Just a few Km south of the Museo del Mescal, as you cross the Río Purificación, a small town is situated on the banks of the river that advertises its name as Padilla, and the sign says that it's a historical site.  Well, that's fine with us, but the thing that most attracted our attention was the fact that the town is located near a beautiful river, and after spending a couple of hours at the Museo del Mescal, we were thirsty, and the small town of Padilla had many roadside vendor offering their attractive jugos de naranja, which in English, means something like an orange drink.  You can't pass up something like that if you're thirsty.

 

Left:  Rodolfo and Jerry check out the shy orange vendor's place of business.  Right:  Note the orange juice in jugs next to Jerry, and the sacks of oranges for sale.  But, where's the vendor?

Don't get me wrong, as I'm sure this small town is steeped in history, but nothing about the history was on display, as we couldn't even located a plaque.  Months later, after conducting an exhaustive search of the web, I couldn't locate any additional historical notes, so your author, and the reader, will just have to assume that this town is historical, but history aside, it doesn't lack in orange juice vendors, as there are several of them to choose from.

Padilla is located on the banks of the Río Purificación, along Federal Highway 101, about 40 km north of the capital of the state of Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria.  Its in a green, scenic valley, and as far as I could see, its main claim to fame is a secluded campground, located along the river.

 

Left:  The sign advertising the beautiful resort located along Río Purificación.  Right:  We think that Padilla is noted for orange vendors, as they are everywhere in the small town.

So we stopped at an orange juice vendor located on the south side of the bridge that carries Highway 101 over the Río Purificación.  The vendor what we stopped at worked out of a battered, blue pickup truck, and had a ice chest full of ice, several bags of oranges, and a table displaying bottled salsas.  His stand was located under some shady trees, and he had fixed a plastic tarp over his truck to afford additional shade.  The guy was very camera shy and would scurry like a crab behind something every time I'd get my camera out, but for a mere MEX $20.00 for a delicious orange drink, we couldn't resist patronizing him.

I hiked across the highway bridge and noticed a family playing in the river, and their car was parked next to the river, as there are roads that lead down to the river to afford access by vehicle.  I've rarely seen that in the U.S., and it's certainly a nice feature.

 

Left:  Looking upstream up the beautiful river, from the highway bridge.  Note how green everything is.  Right:  This family was able to drive their car to the edge of the water and take a refreshing dip in the cool water.

We never did find out what is so historical about the small village of Padilla, but it made a nice stop and a nice place to drink a great orange drink.

 

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