Helen Porter Zoo and Nuevo Progresso, Mexico

Jere wants to go to a Brownsville Zoo that is supposed to be one of the nicest zoos in the nation. It has a nice gorilla area, but nothing much else is special about it. It was founded in the early 70s by a woman, Helen Porter, who wanted a zoo of endangered animals. Great concept, but I think the years have been unkind to it; probably running short of funding, so many exhibits are unoccupied/closed. However, it was interesting visiting a zoo where almost everyone else was speaking Spanish and even some of the signs are ONLY in Spanish. We spend about 2 hours there and then move on.

We've been advised to cross into Mexico at Progresso rather than Brownsville, so we drive to Progresso, park our car on the US side and walk over the Rio Grande to do a little shopping. Joe talks Jere into buying a hammock; Jere buys a cowboy hat and I buy a leather purse. Nothing special, but an interesting diversion for 2 hours. Many and maybe even most of the stores were selling either prescription drugs (over the counter, of course, no prescription needed) or dentist services. I never felt unsafe -- it was very crowded with US tourists.

We return to the senior citizen RV park for dinner and relaxing.

We see the end of the lunar eclipse before retiring for the evening. (It was too light here to see the beginning or total eclipse portion).