Sunny sunny days

After recovering from the Double-IPA night in Bisbee we headed north toward the town of Portal. Laird and Shannon had told us about this great camping area in the Coronado Forest, and since it was cheap to free we decided to give it a look. What an incredible place it was.

There are a number of sites located in this National Forest area, and we initially planned to camp in the free area, but when we hit snow-covered roads we decided to stay a bit lower in altitude. Sunny Flat campground is located in a smallish valley and is surrounded by medium sized mountains all around. The mountain cliffs are incredibly beautiful, and the creek that runs through the campground made it an almost magical place. We had originally planned to stay only a couple of nights, but ended up being there for five.

The rock walls that encircle the canyon are also home to an amazing assortment of bird life — so much so that it is a known mecca for the strangest of all critters: the birder. Over our time there we saw dozens of these odd-ball creatures, scrambling around carrying their bazooka-like camera lenses. But it is also an area with a slightly nefarious history. Since we’re now quite close to the US/Mexican border we are seeing signs of immigration issues and the drug trade. Well, to be honest, the only signs are signs (and border patrol trucks).

Our time at Sunny Flat was one of the highlights (so far) of the journey. It’s beauty is hard to describe. But what was equally wonderful was all the great people we met. From the camp hosts with their dog and cat (both of whom were walked on leashes), to the great co-campers — it was very hard to leave.

Part of the joy of this area was the town of Portal. Well, “town” is too grandiose. It’s more like a tiny village, or hamlet even. But it is home to some amazingly interesting people. We ate lunch in the Portal Peak Cafe, which also doubles as a motel and the single place to buy basic groceries and booze. While there we struck up a conversation with a retired electrical/aeronautical engineer (or something like that) who had worked on Top Secret government projects, including laser cannons that could shoot down incoming missiles. He clearly wanted to talk about a lot of stuff, but said he couldn’t. He’d even been visited by trench-coated government agents a couple of years ago who had reminded him about his legal need to remain silent. I think he wasn’t joking.

Aside from having one of the highest concentrations of PhDs in the country (according to our camp hosts), Portal also has a great little library which we visited. Free wifi and a warm seat were welcome indeed.

One couple whom we connected with at Sunny Flat have turned into fast friends: Linda and Roger, and their cute dog Rascal. They are travelling a similar meandering and undefined path as ours, although doing it in the relative luxury of a camper van. We connected over good conversation and tea while at Sunny Flat, and then carried on our new found friendship at the next campsite in Columbus, New Mexico.

After a wonderful warm meal cooked by Linda — one that we ate inside their warm and toasty van — we agreed to venture across the border to Mexico. Columbus NM is right across the border from Puerto Palomas, Mexico. This is a touristy border town with no end of services and shops catering to people looking to save some bucks on dental work, eye glasses or Mexican goods. We were told to find The Pink Store, and that the first thing that would happen is that we’d be handed a free margarita. Sure, says I … but it was absolutely true!

The Pink Store is full of everything Mexican, from glassware and hand painted tiles to skeletal dolls and horny-decorated shot glasses (horny old men doing unspeakable things to the glasses). We had a wonderful lunch of authentic Mexican cuisine, which included more margaritas, then we stumbled our way out and headed back to the USA.

That night the temperatures dipped to their lowest we’ve seen so far; a brisk -5.1 ºC. We woke to frost on the tent and bikes, and frozen water outlets in the campsite. This temperature, while not unheard of, is very unusual down here. Luckily we stayed warm and cosy in our sleeping bags. But equally luckily, Linda and Roger invited us into their home/van for morning breakfast of eggs and bacon and cereal with real milk (Ann went gaga over this, of course). It sure makes you see the wisdom of a travel van, especially theirs which is so smartly decked out.

The campsite we’re in is the Pancho Villa State Park, which is named after the famed Mexican general who (apparently) led the last foreign incursion into the US in 1916. It resulted in a plenty of dead people (mostly Mexican raiders) and a six month retaliatory invasion by the US Army into Mexico to try and punish and capture Villa. They never did, and then many decades later they created this state park as an expression of peace.

The campground itself is a far cry from Sunny Flat, but like all things deserty, it has it’s own kind of beauty. Like most campsites, this one is almost exclusively geared to RVs, but we found a spot to pitch the tent. And the bonus is that we got water and electricity (to charge all our doo-dads) for $14/night. Pretty good deal.

Tomorrow (or perhaps the next day) we’re planning to head into Texas, aiming for the funky town of Marfa and then a park called Big Bend, both of which have come highly recommended. Marfa is reputed to be an interesting artsy town, and Big Bend sounds like another beautiful place to pitch our tent for a few days. So that’s the plans at this point. Who knows if they’ll pan out.