July 2022 trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México

Click on the Pictures to Enlarge

Like my June 2022 trip to México, I was there for the same reason...to take one of the cats to get neutered. If you would like to read about it you may do so on my other blog Walter's World by clicking on my header picture or this link https://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/

If you are planning a trip to Ciudad Acuña anytime soon you will be glad to know that the six-lane project leading to the Del Rio International Bridge is almost finished.

After dropping Chester off at the vet's I went about running my errands. First on my list was getting a haircut. Our regular stylist used to run her business from her house, then she rented a beauty shop which I was never able to locate...then Covid-19 hit and the border was shut down so I do not know what happened to her.

Ciudad Acuña has four major grocery stores Gutierrez, Merco, Bodegas Aurrera, and Soriana. Gutierrez in my opinion has the best prices and two large stores to choose from. They also have canvas coverings so you can park your car in the shade. I neglected to take a photo of them though I have pictured them before on this blog.

First of all, today's Exchange rates are as follows:

C stands for Compra (buy) Pesos
V stands for Venta (sell) US Dollars
As a tourist, you are interested in the second one

Both Gutierrez and Merco have no-frills beauty salons at very reasonable prices. They used to charge $80 pesos...$4.00 USD for a haircut and with a tip of 20.00 pesos (one US dollar) your haircut would cost you $5.00 dollars. Like everything else, the price has gone up but only by a dollar so, including the tip, I paid $6.00 USD.

A Mexican no-frills Beauty Shop

When I arrived the senior citizens who work at the check-out lanes for tips as sackers told me the Beauty Shop opened at 10:00 a.m. so in order to kill time I went around checking prices and taking pictures.

Bananas $17.90 a kilo or .90 USD
Remember a kilo equals 2.2 lbs

Gutierrez buys directly from Coahuila farmers and in my opinion has the best produce at very reasonable prices.

$26.90 a kilo / 1.35 USD a kilo

$9.90 a kilo for carrots/.50 US cents
No price on the Calabacitas

Hass Avocados...

$79.90 a kilo / 4.00 USD per kilo

If you prefer the smaller avocados they had the mesh bag ones with four each...

$49.90 / $2.50 USD or .62 cents each

You may think that avocados are a bit pricey but due to Organized Crime that targets growers for extortion they have to hire security and pass on those costs to the consumers.

I usually bring an ice chest with me but at the time I loaded my car I made sure I had enough room for the two pet taxis that go on the back seat not knowing I would not be able to catch one of the cats. The reason I did not place it in the trunk is that I wanted to buy an extra large galvanized metal tub. They did not have the correct price and I did not ask as I still had to get my haircut and mostly because the employees were stocking shelves.

México has excellent prices on hair dye, toothpaste, face cream, make-up, cereal, hair products, and personal hygiene items because American brands have factories there.

$37.60 for a 3-pack of Colgate toothpaste
$1.88 USD or .63 cents each

$45.50 for a large toothpaste with a free toothbrush
$2.28 USD

Not even at Dollar Tree can you get this deal for 10 razors...

They range in price between
$21.52 to $25.00 pesos
$1.08 to 1.25 USD

Kellogg's large cereal box...

$39.90 / 2.00 USD

Herdez hot sauce is much cheaper than the one I bought at Soriana on my last visit.

$22.90 / $1.15 USD

Another item that is well priced in México is bleach. Though these are not made by Clorox they do have a factory there.

$29.90 / $1.50 USD

I needed to head to the north part of town to run more errands so I did not buy anything at Gutierrez besides I had left my reusable bags in the trunk and did not want to have to go get them. Remember if you ever go grocery shopping in Mexico you have to bring your own bags. In the north part of town, they have another Gutierrez as well as Soriana across the street from one another.

Picked up Chester and headed back to the International Bridge to come home. If you enlarge the bottom photo to the right you will see the canvas shade structure I mention above but at the smaller Bodegas Aurerra.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

June 2022 trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México - Part 1

This past Tuesday, June 21st I had an appointment with my Mexican veterinarian which I detail in my other blog Walter's World. You can click on my header picture to take you there or on this link https://mylittlewalter.blogspot.com/

Please click on the pictures to enlarge

In Walter's World, I keep track of everything that has to do with my feral, stray, and home cats for as you know I suffer from CRS, and having a single place to refer to has proven to be beneficial in my case. I know that can be boring to some people so I keep their information separate from this blog. In this post, I am going to concentrate on the shopping aspect of my trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila.

