Whilst at the Texas Star Party, one day our friend, Van, who lives only a few miles
away from the Prude Ranch, asked Andrew and I would we like to go
to Mexico the following day to have lunch.
It was an offer to good to refuse!
We drove down through Marfa, Texas, home of the not-so-mysterious
"Marfa Lights" and then onto Presidio, a border town on the Texan side
founded in 1683. The place still had a frontier look and feel and I doubt much
had changed there since 1683.
Van pointed out we could purchase duty free alcohol in Presidio if we liked.
We stopped at the duty free store and purchased a few bottles at bargain
prices. The border was probably only a few hundred yards away. We walked
out the front of the store and got into our vehicle. The duty free man
walked out the door at the same time and put our bottles into the back of his
little van. We then both drove to the border proper, where there is no
checkpoint on the south-bound US side. We stopped on the side of the road
and got out of our vehicles. The duty free man walked around to the back of
his van and handed us the bottles. Andrew and I smiled an incredulous
smile to each other. There was nobody to check our bottles, no check-point,
no officials, just an empty road. We could have just turned the car around
then and there. But, the duty free man was doing what he had to do by law.
Van had told us that Ojinaga was nicer than Juarez and he was right.
He explained that fewer people come there from the US side because it
was so far from any major US city. "Ojinaga is just like any town in the
Mexican interior", he explained. It certainly had a sleepy, siesta feel to it
as we wandered around the streets.
Portraits and postcards of Panco Villa were everywhere. He was still clearly
hugely admired and Ojinaga was the scene of a battle between he and
his rebel forces and the Mexican Federales. See
http://www.ojinaga.com/villa/
Van said he came to "OJ" for lunch quite often and Andrew and I tweaked
as to what a regular he was when we visited the bakery. A "buenos días"
to the girl on the counter and Van lead us out the back to the bakery proper
itself. We watched the bakers prepare their bread.
The photos below were taken on two day trips into Mexico. The first when
John and I visited Juarez and the second with Van and Andrew
when Van took us for a wonderful lunch in Ojinaga. Both memorable days.
When we crossed back into the US at Presidio, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection called Andrew and I inside for a chat.
After scrutinizing our passports, the officer asked, "What I don't understand
is why on Earth are you
here?", which really was a short way of saying,
"why on Earth would two Aussie tourists come to this God forsaken obscure
corner of the United States?".
We knew we were off the beaten track then.
We explained Fort Davis, Star Party, coming down to lunch and he was
happy. The McDonald Observatory is only a few short miles from the
Prude Ranch where the TSP is held and he figured we must be from there
and was satisfied. He smiled as he passed back our passports.
At one point during the drive back, I became conscious of a foul smell within
the vehicle that lasted for a few miles before disappating. I figured one of
my travelling companions was probably the culprit. We had just eaten Mexican
after all. After a few more miles, I noticed something black on the side of the road
and the same smell returned. "Skunk road kill", said Van, "You can smell them
for miles. You may have noticed we passed one earlier". Andrew and I laughed
as he had also been sitting there silently wondering who or what was to blame.
Best Regards
Gary Kopff
Mt. Kuring-Gai
I loved our little sojourns into Mexico
I never had this view.
Welcome to IceInSpace and greetings to you there in France.
