WINDS AND DOGS

Friday. May 6 – With windy weather predicted for Sunday and Monday, we plan on visiting some outdoor sights today. It's a perfect day weather wise...high 90...low 57....low humidity....NO WIND!

Speaking of WIND......our AMAZING stop for today was the American Wind Power Center. This museum features the American-style water-pumping windmills. It is located on 28 acres of rolling city park land in the Yellow House Canyon of Lubbock. More than 120 rare and fully restored windmills are on display on the grounds.

This is the only working post mill in North America. It weighs 50,000 lbs, the wheel is 60 feet in diameter. It is constructed out of Oak timbers.  The whole building actually turns with the wind on the cement curb at the outer edge of the circle.

The highlight of the outdoor Windmill Park, in Paul's opinion, is the working Vestas Model V47 and the GE 1.5 megawatt electric generating wind turbines. The GE turbine will be assembled in a new building in the near future.

The operating Vestas V47 is a new technology wind machine capable of generating vast quantities of electricity. The electricity produced by the V47 is used to power the museum. Even more electricity than is required is generated and this excess energy is fed into the local utility's power lines. No battery storage is needed, since 60 cycle, 3 phase AC power is produced. The V47 generates about one million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The museum only uses 10% of this amount.

The parts of the GE Turbine are laying on the grounds and allow for close inspection!

The steel tower of the Vestas V47  is 164 feet tall and weighs over 97,000 pounds. The blades are 155 feet in diameter. Each fiberglass blade is 77 feet long and together weigh 15,876 pounds. The rotor turns 28.5 rpm and starts producing electricity in a 10 mph wind. The rotor is stopped when winds exceed 55 mph. It is these turbines you see by the hundreds scattered all over Texas and the SW United States.....and get this.....they cost a million dollars EACH. Holy Cow!!!

Shows you can make a windmill out of anything. These are 55 gallon drums.

Also on display are many hand pumps, models, photographs and other windmill artifacts.

There is also a meeting hall that is available for rent. Many local brides rent the hall for their receptions.....how neat!

Maud S Wind Mill is unusual in that it has an offset wheel, a governor weight and a coiled spring. Marsha doesn't know what this means but you men will.

Note the bullet hole. This was common on windmills in the West.

Two Stone Corn Grinder Wind Mill. On Saturday farmers would bring their corn to the General Store to be ground.

The Iron Turbine was the first successful all-metal American windmill. It proved that an all-metal mill could do the work of a wooden mill, and that a metal mill could withstand severe winds.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine doesn't have enough blade area for a self-start. A small electric starter motor drives the two blades up to speed then the wind catches the rotor and it begins to spin on its own.

The Southern Cross is one of the largest windmills made in the world. With a 25 foot wheel diameter, this is a direct stroke windmill with no gear heads. It is 55 feet high.

This is truly a “not-to-be-missed” museum. Paul thinks this is the best museum he's ever seen.....including the Smithsonian. Now that's saying something!

Surrounding the Windmill Museum is Mackenzie Park – home to Prairie Dog Town. The 248 acre, Mackenzie Park is Lubbock's largest recreation area. A golf course, world-class disc golf course, Joyland Amusement Park, horse trails, sculpture garden, beautiful walking trails, fishing lakes and several streams, and the Prairie Dog Town can all be enjoyed in the Park.

We had a blast watching the prairie dogs.

The pint-sized critters put on quite a show.

These ground squirrels number in the thousands. The entire colony was started nearly 75 years ago after they were nearly eradicated from the park.

This one spent most of the time we were there balling up this piece of paper. She then took it down its hole. What a hoot!

There were TONS of babies, but they must have been told to stay by the house. Another, not-to-miss scene, if in the area. Oh, and don't forget to bring carrots or cookies to feed the guys. We took a box of stale crackers....they loved them!

