First visit to Nuevo Progreso

Some friends here in Retama Village, Kathy & Phil, knew we wanted to visit Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. I needed to get some medication, find a dentist and just peruse the "stuff" for sale. They offered to escort us in and take us to the pharmacy they used. We set a date for Thursday, hoping to miss the cold & rain that was in the forecast.

The rainy day came & went...and it never did rain, in fact it turned into a very nice, sunny day. LOL! Thursday we woke to temps in the upper 40's and it was all the way up to the mid 50's by the time we were ready to head out. We often ride in temps that cool but since we wanted to run errands afterward, we opted to take Freddie (our Freightliner). Kathy & Phil picked up another guest, Yvonne, and off we went. We took mostly back roads rather than the Interstate...nice ride. Took almost an hour (at least it seemed that way).

The entry into Progreso was painless...it costs 25 cents per person (and 30 cents to return to the US). There are change machines and an ATM but you know me...always the good Girl Scout ("be prepared"), so I had the change....LOL!



Since this was our first trip into Progreso we figured we'd be doing a lot more browsing than the others....so we immediately headed to the pharmacy and then we went our separate ways. I got one of my two meds at the first pharmacy and got the other later in the day at a different one.



Shops and street vendors abound...leather, jewelry, purses, sunglasses, clothes and pottery are everywhere. But there are also a lot of more unusual things...sling chairs/hammocks, pinatas were big as were the cloth friendship bracelets with your name on them and the suction cup mesh sunscreens for your car/RV. We got a silk scarf for me, sunglasses for Stu, friendship bracelets and the larger sunscreens for Freddie's side windows.



We walked for about 3 hours with a stop at the SPOT for a drink (Corona for Stu and Diet Coke for me). Here's some snaps...neat place, bet it's hopping at night. Just after leaving that we ran into a couple of other RVing friends, Hank & Patti Landry and 2 of their friends. We had just seen them earlier in the week at the Class of 2007 lunch!



The other stop was for lunch...we found Arturo's and were extremely pleased. Definitely high quality...on par with the better restaurants we ate at in Cancun. The service was impeccable...I carried in half a bottle of Diet Coke and when I opted out of a drink, they brought me a tall glass of ice for my Coke. The food was delicious and not priced bad either. We'd both eat there again. (I had beef tips with green peppers & onions, served with rice & refried beans...needless to say, I had mixed it all together before remembering to take the photo...LOL!) Stu had a combo plate.)



Since my first visit to a Mexican Border town was Los Algodones outside Yuma, that was all I had to compare it to.....and Progreso wins on the quality of things to buy. Both had beggers, children as young as 6-7 selling things, way more to buy than anyone needed, less liquor stores in Progreso, about the same in dental/pharmacy/optical and I felt the flavor in Algodones was a little more party-like. The little town square/park in Algodones would have been appreciated in Progreso though...



All in all, it was a good day. We'll go back on Monday for my first dental appointment. Probably won't do much shopping...but then again, who know what the kids/grandkids might ask about....LOL!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu