Boat tour on the Rio Grande

January 8, 2019

Today was our last day in Mission, Texas before heading north again.

 

We took a 1:00 boat tour on the Rio Grande. The river was only about 150-200 feet across. The tour guide told us that illegals try to come across every day. In fact, he said that 8 were detained this morning near where the boat tours begin.

Going downriver, the American side is a wildlife refuge.

 

 

We could see a portion of a border wall that has already been built.

 

The Mexican side has many recreational places along the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the upriver side, on the American shore, you could see lots of small vacation cabins.

 

 

 

There are sugar cane fields on the US side (probably a great place to hide in….we could see a border patrol truck hidden in the field).

 

Border patrol tower at the edge of a sugar cane field.

You can see the border patrol towers on the US side.

 

We also saw border patrol boats on the river.

 

The power lines go right across the river from the US to Mexico. Our tour guide told us that the US sells electricity to Mexico.

 

 

There is a dam that is used to control the height of the river. The middle post is the border line.

 

We could see a shack on the Mexican side with people in it. Our guide said they are lookouts, watching the border patrol, looking for opportunities to get across.

 

The American side has a levee. Border patrol truck on top.

 

After our boat tour, we went back to ready the RV for take off. Everyone pitches in and we can get ready to head out rather quickly.

We hit the road at 3pm and had a three hour ride to our next stop.

About 1.5 hours into the trip we had a border patrol stop. Kind of like a toll booth you have to drive up to. They asked how many people in the vehicle and then asked if we were all US citizens. Then they let us through.

We arrived at the state park after dark. Set up the motor home and made some supper.