It’s true that sometimes the best places are practically in your own backyard! One of the places I’ve wanted to visit for years is Pie Town, NM. With a name like that, it has to be the best place ever right?? Pie is my favorite. I love it more than cake. Which is saying a lot! Every year Pie Town has their annual Pie Festival which is always the weekend around my birthday. We’re usually out of town, but due to a last minute change of plans this year I was actually here and able to go 😀
Getting to Pie Town is easy. From Albuquerque head south on I-25. At Socorro, take exit 150 for US-60W, turn right on Spring St, and then turn left onto US-60W. From there it’s a straight shot to Pie Town. Total time is approximately 2.5 hours. While you’re on US-60W, you’ll pass by the Very Large Array. More on that later!
When you see this giant thunderbird sign, you’ll know you’ve arrived. It’s just past Pie-O-Neer pies, one of three restaurants to stop and try a slice or two of homemade pie.
The actual festival is just across the street in a big open area. There’s a pie baking contest, tons of local vendors, games for the kids, and lots of delicious food.
There were also kids selling raffle tickets for a goat. Our perplexed reaction was probably a clear indication that we are city dwellers through and through. Once I got over my initial skepticism, I tried to convince Austin we could put it in the backseat of his car if we won and pay off our neighbors to keep quiet…but alas–no goat for us.
It was looking even stormier by this point, so we decided to dive into the pie eating. We hurried across the street to Pie-O-Neer pies, and after waiting in a line of fellow pie enthusiasts, we decided we could handle sharing three slices. (My eyes are always extra ambitious.)
From left to right, we tried the green chile piñon apple pie, the almond joy pie, and the chocolate chess pie with red chile and walnuts. Mmmmm. The chocolate chess was my favorite while Austin loved the almond joy.
While we were enjoying pie in the cozy restaurant, it was raining outside but stopped by the time we left. I wanted a Pie Town t-shirt before we hit the road, so back across the street we went. This time we got caught in a massive downpour that turned the field into a muddy river and had us all huddled under tiny tents while lightning lit up the sky around us. Nothing like Mother Nature to bond strangers together! The rain and hail was so hard that everyone soon had mud splatters up to their waists even though we were standing in a tent. But the great thing is that when so much pie is involved, even rain and mud doesn’t ruin the good mood.
After stuffing ourselves full of pie, we headed to the Very Large Array (VLA), which is an amazing astronomical radio observatory. With the storm in the area, the drive was gorgeous. I love thunderstorms in the desert because you can literally see where the rain is falling for miles in any direction.
Though the VLA is relatively close, we had never been there. There are special tours of the array on the first and third Saturdays of each month, but this wasn’t the right weekend. Luckily the site is open 8:30am until sunset every day and it’s easy to do a self-guided tour.
Note that cell phones must be turned completely off. You can turn them back on in airplane mode to take a picture, but then it’s back off again. This would have been one time when a real camera would have come in handy! Just look at those radio antennas in the midst of the thunderstorm!
The self-guided tour provides opportunities to learn about the radio antennas and get up close to one. If these pictures are looking vaguely familiar to anyone, it might be because multiple movies have been filmed here, including “Contact.” The radio antennas are incredible, especially because they are moved on tracks into different configurations every so often.
The VLA is a must-visit in my book. It was the perfect balance of educational, awe-inspiring, and fun. Visit on a stormy day and marvel at the combination of human ingenuity and the majesty of nature! Here are a few more pictures to enjoy!
