but since you speak to me in Spanish, $20.” Sold. 🙂 Yes, a bit pricey, but it so rare that I really splurge on clothes these days, buying instead sale items at Walmart.

I had passed a bunch of manicurists, but they all seemed very busy. When a lady said to me as I passed, “Manicure, $6, you’re next!” I was all for it. Followed an hour of extreme pampering, including a full hand and arm massage. It’s too bad I didn’t have time to do my feet, too. 🙁 I had the gal paint my nails blue, but it didn’t take me long to completely mess up her paint job, so my nails are no longer blue. But they look amazing. She gave them an extra long oil soak and they cleaned up beautifully. The salon was very shabby, but the instruments were all clean and were disinfected many times during the process. My neighbour getting her feet done was a lady from Winnipeg (!) and next to her was a very macho looking elderly farmer in overalls and a checkered shirt who said about 10 times about his pedicure, “There’s a first time for everything and I will be back!”

It was almost noon by the time I got out of the nail salon and it was time for lunch. I had done research ahead of time and decided to go to Arturos’s. There, I was greeted by tuxedo clad waiters who brought salsa, pico de gallo, tortillas, and a very extensive menu. I ordered lemonade to drink. To my delight, it came with a maraschino cherry. I love maraschino cherries. 🙂

I didn’t feel like ordering in Mexico what gringos think is Mexican food so I bypassed the tacos, enchiladas, etc. and decided that it was time to indulge my bacon craving by going with the ‘Arturo Chicken Filet’, which was bacon-wrapped chicken, which turned out to be ham wrapped in chicken wrapped in bacon. Please, no guesses as to the calorie content! 😀 I had a choice of salad or guacamole to start. Having FINALLY developed a taste for guacamole, I picked that. Nom, nom!

Besides being a protein bomb, lunch was very carb heavy. After the tortilla chips, my meal came with onions rings, French fries, toasted bread, and tortillas! I’ve been on a tortilla diet since New Orleans so I passed on the bulk of the fried foods as well as the tortillas and sank my teeth into the delicious toasted slices. The tomato that came with my meal was sculpted like a rose; lovely detail!

Lunch was set at gringo prices, so two lemonades plus the chicken, plus the tip came to $17. I then used the bathroom and took the opportunity to brush my teeth. There was an attendant who stood by silently handing me paper towels as I needed them. She got a tip. 🙂

I then strolled over to the dentist. I was a few minutes early and he was running late, so I didn’t get into the chair until about 1:30. No worries, there was a Reader’s Digest, Canadian edition, to pass the time! 😀

Dr. Barajas’ clinic is utilitarian. It is spare and clean. I met him, his wife (Dr. Karina) and the gentleman who handles the front desk. They were all very friendly and welcoming.

When the dentist was ready, the attendant led me to a cubicle at the back of the building and got me comfy. Dr. Barajas came in, introduced himself, confirmed what I needed done, and checked out my tooth. He said the damage looked bad but it was a good sign that I had zero pain. The plan of attack was to numb the area since I need extra numbing time, start on the cleaning, repair the tooth, then finish the cleaning.

He was very gentle. He started by applying a topical numbing agent to my gum and then administered the deep numbing agent. I didn’t even feel the needle go in! The cleaning, while not pleasant, didn’t hurt and he guessed, very incorrectly, that it had been about a year since my last professional cleaning. My teeth are in good shape!

I’ll confess to tensing up a little when he started up the drill, but once he got started on the bad tooth, I relaxed as I was feeling nothing except very mild vibrations. Before I could even register that the filling was done, he was polishing my teeth. I think I was in that chair 30 or 45 minutes. It felt very quick.

This was definitely the best dental experience I’ve had wide awake (nothing will beat the wonderfulness of my wisdom tooth extraction under full anesthetic 😀 ). I regret that I will probably never be able to go to him again, especially since he noticed that I have another small cavity starting, which he did not have time to fix right then.

I can’t stop feeling that tooth with my tongue. I’m just so relieved it’s fixed. Total cost? $65!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, $65 and the gas and hotel to come down here, but I got more enrichment out of the drive down here than I would have giving that money to a Canadian dentist.

I wasn’t as numb as I would have expected when he was done and I felt articulate enough to cross the border. It was almost 3PM and I had a four hour drive ahead of me, so it was time to go.

