Friday, March 7, 2008

We made another trip over to Mexico at Progresso. We had to pick up some more medications for both ourselves and others, and Donna wanted to pick up one of the handmade candy wrapper purses for her sister-in-law. We went back to the Almost Free Pharmacy which is just across the border, and got the meds. The clerk recognized us and gave Stella and Donna a pill carrier/pill slicer.

Donna found one of the purses she wanted across the street from the pharmacy and talked the girl down to $20.00 (from $25) but decided to look elsewhere to see if she could find a better bargain. We waded through an incredible amount of street vendors, both in booths and just walking around selling "handmade" items as well as candy and gum. She found one of these walking vendors that didn't have the size of purse that she wanted but said he could take us to them. He went directly back to the same booth that we had stopped at before and tried to get $28.00 for the same exact purse that Donna had already looked at. She told him she would give him $20.00 for it, which the girl had already quoted her but he kept on trying to get more money out of Ted. Ted pulled out a 20 dollar bill and the man snatched it up but called Ted a "cheapyskate".

I think these border guards need to keep up with current events on the necessary identification. After June 1, it will take a passport, passport card or enhanced drivers license. I asked the Border Patrol officer that passed us through back into the United States about using my Texas Drivers License, but he said it will take a passport. I verified online that Texas is in the process of getting the current drivers license approved as an enhanced license. We won't cross the border very often and will probably get either a passport or passport card because we have no plans to leave the country by air or ship.

We came back to the trailers to drop off our drugs and the "cheapyskate purse" before traveling to the Los Ebanos hand-pulled ferry. This is the last hand operated ferry in the United States and probably one of few in the world. The river is only about 50-60 yards wide at this point but it is interesting to watch the five men that pull the boat back and forth across the river. It cost .50 per person to enter Mexico and .75 to re-enter the U.S. We stopped off at the trading post to look around but didn't buy anything.

We returned to the park and ate supper in our trailers and sat outside in the windy weather 'til about 9 o'clock with Tom and Judy and our neighbor Ivan. Ivan is from Iowa and will be leaving on Sunday.

Until the next time.....