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THE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE FOR THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY
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Where is the Rio Grande Valley?
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Will the Real Rio Grande Valley Please Stand Up?


Video by Sonyatex from You Tube

Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley (of Texas) we were little aware that there was to the north , way north , another area of the country that was also called the Rio Grande Valley. In those days there was no internet just local television and newspaper for local and national events.

Things that happened locally in the our Rio Grande Valley were not confused very much with anything that happened in that other Rio Grande Valley. Both places had small populations and were not very news worthy except on rare occassions.

Recently both Rio Grande Valleys were affected by Hurricane Dolly or perhaps more specifically our Rio Grande Valley was hit by Hurricane Dolly and the other Rio Grande Valley was hit by a tropical depression formerly called Dolly. Now offhand that would seem to be the best way to explain it right well not so fast.

You see our Rio Grande Valley has kind of become divided into two areas, a Lower Rio Grande Valley which includes the area from Harlingen to South Padre Island and an Upper Valley which includes Mcallen to Rio Grande City. There is some argument by some that maybe we should also include Laredo to the west since we share a Congressional district with them but this is another discussion for another day.

So if we say that the Lower Rio Grande Valley was hit by the Hurricane and the Upper Rio Grande Valley was hit by the tropical depression would that be right? Not exactly .
It could mean that Hurricane Dolly hit South Padre Island and by the time it got to Hidalgo County where McAllen is that it was degraded which is true or it could mean to describe what happened when the remnants of Hurricane Dolly went up the Rio Grande River to Colorado and New Mexico. Are you confused yet?



Our neighbors to the North have also divided their Rio Grande Valley into an Upper and Lower Valley as well. They call the Upper Rio Grande Valley the area near the source of the Rio Grande Valley in Colorado and the Lower Rio Grande Valley the region of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. Just so everyone is clear there are now not only two Rio Grande Valleys but also two Upper and two Lower Valleys all affected by the storm that was or is Dolly.

So in the modern era you would think that with the internet we would have all this straightened out right?
If you search "weather forecast for rio grande valley" you get answers from Alberque, New Mexico to Matamoros, Mexico and everywhere inbetween with lots of Upper Valley, Lower Valley, and also another term Mid-Valley being used for both regions referring to Dolly.

Then you read about going skiing in the Rio Grande Valley and for a moment those of us who grew up in the Texas Rio Grande Valley think someone has gone loco. I guess the same holds true when someone from the Rio Grande Valley in Colorado or New Mexico reads a surf forecast.

If you "surf" the internet which you can do in any of the Rio Grande Valleys you get entries from both areas so you have to be careful. For example, if you search "barbershop" you get mostly entries from "our" Rio Grande Valley but then the first "Yellow Pages" entry is from El Paso. (By the way Texas law dictates that hair salons that primarily cater to men be called barbershops even if they do hair styling) so Texas has a lot of barbershops while other places may have hair salons. So chances are that if it is a barbershop in Texas it may be a hair salon but you cant be sure it may be a traditional barbershop.

The bottom line is be careful checking the weather forecast for a day when you are looking for a hair stylist for men in the Rio Grande Valley. You may have to travel farther in weather you might not expect to get only a haircut if you use the internet to make a reservation.

 

by Tony Magaña P.S. If you can shed any light on this issue. Please send us an email at magazine@contempomag.com.
We will publish any good answers we get.


 
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