I am so very glad I was able to go to Nuevo Progeso today. The experience was worth the anticipation. The hidden bonus of the day was how much Spanish I was able to practice. I did both the manicure and shopping almost exclusively in Spanish. I cannot wait to come to Mexico for an extended vacation to really immerse myself in the language and finally gain a measure of fluency. Even though I spend USD today, being able to speak Spanish really made me feel farther from home than I really was.

The return turnstile needed 25 cents. There was a very clean bathroom just after, and another bathroom in the US customs building.

The first border crossing was painless. “What are you bringing back?” “A blouse.” “Have a nice day.”

The first?

I had been on the road home almost an hour and was going northwards on US-77 when traffic ground to a halt at an unannounced customs checkpoint! WTF?!

“US citizen?” “Canadian.” “Let me see your passport. What are you doing down here?” “Just visiting.” “Okay. Have a good day.”

Imagine if I hadn’t gone to Mexico! I wouldn’t have had my passport! I carry my passport at all times when I’m about 20KM from the Canadian border or closer, but I would never have thought to have it on me an hour north of Mexico if I was just hanging out there. Anyway, no big deal ultimately.

The drive home was quick and painless. I know y’all are sick of hearing this, but I love my truck. 😀 It’s makes those long hauls so easy and comfortable.

There were license plates from all over in the parking lot before the border. I was parked between Manitoba

and Arkansas.

The infamous fence that separates Mexico from the USA.

I was grateful for this bathroom! On the return trip, there is a bathroom right before the turnstile on the Mexico side and one in the US customs building.

Thank God for America and For Our Winter Texans. Welcome home.

Welcome to Mexico!

The Rio Grande.

Standing between two countries.

I’m really here!

Found the dentist!

Avenidad Benito Juarez.

My pretty blue nails didn’t last long. I can never seem to give polish enough time to dry. But there was no extra cost for the polish, so no biggie.

Croft, has Norma opened a store in Nuevo Progeso?

I find it hilarious that the big store on the tourist strip is ‘The Canada Store.’

Avenidad Benito Juarez.

Guacamole and chips.

My calorie bomb of a lunch. Notice the tomato. The fries were very good and not as anemic as they looked. I would have eaten more than just one of the really yummy onion rings, but I was headed to the dentist after. 🙂

Bread AND tortillas!

I didn’t know Del Monte makes ketchup! Different from Heinz, but very tasty!

Avenidad Benito Juarez from inside Arturo’s Restaurant.

The July 2012 edition of the Canadian Reader’s Digest.

Anne Murray: “I don’t know how Americans manage without Canadian Tire.” Me neither.

Driving home, I passed a gas station with very low prices. It’s been closed a good long while. 🙂

Driving over the big bridge in Corpus Christie.

Coming off the big bridge in Corpus Christie.

My blouse.

The parking lot had cars from all over. I was parked between Manitoba

February 8, 2013 by Rae

Corpus Christi Detour and Harlingen

From Port Aransas, I drove about 45 minutes to the small city of Corpus Christi. I just wanted to have a look at it, so I didn’t plan to do much, especially since I still had a two-hour drive to make to get to my hotel in Harlingen.

I stopped in at the vistors’ centre and was told that the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History across the street could fill a few hours and give me a sense for the city. Perfect!

Admission to the museum is $12.50, unless you happen to be a lucky blogger and get there on FREE admission day! What a gift!

This museum MUST be experienced. It’s a treasure trove of varied exhibits, each beautiful planned and executed. From gem stones to the discovery of the new world passing by terrariums filled with turtles, alligators, and giant spiders, this museum is definitely worth a visit! I had a wonderful afternoon there.

Coming into the visitor’s centre, I noticed a class B rig in the parking lot that I had also seen parked next to me a few days before. It had Ontario plates. When I saw it at home, I thought that it had to be Marianne and Randy Edwards, but told myself that would be too much of a coincidence. When they saw my truck at the visitors’ centre, they put two and two together and waited for me to return to see if I was me that truck belonged to. We had a lovely chat and Randy gave me instructions for getting to the waterfront.

I took his advice and wound up at the Corpus Christi Marina. It was 4PM by this point, I was beat, and I had a long drive ahead of me, so I was done. I headed out towards Harlingen and stopped at the Kingsville Walmart where I ran into the Edwards again! There I FINALLY found a good pair of sandals (I love the Earth Spirit brand; very good quality, leather, inexpensive, only available at Walmart) so I have comfortable shoes this morning.