When you enter the city you will find many Exchange Houses where you can convert your dollars to pesos or if you have pesos they will sell you American dollars. The average exchange rate this morning was $20.00 pesos to $1.00 US dollar. To the left of this picture is a private hospital...Hospital Ejeza...and most of their clients are Americans. Across the street is an Exchange House...Macodolar...with today's rates. This was the only stretch I found where there was no traffic and I could safely take a picture.

My focus this morning was to swing by the only bank that lets you get change without giving you grief for not being a customer. I simply present my Texas driver's license which identifies me as a tourist and I have no problem. Citibamamex moved out to the suburbs many years ago and is located in the only mall in Ciudad Acuña. What would be my surprise when I got there and found huge lines outside of the bank and it wasn't even open yet. My first thought was...has a run on Mexican banks begun? Excuse me but I watch a lot of YouTube videos with the same headlines but of our American institutions. 😲

I realize it is not a good picture but it is the best one I took and it doesn't show how the line wrapped around the corner...

I don't do lines so headed inside to Bodegas Aurrera (owned by Walmart) you might recall that the last time I was here was in April and there was a shortage of shopping carts. Surely they had resolved that issue by now? Well, they haven't and I was not going to go on a hunting spree so decided to head to their other store that is more centrally located though smaller.

I will not be returning to this Bodegas Aurrera
anytime soon

I guess the last time I was here I failed to notice that they now have a KFC in Acuña...

As I drove back to town I spotted Soriana which is located about a mile from Bodegas Aurrera and they did not have many cars in their parking lot so I decided to stop. I would describe Soriana as a nicer store with wider aisles, a large selection of everything you would need, kind of like a Target.

It has been a while since I have been here even though I do have a store card (it's free) and if you buy certain items you get points that you can later redeem for free items.

In their parking lot, they have a gasoline station...

They have also built another one of these shoe stores that are all over the city...BHermanos...

In Soriana they did not have a buggy shortage as a matter of fact their buggies were brand new.

See what I mean from the upper picture of wider aisles and few people? Just my type of place! They have an ample selection of fruits and vegetables. They have specials on these on Tuesday and Wednesday as the signs indicate...Martes y Miercoles de Campo.

They have a large Bakery section. I believe these leftover cakes from Father's Day were about to be cut and offered to the customers for free.

I took a lot of pictures of items that I thought were good buys but I do not want to photobomb (I am not sure if I am using this term correctly) you this afternoon so I will leave those for Part 2.

Good afternoon.  Hope you have Terlingua Dreams this evening. 😴

Aunty Acid

Surge in Covid-19 cases / Laughlin Air Force Base pilot instructor crashes

Just when we had started breathing a bit easier our Covid-19 numbers have started surging again like in most of the nation. This week we had 35 new cases and while they make no reference if any of these are of the Delta variant they have transferred 12 individuals to other hospitals in the interior of the state (San Antonio, Texas).  This brings the total active positive cases in Del Rio and Val Verde County to 84.

Cases are also incrementing in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, México. While our country donated vaccines to México their president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador decided that those should be allocated only to Tijuana, Baja California the largest border in the United States with México and also the most transited border in the world.

Yesterday, thousands showed up starting at 6:00 a.m. to line up to receive their vaccines causing chaos and traffic jams per El Zócalo newspaper.  I am trying to post a picture but my computer is not cooperating so here is the link. https://www.zocalo.com.mx/provoca-caos-vehicular-asistencia-a-vacunacion/

We are so fortunate to have so many vaccine doses in our nation while many countries wish they were as lucky...yet ours go unused.

On a sad note, a Laughlin Air Force Base pilot instructor who was only 34 years old lost his life in an aerial accident. His plane went down in a private ranch 30 miles from Del Rio.

https://www.zocalo.com.mx/muere-instructor-de-base-aerea-de-del-rio-en-texas-al-estrellar-avion/

Have you looked up at the sky this evening?  It is a beautiful full moon with an orange tinge.

Good night,  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

May 2021 trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México

On Tuesday, May 25th I made my first trip back to México since 2019 when I came to stock up for my annual trip to the Chili Cook-off in Terlingua, Texas. The reason for my trip was to take Bonnie Mae to be spayed. You can read more about that by clicking on my header picture or going to my other blog Walter's World.

