PIMA FAIRGROUNDS…TUCSON, ARIZONA

Thursday, January 8 - With freezing rain predicted over night and early Wednesday in Columbus, NM, we decided we had enough and threw-in the towel. Too much like winter! After checking the weather reports for Tucson, AZ, we decided to move up travel plans by a day and head to Arizona.

We had plans to stay at Justin's Diamond J RV Park but decided on the more economical (read as cheap) Pima County Fairgrounds. What a wonderful surprise! We have a beautiful semi-private site overlooking the green park. What an interesting area for Bella to explore and for us to enjoy sitting out in our chairs. The hookups were a little weird, forcing us to fish our electrical and sewer lines under the RV, but what the heck. This is a great site and the temperatures are in the 70's!!!!

Looking right.

Looking left.

Our backyard and Bella’s little bit of heaven.

The people working in the RV office are very friendly and helpful. There are several different RV parking sites on the fairgrounds. We took a walk around some of the grounds. There are many buildings, patios and barns. This place is huge.  For fellow Escapee readers, this is the site for the Escapade coming up in March.

An update for the Blogger Fest

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

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!