The week has gone by quickly and with regret we’ll be seeing my father and step-mother leaving tomorrow morning. But, we’ve managed to stay busy and get a lot accomplished. We did make it out to Nuevo Progreso in Mexico on Tuesday. It was much as we remembered it, with a LOT of small vendor shops lining the street, as well as several larger marketplaces along both sides. We managed to get some shopping done and also enjoy the sights in the area. We were definitely aware of the Mexican military presence. As soon as we crossed the bridge into Mexico the Mexican army was there with fortified positions, heavily armed troops and mounted machine guns on armored vehicles. But, overall everything seemed peaceful and quiet. Wednesday my father and I (just by ourselves) checked the border crossings at Roma and Rio Grande City. I’ve driven by them a few times, but never had the opportunity to stop and cross. We did cross at Roma into Miguel Aleman. It’s an interesting little city, but nothing like Nuevo Progreso. It doesn’t have the streetside vendors or the hustle-and-bustle. Most of the businesses were restaurants, clothing shops and jewelers. It did have the same military presence, including a small Mexican Army encampment along the river. The interesting thing about their encampment is that they are using small pop-up tents that look like they came from Wal-Mart. At the Rio Grande City crossing the border agents suggested not crossing, since the city on the other side is over 2 miles away. We spoke with him for a while and he suggested that we keep to Nuevo Progreso and avoid Miquel Aleman. In fact, he strongly suggested not crossing at Miguel Aleman. He didn’t say why. Yesterday (Thursday) we continued work on the property. My dad took charge of the kids while I was at school, making sure they stayed busy with small jobs. They did get quite a bit accomplished. When I arrived home He and I tackled the first window on the garage. It’s in place and about 1/2 way mortared. It took 80# of mortar just to accomplish what we’ve done! He leaves this morning, but I think I can manage to finish the installation and am looking forward to having them in place. It definitely made a big difference!