Oh sure, now it turns spring!

    The winds died down in the night and the temp never dipped below 39 degrees..(should we be HAPPY about that?…yes, we should).

Before I get into our trip to Mexico, I need to give you a link. Some of you who are blindly following our trip,(and we thank you for that), may remember that just before we left Hickiwan Trails RV Park, I purchased a turquoise and onyx necklace. It was bought from two Native American brothers who set up their wares at the park made them available for us to buy. You can see a picture of the necklace on our blog Change of scenery and neighborhood When I bought my necklace, Chris John, who made it, told me it was Sleeping Beauty turquoise. I had no idea there were different types, so I looked it up online and found that this type of turquoise is mined in Globe Arizona .Click on this link, Sleeping Beauty Turquoise to see how and where it is mined.

   Before we went across the border to Palomas, we visited the Valley Heights Cemetery, where the only woman killed in the raid by Pancho Villa is buried.  After driving around we finally found it..Her name was Bessie James, and she was with child when she was killed.

Here is her grave.  I have to interject here that I was raised from age 12 years old in a cemetery.  My father, having lost his current job, was offered the job as sexton of the local cemetery in Sandwich, IL. We moved to the house when I was 12. I have to tell you, that was quite a shock for a 12 year old, but I soon adjusted. I had a room with a balcony, overlooking the whole place ,and I soon found myself feeling very serene and comfortable with the occasional funerals and feeling a reverence for the dead.( Just a little background on my weird upbringing.)  I did notice that here, in the Southwest, they lay stones around and on top of their graves…

My sister, Darlene and brother, Michael, will understand my interest in cemeteries in different areas of the country…

  About 11AM, we parked our truck on this side of the border and walked across to Palomas, Mexico..I gave Den my passport ..I didn’t trust myself with my own, and we easily crossed…no problem and no customs. We immediately found The Pink Store..how could you miss it???

 

The first thing I noticed was how clean it was on this side..We have crossed at Nogales, and also at Progresso, and this was, by far, the cleanest and safest feeling place we have ever crossed…

There was a great statue of Pancho Villa, who is the big hero here in Mexico..loved it!! We walked around behind The Pink Store and found it to be quite interesting…

They had a bunch of beautiful clay fountains to buy…and they even showed you how they could be taken apart for travel…attracting the tourists…There was another great statue out there…General “Black Jack” Pershing and Pancho Villa shaking hands….

They were pretty good friends before the invasion of Columbus…  I am probably old enough to have known them…just kidding…

We finally walked into The Pink Store…What a great place!!!

 

Notice the seats in the restaurant…the backs were shaped like a cactus….

 

 

We had a coupon from the state park for a free Marguerita for each of us, and we used it immediately…(the first time I have ever seen Den drink an entire Marguerita!!).. We ordered the Mexican Nachos to split…and they were wonderful.  One ingredient that I thought was onions until I tasted it…was potatoes!!

Notice that we had already made a dent in the food!  Before long, we had “strolling Mariachis” asking if we wanted a song…OF COURSE!!!  So we were serenaded while we ate and drank…( tip them, Den)…

The song they sang was familiar to us…”ahhhh, yah yah yah,”..blah, blah blah notchees”…OK, but the song was a very well known song…we just didn’t know the name…I was singing along by now…(2 Margueritas down.)  Den is not a mixed drink fan, so he ordered a Corona….and I had yet UNO MAS Margueritas!!! Our waiter’s name was Jorge…(George)…and I was now bold enough to ask him to take our picture…He was gracious enough to oblige…

…Boy are we having a great time in Mexico!!

I felt the need to wander once more through the store…We found a bunch of scary looking skeleton looking characters..I thought to myself, why would anyone buy one of these?? Then we ran into a couple of people who were agonizing over which one to get…They patiently explained to us about the Day of the Dead ,and that these were in honor of those of their family who have passed on…In  past days, they used to bury their family close to , or under their homes, to make it easier for the family member who has passed to visit the living family…They celebrate this day Oct. 313st,(our Halloween), and November 1st..I really find this very interesting. In fact, I would have purchased one, except for the  fact that my children would have me committed when I brought it in our house.

So now it was time to cross the border back to the good ‘ol USA, and I have to say, this is one of the safest, cleanest and most pleasant places to cross  the border that we have ever been in…This guy (below/left )should be double checked!

  The ever vigilant Border Patrol had a car pulled over and were checking inside the trunk…

…all Border Patrol are underpaid as far as I’m concerned!!!  We headed back to our camper…but not before picking up a cardboard DiGiorno frozen pizza to cook for dinner…Tomorrow is moving day…and we will be “offline” until Sunday evening…We have had an interesting, if not chilly, time here in Southern New Mexico…but….my feeling is…if you want to cross the border without stress, crowds or filth…cross at Columbus into Palomas…and definitely go to The Pink Store!!!! We will talk more Sunday afternoon..late…..