Jeffrey A. Gordon

Crossing the U.S. – Mexico border, Los Indios Free Trade Bridge

The picture above was taken when we were entering Mexico on Halloween morning, nearly two weeks ago. We returned to the U.S. on Election Day, in body, anyway. In the bureaucratic world, it turns out, we are still in Mexico. Or perhaps we are in some sense in two countries simultaneously, as we were officially granted entry into the U.S., too.

I like to think of myself as a fairly seasoned traveler, but that seasoning is no guarantee against bonehead mistakes. In our haste to return to Texas, Liz, Jim, & I completely forgot to stop and void out our vehicle pass and tourist cards before we left Mexico. In our own defense, this is surprisingly easy to do–much more so than it would be at an airport, where most countries won’t let you go anywhere without getting your tickets punched, passports stamped, and taxes paid. Still, it was a dumb, dumb oversight.

So it looks like a visit to a Mexican consulate may be in our immediate future. In the meantime, here are a couple of other shots from our Halloween Day:

 Guatemalan (=Forrer’s) Leafwing, Memphis forreri, NW of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Butterflies were the outstanding feature of this trip. We saw lots of great birds and other creatures, but the lepidopterans topped them all. 

Above, Liz–in her Halloween horns–and Marci scan a reservoir near the Hacienda Santa Engracia, where we spent the night. The Sierra Madre rise in the background. How much more popular would birding be if more of us dressed like this in the field, rather than in the dowdy duds so many of us seem to prefer?

I’ll let you know when and if the Mexican government decides to release us. In the meantime, life on the road continues to be good, though not without the occasional pothole.

Tags: butterflies, lizzie, marcifuller, mexico

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