CATCHING UP TO TODAY

SATURDAY
I am not sure where I left off but I will start off on Saturday, January 24th, the drive from Kerrville to Brownsville. 
No Snow!!!!  but 37 degrees so we were very careful diviing and drove thru SanAntonio at about 930 am.  Along the way the scenery didn't change much except there was no snow on the mountains.  From Corpus Christi to Brownsville, Texas the scenery did change.  Long stretches of low, flat land with those scrubby pines, a few palm trees of different kinds, some very tall yucca and endless blue skies.  By noon the temp was 64 and it was a beautiful day driving along on a divided highway.  Since it was Saturday, there was very little traffic and we noticed a carnival with a rodeo and stands full of people enjoying it in the sun. We went thru lots of farming and a long causeway near South Padre Island. 
Bought gas for $1.79 a gallon and stopped early at Comfort Suites in Brownville, Texas.  A very nice accommodation.
SUNDAYOn Sunday, we set out for our first trip along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.  We crossed the border at Matamores and no one asked to see our passport or license.  We asked about the document needed for the automobile and were told we didn't need to get that to go to Tampico.  Well, now we will just continue until someone says it is required.  So, the very first thing we see is a number of men and women with their brooms sweeping the street.  I know that Joan will be interested in this.  But, beyond that you just know you are no longer in the US, it just feels different.  Outside of Matamores, we travel through long stretches of very large farms.  I am not sure of all that is growing but some is sugar cane and other large plots have just been planted.  There are small (very small) towns along the way and most of even the most modest home with pigs and dogs in the yard, have some sort of wall around the house and yard.  Men with small carts pulled by burrows AND men herding goats along the highway are common sights as are horses grazing along the highway.
In one town we came upon a line of traffic and ahead we could see a group of people walking in the road.  We sat in the line long enough to realize that we might be in a funeral procession.  We pulled out and crept slowly alongside the other cars and then the mourners walking behind the hearse which was behind a pickup truck loaded with flowers.  It was very touching and we were very respectful. 
Of course I am relearning my "street spanish" such as "permita ser rebasado", "reparacion", "peatones", "poblado"and other instructons like "conserva limpia" and "entronque proximente" not to mention "doble semi-remoulque". 
On this part of the trip, the scenery changed often. We were traveling close to the Gulf so the land was flat on both sides of us sometimes farmed and sometimes endless expanses of various kinds of cacti, scrub pines, palo verde and large yucca. Then there we heavily forested hills rolling to the sea with large low land expanses to the west. Next more farming land and what seemed like suddenly tall mountains on both sides extremely green and verdent.
We travel for miles on pretty good highways but run into patches of a half mile or so where the newer road has been washed out and is extremely rough. There were crews repaving sections even on Sunday. This was the Ruta 2010!!! Kind of direct route from near Cuidad Victoria to Tampico.
Our last few miles were traveled through marshy lowlands and very close to the Gulf. We see sand dunes in the distance but at close range we see many cattle that look like brahmas. Interesting looking animals.
So our GPS girl did good work and brought us right to our destination where we were checked in by a lovely young lady who was freezing because the weather is not as warm as it should be. My friend, JoAnn will remember two years ago when we were at Puerto Penasco and the staff was wearing several jackets. Well, it was a little chilly for them but not for us. Especially in the sun.
Having our usual adventures!!!More later.......