Last night we stayed at Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico and toured the visitor center that chronicles the raid on Camp Furlong (and the nearby town of Columbus) by Pancho's Villistas back in 1916. The Mexican force (of about 500) retreated after a few hours, but their raid precipitated a "punitive incursion" into Mexico by the US Army (led by General John J. Pershing) that lasted 11 months - as they hunted (but never found) Pancho Villa. Our incursion saw the first use by US Forces of the airplane for reconnaissance, and the first large scale use of vehicles for transportation in combat - although mules still had to carry the fuel for the trucks.
Back to Mexico:
So you thought we'd left Mexico - well, so did we. But the "Long Way" sometimes takes you to places you hadn't planned on.
The story: After getting our campsite in Pancho Villa State Park we decided to drive around the little town of Columbus, New Mexico and look for a place to have lunch. Alas, the selection was not impressive, so Don goes into the post office to inquire about restaurants. He comes back and says "four miles south in Palomas, Mexico, The Pink Store". Off we go, park on the US side, and walked across the border - no one checks anything. Had a great meal, did a little shopping, and walked back to the van - the US border guys asked what we bought (never looked at anything) and waved us through!
