Las Palomas, MX

Yesterday we ventured south stopping at Pancho Villa State Park at Columbus, NM. Nice park but it is in the middle of this small town which is not very inviting looking.

Columbus is three miles north of the border with Mexico. We were headed to Las Palomas. Neither the border crossing or the town offer anything appealing to the eye.

No one checks as you enter Mexico. However, we were immediately approached by street vendors. All were polite and left us alone when we said no thanks. Children approach with their hands out for money but again they backed off.

Stores begin as soon as you enter. As we had read the main businesses seem to be dental and optical care for American and Canadian tourists.

The Pink Store is about a block in and has an attached courtyard. It was this courtyard where we found our dentist and optical shop.

The courtyard is very pleasant and is the only area that looked inviting from what we saw. We toured the Pink Store which had lots of beautiful decorative pieces for the home. Luckily we have no room for that stuff. We had bean burritos for lunch, not bad but not great either.

At the optical shop I had hoped to get new lens for a pair of frames but I wanted AR coating which would require that they be sent to Phoenix and would take 2-3 weeks. I  did buy a pair of prescription sunglasses in a sport frame which were prepared in less than two hours.

We stopped at the Pharmacia and purchased a few medications. Amazing that you can get these over the counter and much cheaper than here.

Then off to the dentist for cleanings. This clinic is operated by a husband and wife team. The dentists do the cleanings themselves. We got that done for $60 for the two of us.

As we headed back to the border we were approached by a small boy and girl with their hands out. The girl turned away when we said no but the boy continued to walk with us for quite a bit next to me. He would bump my arm with his hand asking for money. I thought we might have to adopt him.

In the end we crossed back into the U.S. without incident.