You know you're in the Rio Grande Valley when....

you're driving into the remnants of Hurricane
Lorenzo, which made landfall in Tuxpan, 400
miles south in the state of Veracruz in Mexico.

You realize that "Alice is Buena Gente" welcoming visitors to Alice, Texas, the heart of the Brush Country, was 60 miles ago.



You start seeing palms on the highway

Instead of candy or cigarette lighters on sale at the counter of convenience stores, there are clear plastic cups with cut tropical fruit and a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce to flavor the fruit or plastic bracelets with images of the Virgen Mary.