For those who think all we do is RUN, RUN, RUN, let it be known we did all this, PLUS Marsha got her hair trimmed, and we were home relaxing in the beautiful weather by noon. Our visit to Lubbock is spread over ten days, so we have plenty of time to relax and enjoy doing nothing.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that Marsha ALSO finished another basket today. Well this isn't a basket, she calls it a trivet. She did some experimenting with what she calls a wrap stitch and used a walnut slice for the middle. It really looks nice.

Yesterday, they began draining the swimming pool here at the Elks. They will be adding new water next week. With that said, we haven't posted a picture of Bella for a very long time. We had to share this one. She just wanted to cross over the draining water, but got stuck and wasn't sure which way to turn.  Poor kitty!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

 

LUBBOCK…..SO MUCH TO DO AND SEE

Wednesday, May 4 – We're on the move again this morning. Boy did the terrain change. Sooooo flat.

This time, we are heading North to the city of Lubbock, TX. We will be staying at the Lubbock Elks Club. These West Texas towns keep amazing Paul. They are much bigger than we expected. Lubbock has a population of over 200,000. Paul was expecting 60-70,000.....WOW!

The Lubbock Elks Lodge is VERY nice and an excellent campground and awesome location. Very easy to find, great RV access, and close to all the tourist areas and shopping and nice level sites with full-hookups.

We met up with old friends Delcie & Freddie Prather staying here at the Elks. They extended their stay here to visit with us.....Thanks Friends!! We really enjoyed dinner and drinks afterword.

L-R—Paul, Marsha, Delcie, Freddie

It was especially nice to catch up on each others' travels. They are on their way to a work camping position in Colorado, pulling out tomorrow. Safe travels good friends.....we'll see you on down the road!

Thursday, May 5 – So long Delcie & Freddie....it was great seeing you guys again. Have a safe trip! After good-bye hugs, we headed to the Silent Wings Museum, which is located next to the runway at Lubbock International Airport.....neat setting!

The museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of the military glider program.  Interestingly, during the WWII years, the majority of American glider pilots were trained at South Plains Army Airfield which is now the site of Lubbock International Airport.

Glider pilots displayed a "Blood Chit" sewn onto the lining of the back of the jack. A Blood Chit is a written notice, in several languages, carried by airmen in combat. If their aircraft is shot down, the blood chit identifies the Americans and encourages the local population to assist them by offering a reward for their assistants.

The museum features one of the few fully restored WWII gliders in existence and includes three galleries full of historical items from the war. It does a great job explaining the glider fleet and how they operated.

In 1941, the Waco Aircraft Company of Troy, Ohio was awarded the contract to design and develop a cargo assault glider. These gliders successfully delivered infantry, heavy weapons, ammunition, construction equipment, fuel and medical supplies to the point of attack.

This glider features a tubular metal fuselage frame with a WOODEN support structure covered by a fabric skin. The wing structure was constructed entirely of wood and fabric.

Looking inside back to the tail.

Looking inside to the front.

Underneath

This drawing shows how the a Doulas C-47 towing two gliders. Some C-47s towed three.

 

Recovery and re-use of the gliders occurred when possible. Retrieval techniques were either by truck and by the dramatic aerial fly-by snatch pick-up. Heavily damaged gliders were abandoned.

Neither of us knew much about the gliders. We left with a much better understanding of their use and importance during WWII. If you are in this area, we highly recommend a visit. We paid $3/each, which to our surprise, got us in free to our next stop.

Next stop was the Buddy Holly Center in downtown Lubbock.

It features a permanent exhibit on the life and music of the West Texas icon, Charles Hardin Holley AKA Buddy Holly. It follows his life from Lubbock to his last concert in Clear Lake, Iowa. Included in this exhibit are Buddy's Fender Stratocaster guitar, and his famed horn-rimmed black glasses, along with artifacts from his youth and early career. During our visit to the museum, a crew was setting-up the new statue and Hall of Fame Walk in the courtyard. The unveiling will be Monday May 9.

