Day 4, Mile 2,355

Here's my attempt to show you the lanscape of New Mexico from the road. It is far better in person.
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Today was as amazing a day as I could reasonably expect. What really puncuated it was the overwhelming beauty of the southwestern US landscape. Imagine driving through a series of impressionist paintings.  I mean, whatever you think New Mexico and Arizona look like, whatever pictures or paintings or verbal descriptions you have absorbed, no matter how beautiful you imagine it is ...it looks exactly like that.

What did Bugs Bunny say about making left turns at Albuquerque? Well, I say it was a great decision. From ABQ to Socorro, the road went slightly downhill toward some very impressive mountains. I have seen them before but never with so much snow on them. The Appalachians just do not compare. Socorro at first looked like a pathetic little town; later in the day I would learn that it is in fact an essential trade hub for all the smaller, more pathetic towns within 100 miles of it. From there, I took US 60 west: a two-lane, well paved, 65mph highway which is either very twisty or perfectly straight; coming over the top of a hill, I could easily see the road stretching 10 miles straight out in front of me. And most of it was without sight of any other drivers.

VLA is composed of 27 radio telescopes. Even if the astronomers can't see the origins of the universe from here, they can definitely see any TV channel they want!
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60 miles from Socorro, and going up the whole way (from 4700ft to 7,500ft) I found the home of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory/Very Large Array (VLA). You may recognize it from the movie Contact or, if you hated that movie like I did, you may prefer to remember the opening scene in 2010: The Year We Make Contact. So yes, I geeked out a bit looking at all the funky telescopes and the miles of railroad tracks that move them around. Sooner than I realized, it was noon and I was getting very hungry.

Geek.
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I started passing signs for a place called "Pie Town," which lies just beyond the Great Divide (elev. 7,796 ft where I crossed it). What a funny name for a town! I had to check it out...and it was there I met Kathy Knapp, chief pie-maker and historian at the Pie-o-neer Cafe. This tiny little nook in the middle of nowhere, with its wood stove and Native American blankets, has received very good reviews from the likes of Fodor's and The Food Network...and I will agree 100%. I had the best Texas chili of my life, both in and out of Texas. Furthermore, I got the whole history of the town’s name, a long discussion about where the Dust Bowl migrants ended up, and an exhortation to visit the Petrified Forest National Park which I had originally planned to skip.

This is the Pie-o-neer. It is off the beaten path, but I would make the trip again!
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Do not skip the Petrified Forest! I went through it fast (I only had about 75 minutes before it closed) but the scenery was breathtaking. The fossilized trees were OK, but the majority of the park is the "painted desert." The sandstone formations here come in various pastel shades arranged in strata, like those dyed-sand-filled bottles you find in souvenir shops except without the bottles. If I had been "teleported" into the middle of the park, and then someone told me I was on the surface of Mars, I would hardly be able to disagree. It is simultaneously mystical, strange and beautiful.

Pie-o-neer chief pie-maker and Pie-town historian, Kathy Knapp.
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Finally, I arrived at Winslow, AZ where I will spend the night.  I didn’t cover as many miles today, but it was the best day of the trip so far. I’m going to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.