THE STREETS OF LAREDO

May 8/10

Yesterday, we drove from Mission up the Rio Grande Valley through small towns such as Penitas, Rio Grande City, Escobares, Roma, Zapata and San Ygnacio. You’d think that you were in Mexico based on the people, houses, cars and signs in Spanish. It was a slow drive for the first hour until we got out of the populated areas.


We stopped for lunch at a picnic area overlooking the Rio Grande River. In this flat country, you don’t see the river very often as you travel beside it. Here is what it looks like:

How do you like this Texas picnic table?

We drove through Laredo which is on the river  just across the bridge from the Mexican town of Nuevo Laredo. The streets of Laredo (remember the country song?) are still narrow and crowded as you can see:

However, once you get on Interstate 35 gong north to San Antonio, there is a big difference. This is the interchange at the Port of Laredo which is a dry, inland port:

We headed northwest on US 83 after that and arrived in the small town of Crystal City. It has a population of 7,100 people and claims to be the Spinach Capital of the World complete with a statue of Popeye downtown. We will check that out later today.