I left Payson a little late this morning.  Payson elevation is 4,890 feet and it was cool there, but I was going up on the Rim where the elevation is over 7,500 – and it’s COLD up there.  The rim I’m speaking of is the Mogollon (MUGGY-own) Rim.  It’s basically a 200 mile long limestone escarpment (cliff) created by erosion and faulting that rises high above the land below.  While not a sheer cliff everywhere, in places the face is over 2,000 feet.  The tall Ponderosa Pines and cooler temps make this area a major attraction for desert dwellers when it gets hot down there.  When I lived in Phoenix, my family took more than one summer vacation in the Christopher Creek area.  I used to take off hiking (alone) in the morning and not be back until it was almost dark.  I’m lucky I didn’t get snake bit up there, putting my hands up where I couldn’t see.  The Rim is one of my favorite places.

These folks up here have a wry sense of humor….

Next stop down the road was Show Low.  I was just plodding through town when I saw a Donald Trump store.  Originally campaign headquarters, locals asked them to stay open after the election and stock Donald Trump merchandise.

According to legend, Show Low’s unusual name resulted from a marathon poker game between Corydon E. Cooley and Marion Clark.  The two men were equal partners in a 100,000-acre ranch; however, the partners determined that there was not enough room for both of them in their settlement, and agreed to settle the issue over a game of “Seven Up” (with the winner taking the ranch and the loser leaving).  After the game seemed to have no winner in sight, Clark said, “If you can show low, you win.”  Cooley cut the deck to the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and replied, “Show low it is.”  Show Low’s main street is named “Deuce of Clubs” in remembrance.

I left Show Low on hwy 60 headed for Springerville, AZ.  I was almost immediately out of the pine trees and on high altitude plains.  Looking around you would swear that you’re in Wyoming or Montana – but not quite North Dakota.  I think that the wind must keep the trees from growing – it was plenty windy there today.  I had to put my Trump hat in a saddle bag.

When I got to Springerville I took a break and went into the Western Drug & General Store.  I can safely say that if it’s not food and they don’t have it — you don’t need it.

Still on 60 across the border into New Mexico and one of the first towns is Quemado.  Back in my Air Force days I rode (scratch that) I got on a bull in the 1989 4th of July Rodeo in Quemado, Texas; I still have the buckle somewhere.  That’s a story for another time though – remind me and I’ll tell you.

About 50 miles past Quemado, between the towns of Datil and Magdalena you will find the VLA.  I’m sure you’ve seen it before.  Maybe you remember it from the 1997 Jodie Foster movie – Contact.  The radio telescope comprises 27 independent antennae, each of which has a dish diameter of 82 feet and weighs 230 tons.  The antennae are distributed along the three arms of a track, shaped in Y configuration, each arm on the Y is 13 MILES long!!  Using the rail tracks that follow each of these arms and a specially designed lifting locomotive the antennas can be physically relocated.  There are four commonly used configurations and the observatory normally cycles through all the various possible configurations every 16 months; the antennas are moved every three to four months.  They are grouped very tightly right now.  The Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), an array of ten dishes located from Hawaii in the west to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the east constitutes the world’s largest dedicated, full-time astronomical instrument.

Fifty miles down the road is Socorro.  While I was getting gas I evaluated my situation and decided I would stay here for the night.  Socorro has an interesting story:  In June 1598, Juan de Oñate led a group of Spanish settlers through the Jornada del Muerto (journey of the dead man), an inhospitable patch of desert that ends just south of the present-day city of Socorro.  As the Spaniards emerged from the desert, Piro Indians of the pueblo of Teypana gave them food and water.  Therefore, the Spaniards renamed this pueblo Socorro, which means “help” or “aid”.  Although I didn’t come through the Journey of the Dead Man desert, dinner and a soft bed are certainly socorro for me.