i travel from chapala to austin area 4 times per year. i am now crossing both ways at the roma texas,/miguel aleman border crossing, in the upper rio grande valley and i like it a lot better than laredo , colombia or piedras negras. as i go around monterrey on the periferico headed east i go past the exit for nuevo laredo, a few miles past that exit you come to a toll booth with a big sign says miguel aleman hwy 54. take that exit and go past the monterrey airport on 54 91 miles to cd. mier, there is a small bypass around the town then on to miguel aleman on hwy 2 about 6 miles. its a nice town, follow the signs to the bridge, very little traffic coming both ways. when you get to the US side, turn right on hwy 83 and go 5 miles to garceno then a left on tx 649 to the north, follow it to hwy 16, a right on 16 thru hebbronville and freer etc to san antonio. very little traffic except for right around the monterrey airport and its very busy but it moves along ok and you are soon past that, good road and plenty of gas available. i like staying at the fairfield inn by the airport 1 block off of 54, good prices, convenient and excellent early breakfast and there are several places to eat within 1 block . there is a lot less stress and truck traffic on this route than the others and i will continue to use it for the forseeable future. i also take hwy 54 thru aguascalientes and zacatecas and right thru the middle of saltillo and on toward monterrey.