Pie Town and the Slow Road to Albuquerque

We woke at Apache Lake to a chilly, but clear, sunny morning. Birds were chirping; dogs were barking; kids’ voices rose above the usual campground din. We wanted a fairly early start since we planned to take secondary roads to Albuquerque as much as possible… more scenic, but also much slower. We’d packed and cleaned up our campsite the night before… so much easier than tent-camping… and after morning ablutions and a walk, we were off.

Heading down the same gravel road didn’t seem quite as bumpy or as long as it did when we arrived. Isn’t that always the way? We caught sight of a hawk above us with a furry breakfast clenched in his talons. He lit on the top of a saguaro and successfully defended his meal from a would-be thief.

At the end of the gravel road was the Roosevelt Dam and a rest area called Inspiration Point. The view was scenic, if not overly inspiring, but after the 6 miles of jolting, it felt good to reach pavement again.

We chose AZ60 for our route, a pleasant enough road through the east central Arizona countryside, passing through picturesque Salt River Canyon and Apache tribal lands.

Mexican Golden Poppies lined the highway as we maneuvered hairpin turns and steep grades.

We stopped for gas in Show Low whose motto is ‘named by the turn of a card’. According to its history, “Show Low was named after a marathon poker game played between two early settlers. They decided there wasn’t enough room for both of them in the community and agreed to let a game of cards decide who was to get the 100,000 acre ranch and who was to move on. According to the story, one of them said, “If you can show low, you win.” The other one turned up the deuce of clubs and replied, “show low it is.” Show Low got its name from that card game and Show Low’s main street is named “Deuce of Clubs” in remembrance.” Gotta love a good story.

We crossed the state line into New Mexico and I remembered reading somewhere about Pie Town. Named for a 1920’s bakery that specialized in dried-apple pies, this tiny town of 186 lies on the Continental Divide and evidently pie shops were a notable reason for visiting. Today, the Pie-O-Neer offers the only pie in Pie Town. We were all geared up for a sweet treat of pie a la mode so, of course, we stopped.

It’s a quaint, homey place with lots of pie-themed memorabilia as you’d expect. We’d already discussed what pie flavors would be acceptable for sharing and blueberry or apple topped the list. They were, however, pretty much out of pie for the day. Early pie eaters had beaten us to it. Darn it! Disappointed, we returned to Blanche and munched on granola bars, a poor substitution. Knowing, however, that the Annual Pie Festival is traditionally held on the second Saturday of each September, we reckoned we could get pie then.

We arrived in Albuquerque later than expected and quite hungry. Gentry had pizza waiting, hot out of the oven. We did what we always do when visiting… talked and talked and talked till late in the night and then the gabfest began all over again first thing in the morning. We had lots to catch up on. The nights were cold, but we opted to sleep in Blanche nonetheless and were, with the help of a space heater and a long extension cord running from the house to the van, quite comfortable even with 28F night temperatures. 

After two nights, we were off and headed south for warmer temps which we did not readily find. A cold front was moving through and the skies were gray and heavy with thick clouds. With 25-30 mph winds on the nose, our 20 mpg gas consumption took a dive by an alarming 30%. Yikes! Camping without the benefit of a heater was not a pleasant alternative nor was continuing on our gas-guzzling route. We reverted to Plan B… or was it C? A hotel in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico seemed a fine place to camp out for the evening… warm and out of the wind. 

Not sure of our next move, but you’ll know as soon as we do!