Back in the USA - Texas
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2006
1
25
29
Trip End
Apr 30, 2006
Kemah,
Texas,
United States
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Leaving San Louis de Potosi heading North we begin to realize our Mexican Holidays are about to end. Reflection back on some good times at some good places meeting good people. One thing we have not mention much is the constant good weather we have had. Not a drop of rain or cludy sky since entering Mexico except for the couple of drops of rain that fell in Gord's pool in Puerto Escondido. That sort of astounded everyone. Then we get to San Miguel de Allende and we have two days of thunderstorms, not all day mind you but both the Friday and Saturday we were there were thunderstorms with lightning and the whole nine yards. From there on up to Kemah where we are now the weather has not been as admirable as it was up until San Miguel de Allende - go figure !
Brian, Frank & Maria, Kemah, TX
Well, here we sit in my sisters kitchen in Kemah, Texas thinking about our travels and how we got here. From San Louis we pretty much stayed on the Cuato (Toll) roads heading through Montrerray to Pharr where we crossed the boarder. The mountains were still present but not as treacherous as farther south but we were on large four lane highways most of the time. Once past Monterray the land levels out quite a bit, there is much industry, oil refineries and dams to create water supply for the south. We spend the next night near China at a resovior dam that has a recreation area where we camp for free. Tuesday morning we motor on not stopping for much as we plan to get back to the Ocean at the Padre Islands in Texas. At the boarder we get the real taste of Mexican confusion. We find ourselves in a long line of trucks trying to get across the bridge over the Rio Grande River to Pharr. Once we get to the bridge we realize if we cross we are back in the USA and will not have turned in our travel documents to the Mexican authorities. We see a pull off just before the tool booth and dive in there and ask a guard what to do. He gives us directions to some building to the left and behind us and we go and get our papers turned in. No signs, no indications, you just gotta stop and ask or your in big doo-doo ! Well, one more bit of Mexican experience before we leave. I still think my major impression of the entire country of Mexico is that it is one big "Curva Pelligrosa" !
Arriving at the US boarder station we are in anticipation about what's to happen with all our goods we have collected during our journey, especially the numerous bottles of alcohol. We get the questions, answer them and are told to pull over to the inspection area. The agent comes and goes through what we have and it ends up all is OK except for ONE TANGERINE and ALL our sea shell collection from all the beaches
Brian, Maria, Frank & Rita, Kemah, TX
. Phooy on the Americans. I hope his wife enjoyed the gift she got that evening. Anyways, at least that was that and we were on our way into Texas.What a shock coming back into such a different culture divided mostly by a river. We head up the road and find a money exchange, turn in all our extra Pesos and head off towards Corpus Christi to find the Mustang Island State Park. We arrive there late afternoon after picking up supplies as we thought to stay a few days to decompress from all the stressful driving. As we pull into the park to find our allocated site we meet friends, Pierre and Nicole and their dog Charlotte, Quebec Westy Club members we know well. Surprise of surprises. They are off to visit some relatives south of here and had just arrived before us to spend the night. A few bottles of wine and snacks get us up to supper time and we are now relaxed and happy to have met friends.
The weather here is not all that hospitable, high winds, heavy dampness and clouds. It is however quite warm. In the morning we take a stroll on the deserted beach and find it not anywhere near as nice as all the Mexican Pacific Coast Playas we had become accustomed too. Boo-hoo we want to go back ! But saneness prevails, we spend another day, taking a tour of the nearby town of Port Aransas for shopping, laundry and bar service. Friday morning we pull up stakes again to go find my sister in Kemah some three hours North
Brother & Sister, Kemah, TX
. A mechanical glitch stops our plans for a few hours. The van will not start, horror of horrors. After numerous attempts the decision to remove the luggage, all gazillion tons of it, is made to investigate. After a few hours of fooling around getting dirty, installing new distributor cap, rotor and spark plugs the engine fires up and seems OK. Not really sure but I think the heavy dampness played a major role here. Anyways, we get packed back up and soon are on our way. The road north leads us along the Gulf Coast mostly, straight & level, boring roads through freshly tilled agricultural land dotted with oil wells here and there. We arrive in Kemah and find my sisters place thanks to our trusty GPS. It's around five and we have a great meeting of family and dogs. Sister Maria and her son Brian are here with their dogs Bibi and Mardi Gras. Husband Al is in Saudi Arabia having just started a new job there in January. Maria will leave for Saudi on April 04, so our visit is timely. We may not get to see her for a few years.Well, now we sit here planning some adventures for ourselves between here and Greensboro, NC where we will wind up on April 15 ~ 16 thereabouts for EveryBus and a reunion with our VW Camper amigos. I'm proposing a stop in Clarksburg, MS at the blues museum and Rita wants to go to New Orleans to have a look around. Only time will tell what we do. We have now traveled 15,677 km ! Adios amigo.
