The towns of Kelly and Pie

Las Cruces will be the furthest East we go this year. After diligently watching the Bellingham weather we decided to start our migration back towards Washington. With the about-face came a weekend of opportunity. The opportunity to explore a small slice of New Mexico that neither Kerri or I have been too – Gila National Forest – instead of re-traveling the same interstate we came in on. So, up towards Truth of Consequences where we spent an afternoon soaking in yet another hot spring (and our weekly shower) before heading up into the mountains by way of highway 60. I’ve been up here before, for a day-trip to see the Very Large Array – which Kerri was not all that interested in seeing. However, not far from the VLA were two things that she was interested in; the old ghost town of Kelly, and Pie Town. So it was these two places that brought us way up here.

First was the the ghost town of Kelly which was right on the border of National Forest land. It was pretty late in the afternoon when we arrived, so we opted to roll right past and down the dirt road leading into the forest. We enjoyed an evening at a nothing-special-boondocking-location, exploring on foot for a bit and enjoying our own company without Internet for a night. In the morning we had the ghost town to ourselves to explore.

After breakfast in the town on the highway we got moving towards Pie Town. Along the way we both discussed just how good a slice of pie will be that day. The town of Pie Town is nothing more than a very small stretch of highway with a few buildings scattered about. Only one, of the two, pie shops were even open at this time of the year, and not much else. We pulled Big Blue into the lot, and after the usual tantrum from Moose who wants to come along on any exiting of Big Blue, we swaggered through the door like two weary cowboys after weeks on the trail. “We hear you have pie here!”, I say in my best cowboy voice only to get the return fire of a most pleasant shop owner who ran us through the menu of pies in her stable. Apple for me… only apple will do. Kerri got the New Mexico Apple which includes some peppers and pinion seeds (weirdo).

After a few more miles driving West with our pie, we pointed Big Blue south when we reached Hwy 36. Here we would travel a road I have long since wanted to travel. Hwy 36 runs North-South through Gila National Forest along the Arizona border. It would reconnect with civilization after a few hours drive, at Silver City. Now that I am looking back I realized we did nothing other than drive this section of highway. We were trying to beat the clock to get past Silver City and back into National Forest land for some free-camping options. And not long before the sun set, we did just that – finding a secluded dirt road with a view to call ours for the night. And again, another night of no Internet meant another night entertaining each other.