Crossing the Border

We took a little trip "home" last weekend. This means we hopped in the car and drove across the border to Texas. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to attach the work home to the Lonestar State. At least not in my previous life.

We arrived Friday night, not via the quickest route perhaps. We were seriously hungry, and pulled in to a traditional drive-in restaurant called Stars. I think being able to order in English made the food taste twice as good. I was amazed, although not necessarily surprised, how everyone we encountered at the gas station, the drive in, the hotel, all effortlessly jumped between English and Spanish as they served their customers. Very cool, and very taken for granted.

The next day, we indulged all our latent consumer tendencies. Target came first--lovely, lovely Target, with all the necessities of life. We found a slew of DVDs, mostly TV shows we didn't catch when they were originally broadcast, such as Arrested Development, The Office, and Weeds. We also bought makeup, Legos, and Polly Pockets, all of which can be much more expensive in Mexico. Other stops that day were Barnes & Noble, GameStop, Hobby Lobby (similar to Michael's), Linens n' Things, and a mall where all but Claire got haircuts.

Dinner was at the Texas Roadhouse. Jason had been to one in Iowa, and recommended it. They had barrels of roasted peanuts, with a shells on the floor policy. We all had the most lovely steaks I've seen in months, and a couple of beers for those of a certain age. Delightful.

After breakfast on Sunday, and a stop at HEB for a few goodies we can't get in Mexico, we hit the road for the long ride home. We missed a sign for the toll road, and drove directly through Monterrey where we had a brief interaction with an officer of the law regarding the speed limit. Once that was taken care of, we were on our way. As we entered Saltillo, we had a real feeling of coming home, to the familiar and the safe. Our beds, our home, our city. Ahhhh.