Terlingua Dreams

Terlingua Dreams
Governors Landing Campground - Lake Amistad - Del Rio, Texas

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Who says nobody goes to Mexico anymore?

We embarked on our monthly shopping trip to Mexico. As you might recall the last time we were there was on Valentine's Day.  After paying our toll on the American side ($3.00) we saw a LONG line of cars waiting in line to clear US Customs.  Definitively will drive to the Amistad Dam crossing station I commented to mother.



I know what you are thinking..the lines are long because of the cutback in personnel...true, but there is no denying ALL these people had been to Mexico.  I was happy to see a lot of American tourist everywhere we went, Ciudad Acuna could sure use the economic boost.

We first went to Gutierrez (a grocery store) they have two stores of this chain but I like the one in town better than the one in the suburbs as there is more parking and a lot less traffic.  We were only going to buy a few things that are normally cheaper here than in Bodegas Aurrera or Merco such as serranos, bananas, pastries and my medication.

However the prices were so economical that we ended up doing all our grocery shopping here and in the process saving ourselves some time but most importantly money.  We could not believe the number of people at the store specially since it was only Tuesday.

We stopped to visit a friend of ours that owns a photography studio.  He was delighted that his Del Rio clients were once again making their way back to Ciudad Acuna.  Speaking of traffic there is a Mexican channel that you can see the security cameras all over the city and he zoomed in on the main International bridge and we could tell that only two of the five lanes were open...that did it...would definitively cross at the Dam!

So off we went to cross back to Del Rio at the Amistad Dam Crossing.  Could not help but notice that a lot of other people had the same thing in mind but I was NOT prepared for what I saw when we got there.  I am not good at judging distance but here it clearly states we were 1/2 mile from Customs when we joined the long line :-(


It did not take long for more cars to arrive and the line to grow even longer.  I got out and started taking pictures and soon other people joined me, lol, including the lady and two girls in back of us who took out their tablet and cell phone and began snapping pictures of the line and what is left of the lake.

Looking toward the back of the line

We even had a chance to chat as we waited for the line to move :D

Looking to the front of the line
Happy to see we almost made it 
Not a good picture snapped as we were about to clear Customs

Even though we had to wait in line for one hour and 21 minutes I am glad we decided to cross at the Amistad Dam Border Station.  It sits high up on the dam and we had a constant breeze.  It was very warm yesterday and mom's van does not have air conditioning.

I took a lot of other pictures but I do not want to make this post too long and will save them for a future post.  So if you are wondering if it is safe to cross into Ciudad Acuna...judge for yourself.

Thank you for dropping by.

12 comments:

  1. lol Just not good timing?
    Congrats on the shopping tho.

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    1. You are certainly right Trouble not good timing but at least we had a good breeze and a beautiful view unlike those people sitting in a hot car at the main International Bridge.

      If you have to be in a long line another plus is that there are no toll booths at this crossing.

      We sure lucked out on the shopping for sure.

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  2. I am forgetfull, I may have ask you before. Do you need a pass port to go to Mexico?

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    1. I think it said Photo ID on the number 6 picture DD....

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    2. Dizzy you need either a passport or a passcard to cross back to the United States.

      However, Capt. Joey is correct one of the photos posted said picture I.D.

      I do not know this for sure but I will certainly look into it and let you know later because this particular crossing station has the only access to the Eagles (both the American and Mexican eagles) situated in the middle of the dam that denotes the border between both countries.

      In the past the border crossing station was on the dam itself and you did not need a passport or passcard to visit the eagles because Customs could see you walk to them.

      Now being in the mainland it is not as easy (though they do have cameras) but they would still have to allow the public access to them as they are still located in US soil and you have not technically crossed the border.

      You do not want to travel back to the USA without a passport or passcard...just ask Billy Bob!

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  3. It's nice that you can do that. I on the other hand just did food shopping on line for pickup tomorrow at a big name store for us in Delaware and I spent 201.20 for only 80 items!!! Lucky you guys:)

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    1. Capt. Joey yesterday we spent $556.20 Mexican Pesos on groceries that typically last us about a month.

      The lowest exchange rate we found was $12.30 Mexican pesos to one US $1.00 that comes to $45.22 USD.

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    2. I hope you didn't buy ice cream. I cross at Presidio all the time and never wait very long...maybe I have just been lucky.

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  4. Frann- Hi girl! Long time no hearing. I have never bought ice cream in Mexico those are a few of the things that we prefer to buy in the US.

    As a matter of fact ice cream is cheaper in Del Rio than in Acuna, go figure :)

    However I always go prepared. Depending on what vehicle we take across, I take two or three ice chest and plenty of ice because you never know how long the lines will be.

    Good hearing from you.

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  5. I'm glad to see that some people think it is safe to cross over. I realize this post was in March but this past few weeks there were shootings in Ojinaga. Then I turn around and hear other people talk about their dental appointments and vehicle repairs in Ojinaga. I guess it's just the difference in perspective.

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    1. In one of my older post I also make reference to a difference in perspective. Ciudad Acun~a is one of the safest border towns in Texas.

      While they are not exempt from the drug violence, it does not occur in the tourist areas or places I frequent.

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