The life of Buddy Holly is an amazing story. Born in Lubbock, TX in 1936, Buddy developed an interest in music at an early age. His interests ranged from country and gospel to blue grass and rhythm and blues. And, of course, his huge influence on rock'n roll, encompassed 25 hit records before his tragic death in a plane crash at the age of twenty-two. He will be rewarded with his Hollywood Star on his 75th birthday, September 7.

Mural of Buddy.

As you probably figured out by now…NO pictures were permitted in the museum. If you enjoy music history, this is the museum for you.

Next door to the Buddy Holly Center is the Depot Entertainment District. We wanted to check this area out during the day to see if it's something worth coming back to see on a Friday or Saturday night. It's a collection of bars, restaurants, and music venues with outdoor stages and seating. We can see how music would fill the air as you walk along the brick streets checking out the bars and neon lighting. We'll consider this destination on Friday night.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!

A "HARE-RAISING" DAY

Tuesday, May 3 – We drove the car a few miles to the neighboring town of Odessa to do some sightseeing. Like Midland, Odessa is located in the geographic region known as the Permian Basin, where the discovery of oil in 1929 propelled the area into the center of the oil boom. It is still the center for service, workforce, transportation, supply and manufacturing to the oil industry. It is considered one of the major oil field technology centers in the world. Oil, Oil, everywhere....why is gas so expensive here.....JEESH!

Our main reason for visiting Odessa was for Marsha to see RABBITS. There are 37 brightly decorated hoppers at scattered locations throughout the city (Paul says: “Why couldn't they be in one park?”) The Jackrabbit is Odessa's official mascot. Why Jackrabbits you ask. It all started with the great Odessa Jackrabbit Roping Content back in 1932, as a “hare-brained” publicity stunt for the Rodeo. Although opposed by many, a judge ruled that the contest did not violate any Texas law. The competition was held and a cowgirl named Grace Hendricks roped a jackrabbit from horseback in 5 seconds flat, winning over all her embarrassed male competitors. For unknown reasons, the event disappeared in the following years.

This is Paul with the tallest of all the rabbits…8 feet!

Then in 1977, the notorious contest was revived, causing a coast-to-coast outcry. An animal lover from Midland successfully delayed the event by liberating the caged rabbits that had been captured for the rodeo. However, the event was back on schedule when the rabbits returned to their pen at dinner time. Seven ropers competed in the event with Jack Torian winning with a six-second scamper.

Today the only competition comes from the awards presented for the best entry in the “Hoppy Trails Collection” and the scholarships awarded to local students.

Don't worry, we didn't visit all 37 rabbits (Paul wouldn't stand for it), so here are only a few pictures. But, if you want to see them all, visit the official website.

HOP TO THE BEAT OF THE BASIN

UNCLE SAM RABBIT

BLOOMING BUNNY

BLUES BUNNY

TEXAS "HARE" TAGE…If you don't get it, say it fast.

PATCHWORK RABBIT

AN AMERICAN TRIBUTE

We also visited the Stonehenge replica on the University of Texas of the Permian Basis campus.

It is identical to the original; however, vertically it measures 70 percent of the original in size. Each stone weighs over 20,000 pounds and is composed of limestone slabs.

Our final stop for the day was the Odessa Meteor Crater. It is the second largest in the nation, approximately 550 feet in diameter and 100 feet deep.

Odessa Meteorite…Iron…70 lbs.

Unfortunately, the crater has been filled by silt and wind driven sand and today is only 6-feet deep. The circular impression is very obvious with a rock-buttressed rim sounding the crater. Luckily, admission to this National Landmark is free.

On the floor of the crater.

Two days is PLENTY of time to see Midland and Odessa. If you aren't planning to come this way, don't change your plans. Unless you like lots of dust and dirt, you won't miss anything. On a positive note…everyone is very friendly and helpful.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!