PALOMAS, MEXICO

Wednesday, January 7 – On Tuesday, everything thawed out by early morning, and we were on our way to Puerto Palomas de Villa, Mexico also known simply as Palomas, is a small town of 4,688.

Palomas, Mexico, is a very small town three miles south of Columbus, NM. There isn't much of anything there. A couple pharmacies, several bars, and the famous Pink Store. We walked around town, which took all of about 15 minutes and then headed over to the Pink Store.

Mexico’s famous Pancho Villa.

The streets are nothing like Progresso, Mexico.

The Pink Store is a restaurant/bar/Mexican souvenir store. We walked around and looked at the items for sale and came to the conclusion most everything was over priced compared to Progresso, Mexico, across the border from Mission, TX.

Marsha thought the furnishing in the restaurant were so cute.

We heard the lunch menu was very good so decided to have dinner. It was OK but nothing to write home about. The only bargain in the place was the Margaritas. We each received a free one, compliments of the Pancho Villa Museum and decided on a second one to drink with our meal.

The Pink Store Plaza General Pershing and Pancho Villa Shaking Hands

We felt comfortable in Palomas…never felt threatened! The trip across the border was uneventful in both directions. The locals were friendly, and there was no customary sales people trying to sell us various trinkets.

All-in-all, the trip to Palomas was interesting but nothing we would consider a "must see." Come and enjoy the tranquility of Pancho Villa State Park and travel to Palomas as an interesting "side-trip."

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

PANCHO VILLA STATE PARK

Tuesday, January 6 - We had a little thawing out to do this morning. Got down to 21* over-night and our hose was a frozen popsicle. The camp host visited everyone today and told us to bring our hose in. It is getting below freezing again tonight. What is with this weather?

We visited the museum here at Pancho Villa State Park. We watched an excellent video narrated by people who actually lived through the raid.

Outside the museum is an armored vehicle used in the battle in 1916. Later they were renamed tanks.

 

In 1916, under the leadership of General Francisco Pancho Villa, a group of over 300 Mexican Revolutionaries raided the small border town of Columbus, NM.

Prior to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, Pancho Villa SP is on the site of the last attack by a foreign power against the continental United States.

Believe it or not, all the transportation vehicles in the next photo were used by the US to secure Columbus, NM.

Nothing signaled an army undergoing change more clearly than the sight of General Pershing riding across Mexico in the rear of a Dodge touring car. This Dodge carried him as far south as the advance camp at Namiquipa and helped him stay in contact with his far-ranging cavalry units.

The Museum contains extensive historical exhibits which depict this raid, the first armed invasion of the continental United States since the War of 1812, and also the last one. The Museum is a must see if you are visiting Deming or Columbus, NM.

The State Park is on the exact site where General Perishing and his men set up camp. There are several remaining buildings on the grounds.

 

This is the first grease rack installed to service the US Army automotive equipment engaged in field operations.

Headquarters building at Camp Furlong.

Cootes Hill is named after Captain Cootes of the 13th Cavalry. It was an important lookout for soldiers based at Camp Furlong. From this vantage point, Mexico can be seen a few miles to the south.

View from the top of the hill looking towards Mexico.

Columbus played an amazing the role of this tiny New Mexico town on American history.

We learned another very interesting fact about Columbus, NM. While Columbus is not in the mountains, it has ranges on all four sides. East and North are the Florida Mountain range; West and North is the Tres Hermanas Range; South is the Sierra de los Palomas.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

Destination…New Mexico

Monday, January 5 - The drive across Texas is always a "big one."

Houston traffic on Sunday morning at 7. Love it.

We had good intentions of stopping at Kerrville, TX, about 5.5 hours from Houston on Sunday morning….but when we arrived, it wasn't a little after noon. Well, if you know Paul, you realize he wasn't thrilled about calling it a day at that time. Heck, some people were just hitting the road at that hour. So we pushed on.

We knew there were several small towns along I-10 that we could stop at. What we didn't consider is the COLD weather we would experience overnight (down to about 20 degrees). That meant we needed electric hookups at least. Then there were the oil field workers that fill up the RV parks in Texas. No room at the inn or $40 for an overnight stop. Nope! Push on!

We eventually stopped in Fort Stockton, TX, at Comanche RV Park. Full hookups, 50 amp electric for $18/night. Beautiful parking lot style RV park on muddy caliche-style gravel. Messy! But we called it home for the night. Don’t stay here if you don’t have to.

Looking right

Looking left

With the big travel day on Sunday and predictions of snow in the mountains of NM, we did some "adjusting" to our plans and are heading to Columbus, NM, instead of Truth or Consequences, NM.

Snow here in Ft. Stockton

Then we hit fog on our drive to New Mexico.

We'll spend a few days relaxing at Pancho Villa State Park.

The campground is very nice. We are lucky to be one of only a couple dozen RV'ers here. The sites are scattered in a haphazard arrangement. Could be pretty confusing if the park were filled. The utilities (water and electric) are also scattered in crazy locations at the individual sites. The sites and streets are gravel with shelters at most sites. There is a dump station. There are plenty of cacti scattered about and many small trees.

Site 42…the sites are huge.

Looking right

Looking left

You pick your own site, put the fee ($14/night) in the envelope provided, and drop it in the mail slot by the entrance gate. We were happy to see a ranger driving around in the evening checking sites and the stickers proving everyone paid. The park is very quiet and peaceful. We think we're going to enjoy our stay here!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!