It was suggested that I post my questions in the Texas forum.......

I had an RV'ing friend that winters in Texas say that "you don't want to drink the water down there". They go down in the Brownsville area............they stay at Alamo Rose RV park. Any truth to this? We have a water softener, a filter, and we also use a Britta water pitcher.

Hopefully in another couple of years we can spend 3-4 months down in that area. If anyone can give some first-hand information about any RV parks down there we'd sure like some input. We have a large (44 foot) 5th wheel, so we can't just pull in anywhere. Your favorite place to stay and why. And maybe MORE important, places NOT to stay. I'm sure I'll have more questions and will post as I think of them.

Thanks.

I have traveled to The Valley many times for work, and while I do not have an RV, and can't say anything about specific parks, I can say that I have stayed in Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo multiple times each and I have had tap water, local ice, etc. in every location and have never had any issues. As mentioned above, I can't speak of any specific RV parks or their piping or anything.

Edited to add: I just searched and found an Alamo Rose outside of Pharr, TX which is outside of McAllen. Where that may not be exactly where you are going to stay, I wanted to add that McAllen is a good choice. It may not be close to the coast like Brownsville, but if I was going to live anywhere in The Valley, or stay extensively, I personally would choose McAllen.

The water problem was in Corpus Christi, not Brownsville. Some chemicals were leeched into the ground and water supply. It's all good now.

I agree with James that McAllen is a good place to be a "snowbird!" You can cross over to Progresso, Mexico if you wish. Park on US side and walk across. Lots of shops. Safe area for tourists. (At least it used to be).

I believe the Mexican city closest to McAllen is Reynosa. In Brownsville it is Matamoros. Unless there is another Progresso, the Progresso I know of is quite a swim across the Gulf.

Reynosa is directly across from McAllen. But yes, the Texas border town of Progreso is only about 18 miles say from the center of McAllen, and the Mexico city of Nuevo Progreso is about 22 miles (and across a border of course). Nuevo Progreso is a very tourist friendly place, and yes, as Sandi mentioned, it's good to walk across because the city has minimal parking due to locals and tourists. The driving bridge can get backed up as well. I think it was 2015 that Nuevo Progreso got rated as an A (highest score) in "high personal security". Av. Benito Juarez is the main street there and there is a shop for EVERYTHING.

I don't think I'd be comfortable crossing at Reynosa again. That's where I bought my fountain. We went over with a friend from McAllen who was a retired US Marshall. He had a bigger truck than we did.

I wouldn't/couldn't recommend Reynosa. Doesn't seem to be safe at this time. Same reason we don't go to Laredo or Matamoros anymore.

One thing I wanted to mention is that Anna was told about Brownsville water a long time before the odd incident in Corpus Christi. It's possible that just one old RV park might have fouled pipes.

No, I was told about the water 3 weeks ago when I spoke with the friend that goes down there every winter.

Good info about the other Progresso. We used to live in El Paso and were quite used to crossing the border for some good food, cheap pedi manis, and a good time. We even threw and office party down there. But I don't think Juarez is as safe any more. Sad. Glad to hear Progresso is attracting tourists.

Most towns down there would probably get their water from the Rio Grande River. If it was me, I'd drink bottled water...you never know what might be in that river water.

I still that that was before the water problem in Corpus. You posted about your friend telling you that on Dec 6th, and the Corpus banned water on the 14th of Dec and then lifted the ban on Dec 18th.

Since she didn't elaborate, I was thinking she meant ALL the time. I won't see her again till spring, but i will be sure and get some clarification on that. :>)

My guess is that she went to some really old RV park that had horrible rusty, yucky piping. It's surely not the norm in the Brownsville area. We are planning a visit there this next year. I hope some of the parks are good ones.

I think they go to Alamo Rose.

Ok, we know which one to avoid!

It sounds like a very nice place. I would like to go there. (And take my own water......LOL)

I just found this again!