Pie Town, NM--a little slice of heaven

Yesterday was the hardest 80 mile day I've ridden so far. Not only was it hilly--we were riding through the majestic Rocky Mountains--but it was also extremely windy! It was so windy that I was even pedalling furiously down hills just to keep my speedometer above 8 mph! Nevertheless, there were some very cool aspects to the ride. I saw the Very Large Array, which is a grouping of 27 radio telescopes located on the top of a plateau. I also crossed the Continental Divide, which is the point where the rivers in the US change their direction of flow. It is also at an elevation of over 7,000 feet!!! No wonder there was so much climbing that day!!
Pie Town was great. The population is around 60 people--about a third of which came out to meet us at the Community Center when they served us dinner. They were very nice people--mostly retired people who had moved to Pie Town for the amazing mountain views. Dinner was great, and we got to sample some of the famous pies cooked by the residents of Pie Town themselves! I had a piece of Crumb Pumkin cake, which was incredible!! We stayed at the Toaster House, which was called that because it had a bunch of toasters hanging over the front walkway! I was fascinated by this house because the lady who owns it doesn't live there anymore, but just leaves the doors unlocked so that travellers just like us can come stay in it. I loved thinking about all of the interesting people on amazing journeys who had probably stayed in that house before me. When we woke up at 4:45 the next morning, we all went outside to look at the gorgeous stars. There is zero light pollution in Pie Town, so I could see as many stars as I can when I look at the sky fr0m the Blue Ridge Parkway at home. It's incredible to see all of the stars that you normally miss when you are looking at the night sky from a large city.
Today I rode 70 miles from Pie Town, New Mexico to Springerville, Arizona. It was a hilly ride, but the wind wasn't bad. When we got into town, we stopped at a small local ice cream shop and got delicious milkshakes. When we crossed into Arizona today, we entered the Pacific time zone.We are staying at a high school tonight, and waking up at 3:45 Pacific time tomorrow!! Tomorrow, we are going to Hoak, AZ, where we will stay on a Native American reservation that does not observe Daylight Savings, so we will be gaining an hour there until we leave.