The drive to Harlingen was exciting. I had the radio on and wasn’t really paying attention to much besides the road so I failed to notice not only that my gas gauge needle was racing towards empty but also the ‘no fuel for 60 miles’ sign!!! When my gas gauge light came on, I was shocked to discover that the next gas station was 80KM ahead of me, so the only option was to turn back the way I came to go back to the last gas station I had passed. It was a very long 20KM, but I wasn’t completely empty when I got there. I really need an audio signal at the quarter tank mark!!!

That 40KM detour meant that I didn’t get into Harlingen until 7:30. I don’t like driving in the dark, but it’s easier in the truck, probably because I am higher up than car headlights and I don’t get blinded as much (even in pickup truck land). The hotel was right off of I-77 and very easy to find. It’s adequate for a one-star; shabby but clean with a lumpy bed.

There is a Chili’s restaurant literally next door. Chili’s is a huge treat for me. I’ve only been there four times before (I’m averaging once a year) and I only go if I stumble onto one (so I never ate at the one in Chesapeake). So I decided that fate was telling me I needed a good dinner! I always get their margarita grilled chicken, which comes on a bed of rice, black beans, and tortilla strips. Incredibly delicious. I ordered a beer, the server said okay, then he came back and said, “Sweetie, you are old enough to drink, aren’t you?”

I still can’t get over the fact that people think I am in my late teens to mid-20s. I look at myself in the mirror and I just see the deepening lines and fading scars that remind me that time is marching on…

It was almost 9:00 when I got in from dinner. I had hoped to update the blog, but my internet connection kept cutting out and was slooooooooooow. It was so frustrating that I shut down and went to bed around 11.

Breakfast is included, but I didn’t even bother to check it out. Instead, I went across the street to Starbucks for a bagel and coffee. Except for a coffee on the NY Thruway coming south, I have not had Starbucks since early May of 2012!

I’m getting mixed signals about how easy it will be to fill a few hours in Nuevo Progreso, so I’m in no hurry this morning. I’ll be heading out in a few minutes and should be there for 10:00, 10:30, giving me a couple of hours to find the dentist and have lunch.

Nuevo Progreso will be the furthest south I have ever wandered!

Entering Corpus Christi.

‘Whataburger Field’ made me laugh. Whataburger is a chain of Texas hamburger restaurants.

The visitors’ centre on Chaparral street.

Behind the museum of science and history there is this wonderful fountain garden.

Can any of my readers identify this tree?

It’s like a cactus tree!

With pink flowers.

More cacti in the xeriscape garden out front.

Xeriscaping is landscaping for arid conditions.

Bridge.

Corpus Christ Museum of Science and History. It heavily features Chrisopher Columbus and Spanish explorers, hence the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria on the sign.

entrance to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and history

Wonderful exhibit about gems and stones.

Another sampling of this exhibit.

There were TONS more gems and stones to look at!

I enjoyed the exhibit about snakes.

This is a hog nosed snake. You can actually find these in Ontario.

Loved this bench!

Harmless milk snake on the left, dangerous coral snake on the right.

Red on black, friend of Jack.

Red on yellow, kill a fellow.

Carvings of many of earth’s mammals.

Tips for being a collector.

Harsh words on the difference between being a collector and being a hoarder.

Where is a turtle’s spine?

Inside the shell.

Beautiful detail on the shipwreck exhibit.

Plaque glorifying Columbus’s ‘discovery’ of the Americas.

The Aztecs had a civilization that compared to that in Europe.

market day

typical Texas ranch house made of limestone

You would have seen these houses in 1776, when Texas was still part of Mexico.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes are not related, but they are new world crops.

The Spanish say maiz, the English say corn, the French say maïs, the French-Canadian say blé d’inde (Indian wheat)

New world crops fed Europe and led to a population explosion.

There is evidence that syphilis is a new world disease that was brought back by Columbus and his men.

What would our world be without corn and potatoes?

The Texas cowboy’s lament.

Exquisite dress.

A gal would wear this if she was ‘queen’ of bucaneer days.

“We are all explorers seeking the meaning of the present in the past.”

Entrance to a Montserrat-style general store.

The general store would also be a social centre.

You can get all the necessities, from beer to toilet paper and KD.

There were no words to describe how exquisite this exhibit was. It was like entering a palace, with beautiful tiles on the ground and one more gorgeous detail after another.