Saturday, October 19, 2019

Day trip to Columbus NM and Pancho Villa state park

Sunset from our site

Today we took a trip further south to have a look at the town of Columbus, and the Pancho Villa state park there. It gets really close to the Mexican border, and several people have recommended we park on the U.S. side and walk over, mostly to tour the Pink Store. We decided against doing that, but enjoyed the tour on the US side.

The first thing that surprised us was seeing fields of cotton. Live and learn, we thought it would be too dry in this area:



We also saw fields of red peppers growing, not such a surprise. We also saw truckloads of the peppers coming across from Mexico. It's pepper harvest time:



The Pancho Villa park was nice, but we like the views where we're camped now. The stonework in the picnic tables at PV was pretty special:


 

Along the highway we noticed  an odd stretched-out building. It looks like "cottages" associated with a small airport. I guess owners can fly in and stay for a while. Very private place:


Some of the cottages. Villas? Interconnected with covered walkways.

At the top of the arch is a stylized airplane

Except for the odd storm moving through, the days here are lovely. Low 20's C during the day (about 70F), down to about 10C / 48F at night. 

Later in the afternoon we took a hike around the edge of the campground:

On the path

Looking over part of the campground

A number of residences in the next valley over

 

Back at the campsite, we noticed a visitor passing through. Apparently these tarantulas are quite timid and can be trained. Not by us!:

Glowing in the late afternoon sun

Looks quite different in the shade


 
Today's map:


Pancho Villa State Park is at the bottom of the map, but I couldn't make Google Maps show the name to stay.


8 comments:

  1. Do you need any special paperwork to go in to Mexico or is it just a matter of walking across the border? You photos and write ups are fabulous, really enjoying this blog.

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    1. You need passports these days for sure. With all the border hassles now we just decided to stay north.

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  2. Oh, my,, that spider!
    Yikes,,, I would be very scared!
    Lovely views,,, such a great ble sky!
    Enjiy ur travels,,,,

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    1. Spiders aren't our favorite either. They haven't been common or an issue though.

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  3. What an interesting area... though I must say that spider gives me the creeps. The shelters that seem to be at so many of the campsites are a really nice feature. Do they put those in because it gets so hot there in the summer and the terrain doesn't lend itself to big shade trees?

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    1. Yes, not much natural shade. More natural shade means more places for critters to lurk too. Again we're really happy to be up off the ground and not in a tent.

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  4. We like the views and trails where you are as well. On one of our tours I had to stop and wait for and bunch of Long Hirns blocking the road there.
    Something also that is well worth the visit is the Museum in Deming, it is so amazing and I do believe it was free. We spent a couple of hours there and we are not museum people. Keep enjoy your time there.

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  5. Envious of Gord in his shorts - but not of the spider being close. Peppers and cotton fields make neat pictures and a really different looking campground compared to ours -seems like you get loads of space.

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