I realize that I need to put dates on these posts because I don’t always get to them in a timely manner, but also because I am starting to lose track of the calendar as the days move along. They are all starting to turn into a bit of a blur. If I don’t date them I will get my posts even more mixed up than they are now. It seems like I should have all of the time in the world to write these little notes, but amazingly that doesn’t seem to be the case. For example, it is now the morning of the 15th and it is the first opportunity I have had to post something about the 13th, I was “busy” all day yesterday.

Saturday the 13th found me heading almost due east toward Carrizozo. Having left Quemado rather late in the morning, I was hoping for a late breakfast/early lunch somewhere along the way. The next town on the route sounded promising for it was called Pie Town. Luckily, Pie Town lives up to its name – it has two restaurants (and nothing much else) that both claim to make the best pies in Pie Town. I chose the one that seemed to be more confident about their claim.

Unfortunately I didn’t write the name of the restaurant down and I forgot it. However, it is an Indian term meaning “The Family.” That sounded good to me. It was a nice, homey little place with four or five tables and a little outdoors seating if desired. Local art and trinkets displayed on the walls and a case were for sale. Funny signs on the walls gave a little humorous advice and it felt good. It was packed (meaning there were eight customers) and only one open table. A nice waitress immediately approached me. I asked for a cup of coffee and a menu – which she promptly delivered. I noticed that she had a large leather belt with a big sheathed knife on her side. Nice knife, pretty pearl handle. And then I waited, and waited … and waited. Eventually the real waiter (the first lady was apparently a customer who helped me out as she was leaving) came by and was surprised that I hadn’t ordered yet. (He also had a big sheathed Buck knife on his side – as did all of the others that seemed to be associated with the business). He took my order with the comment, “Wouldn’t have mattered, your order wouldn’t have come up on the list by now in any case.”

Having plenty of time to observe, it became clear that the cook did one order at a time. One table had six people at it. They all ordered at the same time, but the first to order got his food before the meal for the second was started, and so on. The result was that about half way through the table had one person finished eating, two working on their meal, and three still waiting to be served. It was quite awhile before the last had been served, and the cook could go on to the next table with two gentlemen waiting for theirs – and mine later in line. The waiter was pointing out that there was still a table ahead of me so my ordering late had no impact upon when my food might be delivered.

While I was waiting another couple came in and asked if they could share my table, which was of course fine with me. I got to talking to the gentleman with the normal lead-in of, “Are you from around here?” Turns out that they moved to Pie Town three years ago. They lived in North Carolina. Wanting to get away from it all for a trip the purchased a large travel vehicle (I am not sure if it was a motor-home or a trailer), and headed out just as Covid locked down the nation.

Rather than go back to their home, they found a piece of property in Pie Town that had a working well, a septic system, electricity and several acres of land. For $60,000 they had a place to park their rig and wait out the pandemic. While waiting they converted a little shed that was on the property to a Tiny House, sold their travel rig, and set up home. They are now planning on buying a used shipping container to turn into a guest house. They seem to be having a ball, enjoying the isolation (they can just see the neighbors house on the horizon), and new way of life. He said that the biggest down side is that it is 100 miles to the grocery store – I guess they are careful to buy what they need when there. I eventually got my breakfast, and it was “fair.” I didn’t get any pie because they only sold full, large sized, pies – and I had no way to deal with that.

I found out that the real claim to fame of Pie Town is that it is on the Mexico to Canada hiking trail that follows the ridge of Continental Divide – located about a half mile east of Pie Town. This is a place to get something to eat, it has a little hostel outside of town with beds and showers, and perhaps there are a few provisions to be had, and a point of contact with “the outside.” It is a place not to be missed and enjoyed by those on the trail – apparently a nice pie just about hits the spot after enough time on the trail. The six folks eating at the table when I came in were hikers.

The road went right through the middle of the array, giving me a good view of them. Of course I had to take the side trip to the visitor center located a few miles off of the highway. The visitor center had a nice display in the building and a walking path around the administration buildings. I found nothing that I didn’t already know, and looking at the outside of two story brick buildings wasn’t all that exciting. However, there was a walking path that got very close to one of the dishes, so I did that and got a nice photo (shown above).

Continuing along I came upon a sign pointing out that I was very close to the site of the Trinity experiment. Trinity was code for the first detonation of “The Gadget.” a nuclear device conceptually similar to its devastating cousin, “Fat Man.” This was the first full sized demonstration that the idea of a nuclear bomb would work. I kind of wanted to turn and visit the site, but put it off. Later on I found that tours are infrequent, and that even when they are it requires driving about 20 miles through the desert and a lot of time. Besides, what do you find when you get there? Nothing but more desert and a small stone obelisk. As much of a nerd as I am, I elected to skip that tour.

I soon saw an odd river off in the distance. I wondered what it might be because I hadn’t noticed any rivers in this part of the world, and it seemed oddly dark. It turned out to be a huge lava flow that the highway crossed in getting to my destination for the night of Carrizozo, located immediately east of the White Sands Missile Range. I had been driving along the northern edge of the missile range since a little after Pie Town. All of the accessible parts of the missile range were located many miles to the south so I elected to skip whatever that might offer.

Carrizozo is yet another city on the verge of turning into a ghost town. Not so long ago it was obviously a large, bustling metropolis with a wide variety of businesses, many nice homes, and all that could be wanted in a pretty city in the desert. Now almost all of the businesses are shuttered, with broken windows, collapsed roofs and broken walls. Dust and debris inhabit the town these days. About the only businesses that appeared to be open were art galleries scattered around among the shuttered buildings. Unfortunately, my timing was very poor and all of the galleries were closed. Just about the only businesses still operating besides the art galleries were two motels, two gas stations and a run-down restaurant at the intersection of major highways running north-south and east-west near the edge of town. I was told that the two restaurant choices were the one at the intersection and a pizza place not far away. I first went to the restaurant, but it was so dismal that I just couldn’t bring myself to sit down – better to snack out of my “emergency” supplies for dinner than eat there. I then went to the pizza place located in what had once been a nice big home. Much to my surprise the pizza was excellent, perhaps the best I have ever had. What a treat. The place was sparse, rather uncomfortable, and not what you might call “homey” – but clean and ok, with great pizza!