With my car issues, I had intended to spend the day in Ciudad Acuña until she was ready to be brought home and thus only make one trip. With that in mind, I headed to Plaza Bella which I believe has had a change of name since I was last here. This is the only mall in Acuña and houses Bodegas Aurrera (owned by Walmart), several banks, a movie theatre, as well as large and small stores.

I do not know if it is due to the pandemic but they have cut down on their supply of grocery carts here. It did not matter to me as I was just making time and had not planned on buying anything. Upon entering the store it was noticeable that the lights had been dimmed and it was dark.  It was also warm inside.

They had little to no pastries, bread, and just a few tortillas. Their shelves were being stocked and there were boxes everywhere.

$88.00 divided by 18 pesos = $4.89 USD
for a bottle of Kahlua

The last time I was here like I mentioned above was prior to my 2019 trip to Terlingua and I had unsuccessfully for the third time tried to purchase a bottle of Kahlua. Today I found one lonely bottle in the liquor aisle but since I am not drinking because of all the medication I am taking...it will have to wait for another customer...😢

I had already gone around the store once when I finally found a cart. Set off on my second round and this time decided to buy a jar of decaffeinated coffee, a box of hair dye (Nutrisse is made in México), and a bar of Zote soap.

$56.00 pesos = $3.11 USD

$41.80 = $2.32 USD

$6.60 = $.37 USD

I think I did well keeping my purchases
to a minimum

These were the exchange rates for today at most Exchange Houses. They will buy your American dollar at $18.00 pesos and they will sell you dollars for $19.50.  For our purpose, it is $18.00 pesos to one American dollar.

Monday night I only slept two hours and that morning I left the house without eating breakfast so I headed to the food court only to find them all closed except for one selling Chinese food. I don't like Chinese food so sat at a table. I kept on trying to doze off and again the mall was rather warm and I still had a long way to go until I could pick up Bonnie Mae so decided to come back home instead.

There was a long line at the Mexican tollbooths since they only had one open.

Hardly any traffic as I headed back to the USA

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid Saying of the Day

January 2020 trip to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México

I needed to make a trip to Ciudad Acuña but if you have been reading me for a while you know that the lines at the International bridges all over the United States/Mexico border grow significantly from November until January 6th.

Today was January 7th so I did not want to put it off any longer.  I believe I have mentioned that my uncle sends me letters and packages to a friend we have in common in Ciudad Acuña so he won't have to pay "international" charges :)

Went to deliver a present from both of us and had a nice visit.  Mexico implemented a new measure that took effect at the beginning of 2020...they have banned the use of all plastic bags...so if you are planning on a shopping trip to Mexico you better bring your own.

There is a channel on Mexican television that allows you to see a live feed of the International Bridge of the traffic going to the US.  When I crossed this afternoon the line was long and when my friend turned on that channel it was even longer so decided to return via the Amistad Dam Port of Entry.

I was not planning on stopping at a store but remembered I needed Nutrisse hair color and some Decaffeinated coffee.  I stopped at Bodegas Aurrera but they had no carts or I would have bought other items.

For some reason, stores seem to hide some of their merchandise at the beginning of the calendar year so they can raise the prices later on. I was not able to find my hot sauce or Nescafe Decaf had to buy a lesser-known brand.

Since I was crossing at the Amistad Dam Port of Entry went looking for my Kahlua and I will be darn if once again they did not have it!  I guess the Kahlua Gods do not want me to have any :-(

There is a shop within Bodegas Aurrera that fixes cellphones so took mine there and the young lady fixed it in no time flat. She did not want to charge me but I insisted so she said $10.00 pesos so I gave her $20.00 that is the equivalent of a little over a dollar.  I do not recall what the Exchange Rate was today since the phone was not working when I passed Exchange Rate Alley and you know how bad my memory is!

With a working phone and their free internet, I checked the Border Wait Times app.  The wait was 60 minutes...from prior experience that means closer to 90 minutes.  From Bodegas Aurrera it is 15 to 18 minutes to downtown and just about the same to Amistad Dam.

This time I stopped at the Mexican Customs side and took a couple of pictures so you could get a different view from high up top.

Their electric plant

Mexican Customs

Looking to the Mexican side of the lake.

This is looking towards the United States part of the lake.

In the background, you can barely make out our port of entry. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

This road leads back to Ciudad Acuña. If you are new to my blog there are no tolls charged if you use this Port of Entry.

I had a fourteen-minute wait to cross back to the USA because only one line was open. The Customs officer manning this line was polite and quite attractive :)

It was a beautiful sunny day with a low of 43 and a high of 69 degrees.


Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.