Mar 7th to 9th - San Benito TX

Mar 7th - Sat - San Benito
We headed out this morning to Mission to go to a lunch & comedy/music show. It actually didn’t start until 12:30 but we wanted to try to find Bob & Karen from Chewelah who had camped across from us in Foley. Karen had emailed us with the name of the park in Alamo where they were going to stay but we weren’t sure when they were arriving. When we drove into the park, a sign on the office said they were closed on the weekend so we just started driving up and down the roads and finally found them. We had a nice chat with them and carried on.
Our destination, The Chicken House Opry, was 6 miles off Hwy 83 and Terry was sure we were not on the right road as it got pretty trashy with graffiti on any paintable surface. But we found it and were parked behind a large, metal building. In front was another building with a semi-enclosed area serving lunch - BBQ beef sandwich, beans, pickles & a drink - for $5 for both of us. Tickets for the show were $20 per couple and included a CD (which we have not played) for the first 100 couples.
There were comfortable theater seats in the building, a rustic stage and a curtain made out of mismatched blankets. The show was very enjoyable. Apparently the “cast” was rehearsing and moves to Branson MO in April to start doing a show there. There were corny jokes, better jokes, skits, a comedian and many good singers. The drive was just over 40 miles each way but it was definitely worth it.
We stopped at a grocery store on the way home and by the time I put away groceries and meat, we had a late dinner.
Getting to places beside the freeway can be very frustrating. When you see a store and take the next exit, you are generally past the store and on a one-way frontage road which does not allow you to get back to the store. You have to go to the next exit, turn under the freeway, drive along the one-way frontage road on the other side until you are one exit past where you exited, turn under the freeway again and access the store from the frontage road. You basically have to know & take the exit before you see the store.

Mar 8th - Sun - San Benito
I looked after email and we chatted with our neighbors before leaving to check out a flea market. It was OK but smaller than we were used to in Ft Lauderdale & Naples. I wanted one food item so we tried without luck to find a smaller grocery store. Finally I said “forget it” and we came home for a late lunch.
We figured it was time to refill our buddy burners so I cut one of our large candles and started melting wax. Terry started to cut the remaining piece and I said “if you break my knife I’ll have to kill you and if you cut off a finger I’ll have to kill you”. The words were not all out of my mouth when the knife went right through the candle and, of course, he cut his finger. Actually, 2 fingers! One badly but didn’t require stitches. He kept pressure on until the bleeding finally stopped and a couple of tight bandaids fixed him up.
Glen & Bonnie came out so we had to tell them all about buddy burners - Bonnie figures she needs to make one. By the time we had all the burners filled, it was time to fix dinner and shut down for the evening.

Mar 9th - Mon - San Benito
Did some chores this morning and then joined Glen & Bonnie to go to Mexico. There are safety concerns in the border Mexican towns right now but Progreso is considered safe so that is where we went. There are lots of armed police right at the border crossing and in the streets.
We parked in a large lot and walked across. It costs 25 cents in a turnstile to get into Mexico and 30 cents to get out. We wandered along quite a long street of stores and sidewalk vendors, entering a few stores and heading for a restaurant & bar frequented by Glen’s cousin and her husband and friends who joined us. We enjoyed a few margaritas and snacks and then all headed back. Bought a few items on the way back so we didn’t have to carry them the whole time. There was a short line through customs, another line to pay duty on liquor and then we all stopped for an ice cream cone on the US side.
Still windy and hot so we watched TV and snoozed before making dinner. Glen & Bonnie came over and we had no problem visiting until 10. I have a hard time with the daylight savings time change and am not ready to sleep at night - will be happy when my body gets adjusted