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Thursday, May 5, 2011

New Experiences on Our Last Day at Retama


Roger here....    Well, the kids have gone back to their lives.  Dianne and I have been working like dogs to get ready for new travels.  Lots to do to get the coach house and motor home ready for our departure -- most of it done :-).


On our last day at Retama Village, we decided to experience a couple of new things before leaving civilization and traveling to the wilderness of West Texas.  


Our first new adventure involved getting our teeth cleaned.  Oh, we have gotten our teeth cleaned before (twice a year for many years), but this time it was in Mexico!  Lots of Winter Texans do this, so.... with some encouragement from new friends, we decided to give it a try.  It was a good experience.


The first step was traveling to Progreso, TX and parking on the U.S. side of the border.
Love the sign and the laid-back attitude.  (We did pay the $2 :-)


Dianne took a picture of the bridge over the Rio Grande and we walked across to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico (a safe haven in a dangerous area) after dropping a quarter into the turnstile.





There are literally dozens of dentists in Nuevo Progreso.  Friends gave us several recommendations.  We chose Dr. Mustre, whose office was a half a block from the bridge.  See the sign on the right side of the photo?


Our teeth are now sparkling and for only $20 per person.  Please don't tell our dentist (and good friend) back home.  No appointment, up-to-date equipment, and the wait was only five minutes.

After the cleaning, we wandered across the street and made a couple of purchases.  The first was a set of Talavera tequila/cordial glasses.


The second was an impulse buy by Dianne, the stoic, "don't-buy-anything-we-don't-need" person.  She saw a Mexican pottery Nativity Scene for only $14.  So cool.  





Clean teeth, Mexican tequila glasses, a new Nativity scene -- time to celebrate.  No better place than the Happy Dentist Plaza, where Dianne and I had the best margaritas ever (for three dollars).


The friendly (everyone here is friendly) couple at the bar were waiting to see their dentist.  The guy, with a smile, told me that the margaritas looked "dangerous."  

We enjoyed our drinks while watching a stream of cars crossing the border.


Time to move on to the second new experience...  We have bought phones before, but they were evidently dumb phones.  Our two daughters (and our granddaughter) have been cajoling us to move into the next century.  Since my dumb phone has been turning itself off (without any prompting from me -- evidently, it is also a lazy phone), the time arrived to upgrade.  After a quick drive to McAllen, and some advice from the Verizon salesman, Carlos, we are now the proud owners of a new pair of iPhones.  G-4's, no less (whatever that means.)


The learning curve will be steep (probably not for Dianne), but our kids are s-o-o-o-o proud.  Can't wait to figure out what an "app" is!  

The pet picture of the day shows Bandido, who has now mastered the ramps at the agility course.  Makes a dad so proud!


Stick with us as we leave the comforts of Retama Village and move on to the wilds of West Texas;  hopefully, avoiding the WILDFIRES.

2 comments:

Margie and Roger said...

Love the header photos of Chaplin and Bandido. Bandido sures seems to have turned into a great dog. Can't believe you went into Mexico. Too scary. I love those tequila glasses - those chairs at the outdoor bar looked pretty neat painted in all different colors too. Sounds like you are happy with your decision to buy at Retama. I think we are on the verge of making another change too - maybe a park model.

Mark from Missouri said...

Learn something new. Thought everyone had to go to Arizona to cross the border for a dentist. We are leaning towards Texas for our home state after retirement.