Mexico Border...one last time

We woke to 3C and the wind. Wow, I swear we are still in Northern Mexico not Northern USA. So after a breakfast of fruit and coffee we put on all our cold weather gear and hit the road.

We managed good time to Reynosa and the border crossing at Hidalgo. Mexico of course had very sketchy signage but we found the US customs/immigration station, problem was we had not found the Mexico immigration and Aduana office. The US agent was very helpful and allowed us to basically U-turn at the gate and go back into Mexico in search of their offices. We stopped at the entrance offices to ask for help and it was here that we learned that Mexico does not have a separate entrance station. So here is the process we basically did by trial and error: go over the toll bridge/border to the US station, turn around and re-enter Mexico, go to the Entrance immigration office and get our passport exit stamps. Then walk from building to building looking for someone who has the authority to cancel our vehicle importation permit. This is important because if we leave without getting this cancelled the next time we want to take a vehicle into Mex there would be big fines to pay. Because there is NO ADUANA AT HIDALGO, we had to ride about 5 miles to the East to the entry point at Pharr, there we found the Banercito dog house and the lady cancelled our permits.


Then we crossed the toll bridge/border at Pharr and made our way through the US customs/immigration station. All together about 2 hours total. What we needed to do was go to Pharr in the first place and not Hidalgo.

Well, here we are back in the USA and it is Feb 10th. It is nice to be able to read all the signs, which is the first thing I noticed mainly because I found myself trying to read them all. I had to snap out of it and pay more attention to the road now that I have to follow the traffic laws again, I also noticed that I picked up a few bad driving habits over the last few months. Pharr, Texas was also a major culture shock as all the North American “stuff” lined the streets. It is a nice day although not overly warm and we make some good miles up to Falfurrias, which is just a small town that is at the crossroads of #285 and #281. We slept in a bit the next day as we had to wait for it to warm up anyway, this cold front is not going to break until Sunday or Monday.


The landscape leading into San Antonio is made up of short shrub trees and ranch lands, it is amazing that every mile of the highway is lined with fencing on both sides. While eating lunch at a small diner in George West we discovered that most of the ranchers in the area have switched from cattle to deer. This old fella was 86 years young and still managed his farm, admittedly he does have a hired hand to do the heavy lifting but he still operates the equipment and gets out on the land everyday. It says it gives him a purpose and keeps him happy, he finished his lunch and bit us safe travels then he was out the door, pretty spry for 86. The only thing that would make this an amazing route would be if the trees had leaves, there are currently no leaves to be seen anywhere which makes it much like home in the winter, just above zero-no snow-no greenery.