So off we went, heading for highway 60 which actually is the highway that goes right by our place. In New Mexico, it is a two lane road that runs mostly though farming areas. But along the way, just before we hit Pie Town we stopped to visit something called Very Large Array.
First of all, this is where Jodi Foster filmed part of the film Contact back in the 90's. Secondly what they really do here is listen to the skies, hoping to hear from someone or something who is trying to contact us.The array is a 22 mile wide telescope made up of 27 dish antennas and each antenna is 81 feet across. With the help of a special super computer, they observe the Universe together as one giant telescope.
It can see deep into the stormy center of the Galaxy, discover the birthplace of countless baby stars, and hunt for new worlds.
We left the Array and hurriedly headed 30 miles down the road to Pie Town. The town gets its name from an early bakery that made dried-apple pies and was established by Clyde Norman in the early 1920's.We got to the Pie Town Cafe before it closed at 3pm, and after we shared a green chili burger, we had a piece of 3 Berry and Pecan Pies. But before we left we ordered a piece of their specialty ...New Mexico Apple Pie, Apples, green chilies and Pinion nuts. We had it later that night when we stopped in Eager Arizona.
At this point we are still about 7000 feet above sea level. Since Utah, we have continued to climb to higher elevations and at times found ourselves short of breath with little exertion. We are so looking forward to getting back to Mesa where the oxygen is plentiful.
Tuesday we left Eager and continued our drive west. Highway 60 up to this point is pretty straight and uneventful. Once you hit Show Low Arizona, the dynamics of the highway change. It becomes a switchback road traversing the canyons as you travel downward in elevation. The views are gorgeous, but with so many 6 and 7% downgrades, the brakes on our RV were getting quite hot even though at times we were geared down to 2nd. A great road to take and see the scenes in a car but do not recommend it in an RV or towing any trailer.
We finally arrived home, and it has taken us 2 full days to get everything unpacked from the RV and into the house. Did not know it was possible, but it seems we actually have more storage space in the RV than we do in the house.
We did managed to find a spot for everything and we have once again downsized, getting rid of things we really do not use or need. The community is having a big garage sale this month, so think we will be participating. One mans garbage is another's treasure!
We are home, taking deep breaths of good 'ole oxygen. There won't be as many posts to the blog as we have done recently, but we will stay in touch and let you know how and what we are doing for the next 6 months......
The plan is to head back to the NW next April.