January 27, 2007

January 27, 2007

Today we drove straight south towards the border with Mexico. In Nogales, AZ, we parked a block from the border and walked across to Nogales, Mexico to do some shopping. No immigration authorities were there to stop us, only a one-way revolving door. Once thru, uh-oh, we see a huge line for the return trip.

Nogales is in a very hilly area. Houses cover the hillside on the Mexican side. What looks like a border wall climbs up the hill along the edge of the houses. The US side is clear. A long line of mostly tourist shops runs the length of the valley. After an hour of browsing the stores, we head back for the crossing. We are not looking forward to standing in the return line. Fortunately it moves along and after only thirty minutes we show our passports. Most people just flash something that looks like a drivers license and are waved thru. This is totally different than flying back into the US where most people are studied and questioned. If I was an illegal immigrant, this is where I would cross. Once back in the US in Nogales, AZ we still feel like we are in Mexico.

Back in the car we head towards Tucson. Halfway along we stop and visit the Tumacacori National Historical Park. Tumacacori is the site of one of many missions that the Spanish built throughout New World to Christianize the local Indians. The church ruins and small museum are mostly uninteresting. The highlight for Aimee is the volunteer making tortillas by hand. We both enjoy tasting them as we missed lunch.