Rio Bravo del Norte

In Mexico it is the Rio Bravo del Norte and in the USA it is the Rio Grande. No matter what you call it, a short section of this river between El Paso (Juarez) and the Gulf of Mexico sets the line separating the United Mexican States and the United States of America. No, those of you north of the border, you are not the only “United States”!

In the years prior to the Civil War, the Rio Bravo was used as an escape point for fleeing slaves as slavery was abolished in Mexico in 1828. It is now being used as a crossing point for Mexican workers trying to find work in the USA.

The river flows right beside our RV park and the boat ramp here is used by the Border Patrol for launching their rubber boats which patrol the river. Sitting at the pool the other day a long time resident of the park told us one day shooting was heard from up the river and the Border patrol came to the pool and ordered everyone out of the pool and clubhouse and to the other side of a berm on the property. Another time she said a Suburban Van backed down the boat ramp in the middle of the night and began loading bales of marijuana that were floating down the river until they were interrupted by the Border Patrol. Many bales of the drug sank in the river and she says divers were collecting it for several days after. Humm, maybe they missed one..

Never a dull moment! Yes, that is Mexico on the other side.