Our visit to Pie Town has, sadly, come to an end, and Susan and I have not run out of things to jabber about. It was such a peaceful week! The peace and quiet was good for Andy; I have not seen him so relaxed in ages.

Roy beckoned me to the front door saying, “You have more choices to make”. (I have been saying all week that I wanted this one and that one, and the other one.) Here are my additional choices outside for the first time. I think there are five; it could be four. I don’t know how large this makes their clowder.

Susan posed for me next to her hydrangea. It amazes me that she got it to grow and live out here. The winters (and summers) are harsh. She said this is its first season.

Roy joined her. I took several pictures of them, but this one is my favorite, by far.

The silence out here smacks you in the face, or should I say slaps you on the ears. There is no hum of distant traffic or any kind of civilization. The only sounds you hear, other than noises the house makes, are the wind and occasional bird twitter. We did hear two jets fly by once. It is sixteen miles down this road from their house to get to pavement. It took us an hour to get there because I drove slowly over the washboard sections and stopped once or twice to take these photos.

The paved road up to Interstate 40 is a beautiful drive with an enormous lava field and large cliffs and rock formations.

We drove 328 miles to Tucumcari and stopped in an RV park for the night. Our trip plans have changed and we are not going to Big Bend National Park or Carlsbad Caverns. My sister Barbara and brother-in-law Tom have sold their house in Maryland and are moving to Topsail Island in North Carolina. We are going to meet them in NC and help them settle into the new house. We are heading there straight-away.