OFF TO THE MUSEUM

Last night it was cold 5C, we actually had to put the furnace on. Today was sunny with a high of 20C.

After lunch we took a drive over to Edinburg to check out the Museum of South Texas. It was about a 45 min. drive from the resort. It had a lot of great displays showing the history of the area.

                                                                        Inside lobby

This giant mammoth was the first display - we were not able to use the flash, about 14ft. high.

This Spanish chest had a very interesting locking mechanism which was opened by a key. (all of those little arms would have to move to release/close the pins)

Cathy put on weight! The Spanish helmet must have weighted about 10 Ibs. and the chest armour about the same.

Wow! Tinkertoy, I used to have a whole lot of these a way back when. The record player and 45's were also part of our history as well. But I don't seem to recall having a pet mammoth though.(Too young to remember perhaps!)

This was a great bronze statue.

Til tomorrow...

TRIP TO MEXICO

Yesterday had a low of 18C and a high of 20C.

We were invited by our neighbours (Ron and Janet from Burlington Ont.) to go across the border with them to experience Progresso Mexico. So why not, it is done by many people in the area. The town and parking lot weren't that busy yesterday according to Ron. But there were quite a few people checking out the area.  You park on the U.S. side for $2.00 and pay 50 cents to walk across a bridge over to Mexico. Coming back, you pay 25 cents to walk back on the other side of the bridge and go through Customs.

This is the wall/fence on the U.S. side to prevent illegals. They monitor the openings in it. 

This is the Rio Grande River separating the two Countries. I would have thought it was wider and harder to cross. The fence is just off to the right side of the river.

A lot of people go across the border to get dental work done at a fraction of the cost here in the U.S. or Canada.There are lots of Dentist offices, all have been trained in the U.S. and they only deal in cash. You can make an appointment or many have a walk in service. There are many vendors on the side walk selling current movies, cd's, food and trinkets. The store employee's are at the entrances holding posters with the prescription drugs they have available and asking you to come in and look. You need to shop around for the best price.

Other stores sell clothing, leather products, sterling silver (not sure of the quality?) ceramic pots and pewter products and the usual Mexican stuff.

                                                                      Pewter

The liquor is a really cheap here but you need to shop around. I bought two, 1 litre bottles of Crown Royal for $38.00 and a bottle of Baileys for $18.00. A bottle of Sheridan goes for $22.00.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants on the main road and ordered a Chicken Fajita which we split. They first came with a bowl of  Taco chips and 3 different dips, one of which burnt all the way down. Then came a bowl of fish soup and it was pretty good.  Then came a small dish of onion rings for us to share. Finally, the plate of chicken and toppings and some warm tortillas showed up and it was more than enough for the two of us. All of this plus a Margarita for Cathy and a Lemonade for me for $10.00.

Crossing back into the U.S. we needed to show our passports and had to pay duty on the liquor which was $3.75 per bottle. Cathy bought some prescription creams and was not even asked about them. They were only interested in the booze.


 It was an experience!!