A dip across the border

[aadler]

One of the things I never got around to posting about (and I don’t remember why, probably just had other things going on) was a brief trip Susan and I took into Mexico.

One step over the line.

Deming, NM — where we stayed for some time before venturing westward to Las Vegas, and again on our way back to our ‘home base’ — is 33 miles from the Mexican border, and we’d been advised by the people at our RV park that the Mexican town directly over that border was a friendly place. Technically it’s Puerto Palomas de Villa (state of Chihuahua), but everyone just called it Palomas. On February 17th, we decided the weather had warmed enough for us to make the visit.

Columbus, NM sits directly on the border, and from there it was easy to park ($5 for the day in a parking lot) and push Susan in a wheelchair through customs. We’d been told that there wasn’t much formality on the way in, which was how it went, though we did send our belongings — Susan’s purse, my vest — through the kind of search X-ray used in airports. From there, directly to the Pink Store. We had a nice meal in the restaurant there (I tasted mole sauce for the first time; not bad, but it would take some getting used to), tipped a mariachi trio who serenaded us, and then did a bit of shopping in the gift shop section, mostly purchases Susan made for our Chinese granddaughter and daughter-in-law.

I would have wanted to look around some more, at least to visit the Catholic church there, but the sidewalks were a bit rough and Susan was tired and didn’t want me to be pushing her around everywhere, so we made our way back. Again as warned, the entry back into the U.S. was more exacting, but we had our passports with us and our transit was uneventful (though the border guard was curious — personal curiosity, not professional suspicion — about the Chinese stamps).

All in all, the so-brief foray was pleasant, entertaining, and well worth our while. I only have two regrets: I wasn’t able to explore further, and I didn’t have one of the margaritas my wife insisted were really good.

Yeah, it’s the missed opportunities that haunt you.