We started our trip in Guadalajara where President Obama met with the leaders of Mexico and Canada. There were some pressing issues to discuss at this year's North American Leaders Summit: combining forces to prepare for H1N1 this flu season, combating powerful drug cartels, and a regional plan to cope with the recession.

On Thursday I talked with Silvio Canto Jr., host of Citizen Broadcasting Blog Talk radio in Dallas about the summit results.

These gatherings rarely lead to any real breakthroughs or major new agreements but personally I think the face to face meetings to examine regional needs serve a purpose. We get to see the priorities laid out by the leaders as well as the lingering problems.

And there are some tough issues facing these neighboring nations. To get a view beyond the border we traveled to central Mexico to see the impact of the recession on immigration, examine new security concerns in a part of the country considered safe, and look at H1N1 preps. nationwide in Mexico.

We also returned to Mexico City to see how the capital is recovering from the economic blow from the H1N1 outbreak this spring. There are some innovative enticements designed to lure travelers back and encourage new visitors from the U.S. to come to one of the world's most fascinating cities and a personal favorite.
Our road trip took us through Jalisco, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato and Mexico City our final stop. Along the way we've heard about the concerns of both Mexicans and Americans living here.

If you've visited Mexico this summer or live there year round, I'd like to hear from you too as we wrap up our reporting. It's been a great if exhausting week. It's good to be back in the heart of Mexico.