AZ-80 3150a

The next town southeast of Bisbee is Douglas, which is directly on the US/Mexico border. The town has a relatively busy commercial area that, like many border towns, seemed to primarily cater to cross-border shopping. There wasn't anything particularly unique about the shopping area, so no pictures.

The times I've been in Douglas I have been heading to New Mexico on AZ-80. The road is largely empty, except for frequently encountering very obnoxious Border Patrol agents.

Since Bisbee and Douglas are very close to the Mexico/U.S. border, I spent some time driving around and looking at what is happening with border security. I took no pictures of the tall fencing that is being built, the ominous watchtowers, or the very numerous border patrol vehicles and officers -- mainly because I felt threatened by our border forces. In three different instances, large SUV's with light bars on top came up very rapidly behind me and rode so close (about 2 car lengths or less behind) that I could not see any insignia on the vehicle. In all cases they rode very close for a mile to a couple of miles, not passing even though it was possible. In one instance I pulled over so they could pass, but the vehicle just pulled behind me and sat, then continuing to follow me when I restarted. In all three cases the vehicle eventually passed or turned in a different direction and I could tell that it was INS. I assume they thought I was near the border for illegal activity, but it would have felt much less 'police state' if they had simply stopped me and asked me, rather than harassed me. Interestingly, all of this only happened when I was near the border and alone in the car. When a friend and I were in the same car together, in similar situations, none of this happened. That difference could be just coincidence, or it could be related to the fairly common fact that men are treated with suspicion when by themselves.

The scenery along AZ-80, however, is spectacular and hopefully I've captured some of that in the adjacent pictures.

(best viewed as part of Arizona set)