I decided to take the shortest route back along the toll road through Nogales for my return to the States.  I wanted to know what it would really be like at that border crossing, and I learned that I probably won’t go through there again.  Turns out they are training a lot of very young new recruits in their border patrol, and since I was chatting with their supervisor while they searched my motor home and my car, those guys had to be ultra-thorough. In the end they took one avocado and some frozen diced mango, and the canvas bag from Costco rice that I used for storing empty jars.  (They said it had been made in India, as if that’s not allowed!)  I drove about 20 miles further to spend the night at Patagonia Lake State Campground.  I have heard that the crossing at Lukeville south of the Organ Pipe National Monument is probably the best place to cross from Arizona, and I’ll probably go there next time.

I met Carol at Benson, and we spent a couple of days together.  It was nice to see her again and we did a few touristy things.

This rocky place was near the Amerind Museum which I enjoyed very much (American Indian = Amerind). The scenery here looked like it came straight from the old Western movies.

But that was just an introduction to the Western movie set that I visited near Benson!  Gammons Gulch is the personal passion of its owner Jay Gammons who spent forty years collecting the antiques and moving old buildings to create this traditional town.  It has been used as a Western set for several films, most recently The Gundown, and they built the saloon for that movie.  It is worth the trip, and touring the place just costs a donation.  The slideshow below gives you an idea of what it’s like.