Crossing the Rio Grande

US Border Crossing

Ok, back to Monday and crossing the border. We crossed the border with no problems. Fortunately we had the GPS along and it was up and working. Estarado told us which way to go, but it was not how the GPS told us to go. We had our first turn around at that point. (we were headed for Baja). We headed for Mexico Highway #101. We had just found it when we had our first encounter with the Mexican Police. They pulled the bus over because they said that we had ran a red light. However, there were many cars that went around the corner at the same time. The police officer wanted money. Right or wrong the bribe was paid and we went merrily on our way.

We were advised that it was not a good idea to drive through the night. Partly because of the condition of the roads. But mostly because of increased chance of being stopped by the police and army. We drove to Mira Mar, a small town just north of Tampico, Mexico. Found a hotel, had something to eat, and went to bed. The food was really good, but we had no idea what we ordered, since the entire menu was in Spanish. We were all very tired and all slept well. I was relieved that we were sleeping in a bed.