Crossing the US-Mexican border at Mexicali (or is it Calexico?): A Road Trip Series (Part II)

Follow Chuck Bolotin, from Best Places in the World to Retire, as he, his wife, and two dogs drive through Mexico in a large, white van.  This is the second story.

Whoever chaired the city naming committee for the Calexico – Mexicali area was too clever by half.  Calexico (a mash-up of “California” and “Mexico”) is on the US side, while Mexicali (a reverse mash-up) is on the Mexican side.  Or is it the other way…

In any event, what strikes you as you travel through the general area is how much blending there is of the two cities.  We felt we needed one, final, all American act before crossing into Mexico, so we stopped at the Wal-Mart about a mile or so from the border on the US side.  In the parking lot, we passed perhaps two dozen people, all Hispanic, all of whom were speaking Spanish.  Once inside, I asked the cashier where they kept the caffeine gum.  She looked at me with a quizzical look, but didn’t speak. Not only didn’t she understand English, but I guess she found it odd that I did.

We had been told by the Mexican border official that…

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