<– Day 11 – Saturday March 2016 FC Roundup Report | Beginning | Day 13 – Monday March 21st: Food Testers –>

You gotta have pie in Pietown, New Mexico!

Today we drove from Globe, Arizona, to Tularosa, w Mexico (see yesterday’s post here). We woke up early, aware we had a long drive ahead of us. We headed north out of Globe via Highway 60. We said goodbye to the Suhuaro and prickly pear cactus as we climbed rapidly into the mountains.

Our trip today took us from Globe, Arizona, to Tularosa, New Mexico.

After an hour or so we dropped into the beautiful Salt River Canyon along some twisty and windy roads. We soon stopped for some photos.

Ann at an overlook on the south side of the canyon.

A better view of the Salt River canyon.

Parked at an overlook on the north side of the canyon.

The rock wall on the opposite side of the road was pretty, too.

Us enjoying ourselves.

The area where we parked also had what appeared to be a neat guide to the surrounding rocks, but it had been vandalized to the point of uselessness. Too bad, because it was a neat idea.

Back on the highway, it wasn’t long before we climbed out of the canyon, drove through the town of Show Low, which sits at 7000ft. Passing through there, we soon found ourselves on the the high plains of northern eastern Arizona. It’s another place where speed limits are a rough guide. As we neared the border town of Eager, we passed by this unique car-part sculpture at the local museum.

The are of northeastern Arizona and Northwestern New Mexico has a unique feel. The high plains provide big sky views, with juniper and pinion trees scattered amongst grass underbrush. It looks like a great place to be a rancher.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at the tiny burg of Pietown. An oasis for desert hungry travelers, we’d heard the local pies were delicious. There were three different pie places to choose between; we decided to pull into The Pietown Cafe to test out their pies. Our blackberry and New Mexico apple pies did not disappoint! While Ann could only enjoy the innards of the New Mexico apple pie, which included a little green chile and pine nuts, I feasted on the crusts of both pies. I’m not normally a big pie eater, but both were delicous. Even better, the staff was friendly and informative.

Here’s a close up of the New Mexico Apple Pie, which included the New Mexico State symbol cut into its top.

On the east side of town was this small windmill museum, but it was closed.

Following Pietown, we had one more stop: the Very Large Arrays. They are a cluster of radio attenanes that work in unison to “see” deeply into space. Ann had always wanted to stop and check out the visitor’s center, so that’s what we did. The arrays can spin and twist to acomplish their assignments. They are also next to railroad tracks, which allows a special railroad cart to pick them up and transport them to the array-garage to maintain and repair them. There are exhibits inside the visitors’ center and outside. Pretty cool!

Sundial

Here is an explanation.

Me getting artsy at the sundial.

I guess that is artsy?

She was having a great time. Then, it got even better when it shifted. I don’t think she was that excited at our wedding!

Here’s a view with the others in the background. You might remember these from the movie Contact, which included scenes filmed here.

An explanation.

From the VLA, we drove another few hours until stopping at Ann’s aunt and uncle’s house in Tularosa for a couple nights. On Monday, we have a special dinner planned. Other than that, we hope to rest.

<– Day 11 – Saturday March 2016 FC Roundup Report | Beginning | Day 13 – Monday March 21st: Food Testers –>