Spinning and Spinning

Tags

Texas, turbines, wind energy, windmills

Part of a tower

Wind turbines are huge. If a manager has an employee who’s developing an overinflated sense of self importance, they need only to take them to a wind farm to remind them of how small they are. 

Wind farms are one of my favorite sights out here on the road. Equally impressive is seeing the pieces of the turbines being hauled from factory to farm.

Rotors

Rotors

Welcome sign in Sweetwater, Texas

Tiny bit of a windfarm

The biggest windfarm I’ve seen was in north west Texas. Nolan County has more than 1000 turbines, according to sweetwatertexas.org. Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Indiana, California and Nebraska are a few other states boasting windfarms and many of them are producing a serious amount of electricity. Fortune.com says wind energy is closing the gap on fossil fuels in cost effectiveness. Solar is still behind wind energy. Of course, both solar and wind energy vary in their cost depending on where you are. The way I figure it, the more options we have, the better. 

That’s all for now, friends. Until next time, drive safely 🙂 

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Laredo Primavera

Tags

gardens, spring, Texas

Winter is my favorite time of year in Laredo, Texas. Springtime, summer, autumn, not so much.
The thing is, it gets really hot down there near the Mexico border and, since entering middle age, I’ve lost much of my love of hot weather.

This time of year there is much green around the city, which I greatly enjoy. Most of the trees aren’t very tall, but they are bushy, green and surrounded by grass.

Gardens seem to be important to the Mexican culture and that shows up around the city as well. Most of these photos are of a garden located in our favorite place to stay when we’re stuck down there for truck repairs. It’s called Family Garden Inn and it reminds me of a home out of a Zorro movie.

It still amazes me how plants I used to think of as only indoor grow outside very well in more tropical places like Laredo.

Of course, when visiting only periodically, it’s easy to forget that the rain that causes green things to grow in Texas tends to come infrequently and in large doses which can cause serious flooding.
I took the following photo in the Walmart parking lot because it illustrates a unique way to avoid flooding and killing their grass. Cutting concrete isn’t my first thought when solving any problems, but it seems to work in this case.

Here’s to no more flooding in Texas for a good, long while.

Until next time, readers, drive safely out there 🙂

Rest Areas #4

Tags

desert, rest area, Texas, turbines, wind energy

Yesterday morning we were cruising past hardwood trees covered in tiny, new leaves. The temperature was 65°F as we watched the northwest Texas scenery speed past. This evening we are sitting in Colorado Springs watching snow fall and it’s 21°F. I decided I prefer the Texas weather, so I’m highlighting a rest area we visited in that state recently.

Located in Gray County, Texas, this particular rest area highlights wind energy and features an old windmill and informative displays inside.

Situated around the outside of the building are seating areas with overhangs resembling teepees.

Signs warning visitors to watch for snakes were a bit sobering. I obeyed willingly.

Desert grasslands surrounded the area and a telescopic viewing machine was available for seeing what was farther out. I saw a house, but, thankfully, no snakes.

Unlike many rest areas we see, this one had plenty of truck parking.

Our initial reason for stopping was a bathroom break. We found the facilities modern and well kept. This rest area was definitely a nice bit of oasis along a highway in one of many parts of Texas where the continuous sight of wide open ranchland can get old.
Until next time readers, drive safely out there 😀

Texas Toast

Tags

Mexican, Spanish, Texas, travel, trucking

Waco

Now that I’ve traveled through Texas a few times, I’ve noticed there are certain things that can be expected. For your reading pleasure, I have compiled a short list of my observations.

Waco traffic

Bridges and flyovers

Hwy 35 construction

1. It is very likely that travelers to large, Texas cities will have to deal with highway and bridge construction. Personally, I find it intriguing to see the progress made on bridges and flyovers with each visit. It must take some serious OCD on the part of everyone involved to get those things to balance right and end up meeting the initial goals of the planners. My husband, on the other hand, is less intrigued, having seen so much construction in the past 10 years. He’s usually just ready to get past the traffic.

More Hwy 35 construction

Bridges and flyovers

2. As travelers leave the outskirts of the cities and head south, they will begin to see signs of civilization becoming difficult to find. From one horizon to the other are short trees (bushes?), cacti and sand. Occasionally there are livestock, oil fields, gas stations and even tiny towns; but, mostly there are little trees cacti and sand. Admittedly, that part of the trip is usually good for listening to audiobooks. 😉

3. Travelers may begin to feel like they’ve entered a different country as they continue moving south. Many of the cashiers and other customer service workers are bilingual and it is common to hear more Spanish than English in some establishments. Also, tex-mex cuisine begins to give way to more authentic Mexican cooking. Even Walmarts carry many more Latino products than the ones in more northern latitudes. I found it somewhat disconcerting the first few times I was here, but it helped having my husband with me since he grew up with a Panamanian mother and is therefore plenty familiar with the language and food.

4. Laredo, Texas can be a headache for professional drivers to get a load out of; especially on weekends. It’s incredible how many bobtail tractors are parked at the few truckstops here on weekends while their drivers get showers, do laundry and watch a movie or ‘the game’. Because the trucking industry has a higher percentage of males than females, it’s a bit of testosterone fest in the driver facilities area of the building. 
So, there you have it, readers, on this Monday evening as we sit here-still in Laredo-waiting to find out what to do with a load we picked up this afternoon only to find out after weighing it that it is overweight and therefore illegal to pull. Sigh. Just one of the annoying parts of the trucking industry.

Until next time, readers, drive carefully 🙂