Palomas, Mexico and Things

Of all the border towns I've been to I would have to say Palomas is hands down the favorite of mine. It is the first border town ever I set foot in. I didn't realize it at the time, but it is the cleanest, most normal of any of the border towns between here and California. If someone would ask me what the worst is that I've visited. I would have to say it is Nogales, the town south of Tucson.

Palomas has all the dental, optical and pharmaceutical opportunities offered at the busiest border towns. There just isn't much to worry about as far as being hustled. Maybe it is just outside of the busy season and things have calmed down. I don't know.

Cathy and I enjoyed being tourists here. We strolled down main street and browsed the street vendors. No hustles, no come-ons, nothing. It was great. The big store here is called "The Pink Store". This store seems to control their prices and maybe the town too. I noticed, for example, the stained glass windows for RV's are at the same price you can buy them on line for at $85.00. I bartered my price down to $47.00 at Algodonnes, near Yuma, last fall.

We had lunch at The Pink Store. We were serenaded by an authentic Mexican band. We saw many from our RV park having lunch too. Some were dancing and one of the ladies stood up with her walker and sang. She was a cute little lady. She got a great ovation when she finished.

I asked an elderly RV lady to take a pic of us with my camera. She concentrated, took a snap, and gave me a big grin with a thumbs up. This is how it came out!

I ended up buying a bottle of 100% agave Tequila for less than $13.00. Cathy has been boasting about her margaritas and I think I'll take her to task when the time is right. (But don't tell her!) She bought a length of a bright patterned tablecloth. Oh yeah, I bought a straw hat to shield the sun for $9.00. It was the most pleasant time I ever had in a Mexican border town.

Me at the park with my new straw hat.

We stopped at the Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico on our way back. Columbus is the village Pancho Villa raided during the Mexican Revolution. The museum in the park has a very interesting video about it all. It features interviews with people who were there at the time, telling it the way they remembered.


After the raid, the village became a large Army post: Camp Furlong. It was the base from which Gen. Pershing invaded Mexico with 10,000 men and never did catch Villa. There are still a few old adobe structures of the old fort remaining. The wooden buildings remaining were actually built much later than the raid era.

The park is next to the main road to Palomas. I'm sure people have driven by and never thought of stopping for a visit. It is a very well done park. The museum is perfect for about a 45 minute quality historical experience. Don't miss it if you come this way. You won't be disappointed.

A Spring Canyon View.

It is hard to believe our week in Deming is coming to an end. The last two days have been relatively slow. We visited the Museum in the old Armory in Deming yesterday. We took a small hike in Spring Canyon today. It was hot and a two mile hike in the canyon simply wore us out.

The Deming Museum has a large collection of Mimbres Indian pottery and artifacts.

We lazed about when we got back, did our laundry and had hot dogs on the grill.

Tomorrow is travel day. We don't have a specific spot picked out yet. The only thing we know right now is we will head north.