My First-time to Mexico

My First-time to Mexico

My first time driving into Mexico was and became a frightening experience for me and my family. Frightening because we didn’t know where we were going and someplace where we had never been before.The first thing we did was stop to get car insurance before we headed down the road because of the clause that prevents coverage by your own insurance company while in Mexico. The insurance was cheap and the card had to be shown to cops if asked for.

The country is so big and undeveloped it was a challenge finding my way around. This was before visas and passports were required to check in the borderlands and more like the era around mid-1980. The political situation was unlike it was today. There was less of a drug trade or war awareness and the mood was pro-American at that time so you were greeted by friendly people rather than antagonistic individuals. 

Leaving the United States at the border check point in Juarez we headed down a two lane highway identified as highway 45. This highway started off as being paved blacktop but quickly turned into a soft sanded unpaved sandy path traveled by cars and busses but also large commercial trucks exceeding the posted speed limit by at least twice in my estimation.

It was a long and winding road crossing many mountain peaks and beautiful pristine scenery for anyone who had never traveled that way before. The mountains were filled with oak and pine trees similar to the mountains of Southern Arizona. The road took us between low desert areas to the high plains up to the mountains back down to the desert floor. The landscape changed from mountainous to desert several times and kept us interested in the views along the way.

The trip took over 6 hours and the ride was dusty and hot. We stopped for refreshments once on a roadside fruit stand and kept going to beat the daylight. Traveling this road at dark would be difficult and we had no plans to travel at night. 

Headed for this very small town somewhere in the Chihuahua province we took our truck to pick up some hand-made bedroom furniture we were told about from my daughter in law who lived in a sleepy hollow called Namiquipa. To the best of our knowledge there were less than 1000 people living in this town and many of them were hard working village people who depended on their own efforts to make a living.  It appeared to be a town of peasantry and hard workers. Historically, these people were very familiar with land grabs, political conflicts and war as the town was situated in the midst of all these events.

A very old Franciscan monk town established in the latter years of the 18^th Century the people there were quite friendly and helpful. The little village was built on an elevation of over 6,000 feet above sea level and the climate was pleasantly warm in the summer time and frigidly cold in the winter. 

We didn’t know the history of this little town but soon found out it had been nicknamed “the cradle of the revolution” as it was a place where several revolutions were born in Mexican politics. We were even told that General Pershing had fought Pancho Villa nearby and that the historical value of this town was immensely important to Mexico’s revolutionary war stories.

We came in from highway 15 a rural road poorly maintained. We passed several police vehicles but we were never stopped or questioned about our business in this part of the country. It was safe to say we didn’t fit the profile for drug runners and the language was never a barrier as my daughter in law was native and knew many of the folks we met along the way. 

No traffic lights but plenty of “Alto” signs but traffic was so light at times, I wondered why there were any stop signs posted at all except to trap you for not stopping. The town had a dirt road main street with a town square in the middle with a traditional half circle concrete gazebo right in the middle of the park with concrete pillars. 

The downtown area were made of a few merchant stores and that was where the furniture store was located. Most were made of adobe clay but we did see a few that were framed and modernized for the current styles in the USA. We saw more restaurants in this historical town than any other vendor and it even had a movie theater. 

We had planned to eat at several for dinner, breakfast and maybe lunch the next day. There were antique statues on different areas of the grassy park.It has a religious feeling and you could tell the faith had deep impact on its residence. Walking down the main street were greeted by musicians asking for donations. Not really a tourist type of town they seemed to have the capabilities to throw a good feast here and I was told they do have fiestas plenty for those that live here.

 The town itself seemed to be lost between the past and the present as the lifestyle was very relaxed and the town didn’t seem to have any sense of urgency when doing business. Attitudes were friendly and food was plentiful. 

Here within the immediate proximity, there appeared to be a feeling of contentment and the fact many owned their own land made living here more comfortable than many in the cities. There were no large land owners running the place or pace. Just pleasantly nice people who tipped their hats when you passed or waved at you for a friendly greeting