Nuevo Progreso Trip

We square danced this morning at Darryl Lipscomb's concept dance. He uses some concepts borrowed from a level of dancing higher than the advertised level. This was the most challenging dance we've gone to since we arrived in the Rio Grande Valley. Forty-one couples were at the dance. Some of them have been coming to this dance for years. They tell us that during the winter, after all of the winter Texans have arrived in the valley; the attendance grows to over a hundred couples.

Among the square dancers we've met here are Hardy and Judy Pottinger. They live in the valley all year. We accepted their invitation to join them and a group of friends on their weekly trip into Mexico for drinks and lunch after the dance. We drove to the Rio Grande and then walked across a bridge into the town of Nuevo Progreso. It happened to be Hardy's birthday today, so the lunch turned into a birthday party. One of the guys brought a birthday cake, so we all had cake for dessert.


Lee sat next to Hardy and Judy at lunch.










Our friends told us about a shop near the restaurant that gives good haircuts. Lee decided to try it. She got a haircut that she likes a lot--and a neck and back massage--for five dollars.

On the way home we stopped at one of the local attractions, the La Lomita (Little Hill) Chapel. The chapel was first built in 1865 as an adobe overnight way station for padres who regularly traveled on horseback between nearby towns. The 12 by 25 foot structure was rebuilt of sandstone in 1889. It has original brick floors; rough, heavy-beamed ceilings shaped from native trees; an outdoor "beehive" oven; and the original water well. The chapel is in a park with picnic facilities and signs describing historical elements of the site.