July 4.
The day's agenda started with a 45-minute drive to Brownsville to check out the city's Independence Day parade.
By the time I parked and walked four blocks into the historic downtown district, the parade was somewhere in the back half.
As I stood at the corner and took in my surroundings, I realized we three gringos from Tulsa were the only non-Hispanics within view.
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It turns out you shouldn't always rely on Google Maps.
Tuesday morning we went on a hunt for the river. The Rio Grande serves as a natural boundary between Texas and Mexico. It's an area where there is no wall for many miles in either direction.
I drove down a dirt path that Google stated is a public road. It was extremely narrow. No room for two cars. There were times when I had to slowly, and barely, dodge major ruts. The Stooges' "No Fun" played on the stereo as I half-joked we were going to drive up on a bad situation or encounter Border Patrol.
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