day seven

phoenix to socorro, new mexico, 403 miles.
an absolutely great day on the road, once i finally left the traffic of the phoenix area behind. refreshingly cool as well, because the temperature only reached into the mid-90s. there's so much to see out there, and today's drive was a good example of not knowing what was in an area and discovering a lot. if you haven't been to the salt river canyon along highway 60 in east central arizona, go. go now. it's beautiful. not as spectacular or deep as the grand canyon, but it has a significant "wow" factor. and you get to drive down one side to the river and then back up the other side. crossing the state line into new mexico, i drove through a thunderstorm. a little one, but lots of lightning and rain. lasted maybe 15 minutes. also came across pie town, arizona. hey, i didn't name it. wasn't much of a town, with about four businesses on the road, all of them advertising pie in big letters. why pie town? in the middle of nowhere? someone's grand marketing plan to put the community on the map? but none of the businesses were open, and there weren't any indications they had been open for a while. a pie in the sky? in pie town, i crossed the continental divide at about 7,800 feet. much of the day was spent more than a mile high, driving through some beautiful country. east of pie town, there was a stretch of road that was straight as a line for 21 miles. not kidding. 21 miles. it stretched all the way to the horizon. and about halfway through it there was a strange assemblage of stuff -- at least strange from a distance (initially thought it might be my first mirage). at a little rest area near the stuff, a sign indicated that it was the "very large array," the most powerul and widely used radio telescope in the world. it was substantial. lots of big dishes arrayed in lines and pointing to the stars. there was a jodie foster movie years ago with scenes that included a very big array. don't know if that one was this one, but if you saw the movie you get the picture. all in all, a good day on the road. need to put a lot of miles behind me in the next two days, though, to reach memphis.
tomorrow: soccoro to wichita falls, whatever state it's in.
good night jack and shirley, jack and jackie, jake and jill, mike and barbara. good night jean...