My next stop was a return to Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico. After a long day of driving, I decided to make it a shorter jaunt. Just a few hours down the road and I was there.
Now, normally, I prefer the interstates, but I-10 requires some serious hill-climbing and is actually longer than taking the back roads to this spot. I felt so clever finding a more level route.
I visited the state park last year and was quite impressed with the location and its historical significance. I also liked the campground, with its nice tables, shelters and walls as well as the bath houses.
There are all sorts of interesting plantings in the park, too.
I got Flo situated at the site and headed over to Mexico for lunch. It was time for a visit to The Pink Store in Paloma, Chihuahua. (Click on the link if you want to read the more extended post I wrote about my visit last year.)
I parked on the American side and headed for the port of entry. The border wall is reflected in a large puddle in front of it.
I got to the end of the road and then I walked across.
The Pink Store was my destination, and it was a short stroll from the border.
Any guesses as to why they named it The Pink Store?
I settled myself at a table and enjoyed the chips and salsa while I listened to the strolling mariachi groups.
There were two groups this time. One group was the standard group playing the Guadalajara music. They had the fancy suits and all the instruments. The other group was a more “country” group. They took turns playing and collecting tips. Luckily, there were people there who came to spend money. Me – I came for lunch.
Speaking of spending money, The Pink Store wants to make it easy to buy their merchandise. Do you see that stand by the table? The waiter brought it over and hung their bags on it.
After I finished lunch, I stopped in the restroom. Those are some decorative sinks! And, if you like them, they are for sale in the store.
After I got back through immigration, I stopped in at Family Dollar. I saw this car with this bumper stickers on it. They made me feel good, so I snapped a photo of them.
While I was in the store, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was buying things that turned out to be for a school garden in Paloma. She is volunteering there and told me about the students’ garden and the cooking she was doing with the produce We walked out together, and it turned out that this was her car.
I got a good night’s sleep and got ready to hit the road in the morning. The weather was much prettier!
Phoenix was calling my name and so I continued heading west. One more night and I would be there. I spent the night in the dry camping area of the Saguaro Co-op in Benson.
After I finished my laundry, I got to meet up with a friend from my stint 2013 at Amazon . Jan and her husband, Al, were also pulling out in the morning, so it was great that she took time out from their travel preparations to have a glass of wine. Poor Al just kept plugging away at getting ready to leave.
I was great to catch up. I got to bed at a decent hour and rose bright and early.
Now for the final push to Phoenix!