On the road... to PIE!

In the morning I went to Frontier Restaurant for breakfast as recommended by Nick and Rachel and then hiked another trail in the Petroglyph National Monument site. This one was not as impressive as the first, but I needed to walk off some of that chile and egg breakfast burrito.

I got on the road and headed to PIETOWN, New Mexico. Yes, it is a place, but it is not near anything in particular. How far would you drive out of your way for pie? It was 160 miles roundtrip off 25, but hey that is probably less far than the Ben and Jerry's factory was from new Hampshire which everyone in my family thinks was totally worth it. I still think that and Pietown was worth it too.

So why the obsession with pie? I bought this book called American Pie about this lady who moves across the country and goes searching for homemade pie. It was interesting read with stories, recipes, and history. I mailed the book to a friend, but wrote down a few key places to stop along the way, and how could I miss Pietown? Originally I had wanted to go to Pietown while visiting with Shirley so Kelley could come too, but snow got in the way (and I think it is further from that direction). Anyway...

It was a sunny day and no one on the road, perfect for driving. Let's be clear. Pietown is approximately five buildings. And there is a yellow sign warning of you congestion - hilarious. Two of them are pie places - the Daily Pie Cafe (closed on Mondays... boooo) and the Pie-O-Neer Cafe, the one listed in my book. The Pie-O-Neer was actually busy when I sat at the counter and ordered a glass of milk and a piece of oatmeal-pecan pie. It was funny bc the board listed all these pies, but they didn't have any of them, but there were pies sitting on the table that weren't on the list. I got talked into a second piece of pie - a still warm coconut cream - and really did I need that much convincing? And that was my lunch - two peices of pie. Yum. I would have gotten pie at the other place too, but it was closed.

It wasn't really a waste of driving either. I also stopped at the VLA - Very Large Array of thirty-ish huge satellite dishes that are radio telescopes used to get clear pictures of objects in space. I don't completely understand how this works even after going on the tour, but the pictures are pretty and the dishes are HUGE. They don't look that big in the fields bc the field is enormous - but when you stand next to one, you definitely get an idea of scale. I think they are 25 feet across? I chatted with an English guy (he could have been my supersecret boyfriend) at the VLA bc we had both stopped at the observation point and I told him about the free museum, but alas he was traveling north and I south. I gave him some tips on what to see and said goodbye. And stupid me didn't even think about emails or phone numbers. Sigh.

My next stop was the Bosque (bos-kay) Del Apache Wildlife Refuge - a wetland on the Rio Grande that shelters thousands of waterfowl. I missed the sandhill cranes by a week, but i saw plenty of ducks that I have never seen before (like one that is all black with a white bill?). It was a pleasant drive with nice scenery.

I drove further south to Truth or Consequences (T or C) where my hostel was for the evening - at the hot springs. I made some dinner, soaked in the pool outside while watching the stars and then went to sleep in the women's dorm (slash trailer) that I had all to myself.

The next morning I got on the road to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument in Gila National Forest Wilderness - the very first government established wilderness. It took me forever to get there but that was mostly bc my top speed was 35 as I wound through the mountains and enjoyed trees that actually looked like trees and not bushes. These cliff dwellings look just like the pueblos I have been visiting, but they are built into a cliff and they really are impressive. There are seven caves in all and some of them are connected. Most of the dwellings were many storied and I got to climb into the caves and see the dwellings from the inside. I spent some time hiking with Roy who is pretzeling his way around the states. We compared notes and maps and made suggestions before heading separate ways.

The catwalk had been recommended to me so I drove to the other side of Gila National Forest to check it out. Where do you go to the bathroom on a road lined with grass that is flat? I toughed it out until there was a vista with an outhouse. Here in NM they have all these roadside stops with picnic tables and no bathrooms.

The Catwalk is a walk through a canyon alongside and on top off a stream. Some of it is metal platforms above the water that you can see through. It was what I expected, but not as high off the ground as I expected. Bc I was on the far side of the park it took forever to get home. I ate dinner, soaked in the tub, and talked to management to see what I had to do to check out. This place is really relaxed and no one had told me. The guy told me I couldn't leave without having a sunrise soak - and did he mention the free coffee?

So I did. I started the day before sunrise in 106 degree 'healing waters,' drinking coffee and waiting for the first rays. Then I got on the road (again).