Texas Sunset

It's remarkably similar to other sunsets and sunrises I've captured, but this one happened in the Rio Grande Valley of deep south Texas, last night.

Visual Overload

Immediately after crossing the border, tourists visiting Nuevo Progreso in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico are bombarded with vendors hawking their services and wares.

At a glance in this photo you can see a stand bearing men's belts.  Right next to the belts is a large sign advertising the prices of dental surgery. Above that, part of an electric sign advertising contact lenses.

On the left side of the photo is a stand with windshield screens, really bad wall art and another stand full of garish women's purses.The high density of vendors, stalls, booths, sales reps and tourists makes navigating the sidewalk difficult. Sometimes you just have to stand and wait for foot traffic to clear.

In the middle of the photo a pharmacist rep meets and greets a dentist rep. They are apparently good friends. The two tourists in the photo have just spurned them. It's interesting to note the ways both tourists and sellers segregate themselves from the other.

Everywhere in town there are pharmacist and dentist reps carrying brochures and folders with which to accost every tourist, regardless of whether they will listen. Every seller, from taco vendor to boot polisher, jeweler, pharmacist and dentist has "good prices," "almost free." It's fun and exciting – the first time. After that it quickly becomes annoying.

Break Time

Children take a break from their chore of selling Chiclets on the streets of Nuevo Progreso, a border town in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Minimalism in Harlingen

Pear Street Fog

The weather channel's web site reported fog in Harlingen with visibility near zero. Our Photography & Tour Group had planned a day-trip to that very city on this day.

Fortunately, by the time we arrived the fog had burned off to the point where visibility was similar to our own neighborhood.

Restored

A couple from Little Rock had recently finished restoring this 1950s vintage travel trailer. Their first trip was to Sleepy Valley Resort in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas.

They stayed about two weeks, visiting cousins on the street behind them. During their stay they enjoyed this single sunny, warm, comfortable day. For the rest of the two weeks, the weather was cold, raining, wet, muddy and miserable. Everyone in the park stayed inside where it was warm and dry, so we didn't get a chance to say much more than, "Hello, what a beautiful trailer, where are you from, how long will you stay?

They left on a cold dreary Wednesday morning when we weren't home. They seemed to be nice people.

What a horrible time to break-in such an exquisitely restored and decorated travel trailer.