We began the day with a little bit of pre-breakfast touring.
Colonia Dublan was founded in 1888 by Mormon polygamists looking for a place to practice their variety of marriage without government interference. Today it has been gobbled by the sprawl from Nueveo Casas Grandes and to the casual visitors appears rather seemlessly as a blend of various U.S. house styles from the late 19th century up to and including today’s McMansions.
We cruised around the neighborhood for a bit and then saw a blond woman in a silver Volkswagen dropping her blond child off at a Mormon school. We stopped and chatted with her. Mrs. Jones was very friendly and volunteered a mountain of information about Mormon colonias, places to visit (she recommended the Paquime packing house), border crossings, and how to avoid getting nailed for having an illegally imported car.
With respect to the latter, we learned that the customs checkpoint south of Janos demarks the line between interior Mexico and the frontier. Driving north from Nuevo Casas Grandes with our illegal car, once we pass Janos we will be safe from fines or confiscation, because one can freely drive within the border zone without posting a bond to guarantee return of the car to the United States. The challenge will be to drive around N. Casas Grandes, Casas Grandes, Colonia Juarez, etc., and then driving the 40 minutes north, past the checkpoint, without getting stopped by the police.
We also learned that the border crossing at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, is the preferred path for exiting the country. Approximately 50 km past the town of Janos (which produces a liquor called Sotol, which is distilled from the Desert Spoon plant, and which I now have in my possession) is a cutoff to a 7-mile dirt road that leads right to the border. Going that way would avoid the dangerous switchbacks, congestion, and military checkpoints heading west on Mexican Route 2. In its place apparently is a rather straight shot up to I-10. We will see.
Mrs. Jones told us that a freak snowstorm last week decimated the communities peach crop. I don’t recall if she said their apple crop was destroyed. The Mormon colonias in Chihuahua are know as the Washington State of Mexico for their fruit production.
She also provided directions to the boyhood home of former Michigan Governor (and presidential candidate) George Romney. It is now occupied by one of her relatives.
Boyhood home of George Romney, Colonia Dublan.
We headed back to the center of town and stopped at a prominent well-lit restaurant. Apparently, they’ve been in business for 58 years, with zero redecorating in the intervening period. There was an elderly fairs-skinned couple sitting adjacent to us. They obviously weren’t tourists and they were speaking German to each other. The man said hello as we entered the restaurant. As they left, he chatted with us about where we are from and joked about outsiders’ fear of violence. (At this early point, it was becoming abundantly clear that this place was no fear-plagued war zone. People appeared to be comfortable in the parks and public places, and there were no trucks laden with black-clad and masked military that I’ve seen in Michoacan.)