Didn’t do the early to bed,
early to rise thing but I did get up early and felt well rested. We were ready to roll by 8:30 but getting
fuel was first priority since our route (60 West) looked to be very
unpopulated. The map showed 5 or 6
little burgs between Socorro and Springerville and considering one of those was
Pie Town with a population in the 150 range we weren’t counting on a gas
station to be available. Fueling up in
Socorro took more time than it should have due to downed computer systems, small
stations and diesel being on the wrong side of the pump...we don’t do tight
turns.
--------------------
The sun was out today but we
were in the mountains where the elevation did a number on the
temperature...most of the day it was 32o
with a low of 27o by the Continental Divide sign...elevation 7796
feet. Factor in the ever present, strong
wind and it’s fair to say that being out in the open today was a very chilling
experience. However, it was fun watching the tumbleweeds in
action...as long as I was inside the truck. 😎
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Our route cut through cow
country. Seems like ranches would have
to have a large hay supply because the pastures were a bit scrubby. And the cows were a lot leaner than their
feed lot cousins over in Texas. The
landscape is mountainous whereas Kansas is flat but both places showed little
evidence of homes/ranches. However, I
did see mailboxes at the end of the driveways.😏Nearby towns didn’t seem to have post offices, though, so mail delivery is
still a mystery.
--------------------
Yesterday I saw a billboard for something called the National Radio
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Very Large Array (VLA); the Very Large
Array was also included on a hotel painting that featured local points of
interests. So I researched it as we
cruised the town looking for easily accessible fuel. As we headed out in search of Pie Town, we
talked about it and then I looked for it on the map. Aha! Imagine my delight when I saw that it
was on our route today! We both thought it would be interesting to see and of
course it was a given that I would want to click a picture or two of it. Kim obliged me by stopping along the highway
twice; I propped myself against the open door frame to steady myself in the
wind so I could get a clear picture. Now imagine our collective delight when we
saw the sign indicating that there was a visitor’s center. Can we
stop? Huh? huh? Can we? Well, yes, we can.
Inside the visitor’s center I
watched the film, I read the displays, I read the free pamphlets and I still
can’t wrap my head around it all. I can
spit out the specifics of what the VLA is but am mystified by the minds that
came up with the idea that there may be something out there emitting light we
can’t see and then figure out how to actually see it. I feel that those minds are much larger than
mine. I’m not calling myself dumb; it’s just that my creative juices don’t
allow me to see or think that far afield.
Kim uses optical telescopes and I
have a hard enough time understanding the science behind those. Radio telescopes collecting unseen radio
waves is a totally new form of mystery to me.
Here’s my understanding of
what I saw and learned today:
Radio telescopes see radio
waves that are invisible to optical telescopes.
Each radio antenna in the VLA collects radio wave signals that are
processed and sent to a centralized supercomputer where all signals from all
the antennas are combined. The data is
then complied into a digital image which is as clear as if it were taken by one
antenna as large as the area covered
by the entire array. (Mind blowing!)
The VLA is simply the
collection site of the data; the actual processing of the images is done in
Socorro where all the data is transferred.
It’s also worth noting that
all technology must be turned off and that means all of it, even the items in
your vehicle. And phones, computers,
tablets, fitbits, etc., can’t just be put in sleep mode...they must be powered
down with phones put in airplane mode before
being shut down. This includes anything that has wi-fi or blue-tooth
capability...like my new camera. I
disabled those functions on my camera then went out to the truck to power off
my Kindle. The reason for this is that the radio waves created, transmitted,
whatever by these various forms of technology are much stronger than the radio
waves collected from space....in a nutshell, they can create interference in
the data which has to then be filtered out when processing.
Trivia guaranteed to impress or make people laugh at you: The centralized super computer that processes the
data is so tricked out that it’s capable of transmitting 450 copies of the
novel War and Peace in about 1/10th of a second. Truth!!
-------------------
Finding Pie Town was next on the docket. Easy Peasy, couldn’t miss it...about a mile
beyond the Continental Divide sign was Pie Town, NM, with flags a flappin’ in the
breeze. I was hoping that something
would be open as I had passed on breakfast figuring I’d be doing some pie
eating on down the road. Two of the
three pie places in town were closed. I
wasn’t able to determine if the Pie Town Café only had weekend hours this time
of year or if it’s totally closed down for business and the Pie-O-Neer will not
open until March 14 which is known worldwide as Pi day (3.14)...I thought
picking that as opening day was fairly clever. But
it didn’t matter about the other two because The Gathering Place was
open and servin' up some pie.
--------------------
The Gathering Place is a small space with dining room out front, kitchen in back and bakery off to the side, all visible through doorways and a window. Not only do they sell pies but they also serve food and some good
smells were coming from the kitchen, that’s for sure. To make the most of a small dining area there
were 3 wooden tables with 8 chairs around each.
Each table had games set out so patrons could engage in a little
friendly competition while waiting for their food. Kim and I started a cribbage game, took a
break to eat then finished the game before we left. We even contributed a new
deck of cards from the truck as the deck on the table was very difficult to
shuffle because the cards were well-used and falling apart. Several maps, both world and US, with pins to
mark your hometown adorned the walls along with currency from different
countries, patches from various law enforcement agencies and stickers of all
kinds. Every inch of the frame work
around the doors was covered in Sharpie graffiti...mostly names, dates and
locations with the occasional comment on the food or service. I found a tiny open spot and added a KB2
to the mix. The atmosphere
reminded me of the bar in Kim, Colorado...only it smelled of baked goods
instead of beer. 😊
All-in-all 60 West was a
route worth taking. It put us a little
behind in Rapunzel’s ETA for Quartzsite but she’s not in charge and we can take
our time if we want to. And it occurred to me after
we left that I should have asked our waitress/baker/cashier about mail
delivery. Perfect opportunity and I missed it.
--------------------
By the time we stopped tonight the temperature was back into the mid-40s. Coming down off the mountain we watched it rise 15 degrees in as many minutes. Looking forward to some desert warmth.
By the time we stopped tonight the temperature was back into the mid-40s. Coming down off the mountain we watched it rise 15 degrees in as many minutes. Looking forward to some desert warmth.
--------------------
Stopped early tonight because
of driving into the setting sun...it was killer on the eyes. So about 5:45 we decided to get a room in
Payson, AZ. We’ve been through this
area before...two years ago when our truck had issues we were on this route...AZ
87. We were actually in Star Valley, a
little town 10 miles back, when the Great Water Pump Blowout happened...walked
to a motel down the road from the Ford dealership and made the best of a
stressful situation. When something like
that happens the details tend to get etched in my memory. So, yeah, I kind of feel like I’m on familiar
ground.
--------------------
Saw a couple of herds of pronghorn out near
the VLA...first sighting this trip.
 |
| Tuesday's route |
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