A Reflection on Ten Years of RVing and A Visit to Mexico

At Llano Grande RV Resort, Mercedes, Texas...

You may have noticed a new feature that Blogger has made available to users. Here on the home page of this blog is something named "Featured Post." I like this, because it enables me to bring forward a link occasionally to some posts that I particularly like. The first one was "Oh, The Places We've Seen," a collection of some of our best photos of favorite places we have visited while RVing. Today, I'm listing "For Those Who Don't Quite Get It," a post that garnered the most views in the ten-year history of this blog. I'm not sure what made it so popular, but I thought I would revisit it in celebration of those ten years. It could be that it sets forth the best explanation I could offer to those for whom RVers are, at best, a curiosity or, at worst, a bunch of bedraggled denizens of a trailer park. Well, since ignorance is bliss, I say let the unschooled revel in their fog while we who know better take the wheel and savor every vista of God's creation that unfolds before us as we go down the road. Spending one's precious life confined in four walls? Not if I can help it! There is so much to see and so little time.

I am so grateful that I had the inspiration to begin this blog at the very start of our RVing adventure. I cannot tell you the number of times we have revisited the photos of favorite places and relived our impressions that were captured in the written narrative. As our memories fade, it's much like hitting the replay button and seeing it all over again. If you are just starting your RV adventure or even if you've been at it a while, I hope you will consider making a good record of it. It's importance to you will only increase over time, and it will eventually become a treasure, I'm sure. I know it has been the best ten years of our lives. 

Along with old friends Ed and Marilyn and new friends Steve and Cathy, we took Jackie and Steve over to Progreso, Mexico, just across the Rio Grande from Mercedes. We had a great time wandering from shop to shop along the crowded sidewalks and had a fine lunch at Arturo's, a busy upscale restaurant on the main street. Progreso is, of course, a typical Mexican border town, heavily dependent on the trade of snowbirds and full of peddlers trying to hawk everything imaginable as you walk by. But the people are very friendly, and we have never felt unsafe in the main commercial area where the gringos tend to remain.

There is a lively interest of U. S. citizens in medical, dental and optical work, as well as pharmaceutical purchases across the border in Progreso. The services are quite professional, for the most part, and prices are dirt cheap compared to those in the U. S. Many drugs that would require prescriptions in the states are available there over the counter.

Restaurants and drinks are also cheap and, after a while, one tends to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping area and buoyed by the omnipresent music.

Marilyn, Mike and Steve share a funny story at Arturo's in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico.

Then sometimes we revert to our childhood:

It's our secret, Steve!

The girls did some shopping and claimed some bargains. The boys largely sat around and scratched themselves. After the busy but fun day, we opted for a light supper and TV watching back in Phannie. 

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough each day.