Yes, we did make it to Tye, Texas last evening. We are just west of Abilene, Texas in a park that is in the middle of a junk yard and a little away from an Air Force Base. Last night just after dark we all of a sudden heard a low, loud-loud plane going over us. It even made our windows rattle. We heard a few more and then it quieted down. I did not hear any during the night.
This morning we were a little slow on getting up and on the move. At about 10 am we left home and went west to Sweetwater, Texas. They are known for the World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-up. The town looked like it was holding on by a shoe string. We stopped at the Chamber of Commerce and the fellow who helped us was from northern Indiana and went to Dayton to watch UD play basketball.
As we drove 20 miles to Sweetwater we saw large fields of wind turbines. They were dancing in the distance. They are so great to watch. When we left Sweetwater and drove south to San Angelo we passed through the wind farm. Nolan County is the capital for wind energy. Nolan County has over 1200 giant wind turbines powering 500,000 homes. The wind farm stretchs the breadth of the county atop Trent Mesa. Included in the vast wind energy projects is the Horse Hollow Wind Farm which covers 47,000 acres and is the largest wind farm in the world. The farm has an economic impact of more than $50 million for the county.
As we were traveling thru the farm we noted cattle grazing the winter grass under the turbines. They were like dots when you saw them in comparison to the turbines. The turbines stand 262 feet above the ground.
We stopped in the middle of the turbines and could hardly hear any noise from the turbines. Some people in our home area are concerned about the noise but it is so quiet you will need to really listen to hear them turn. To me they are very mezmorising to watch. They move with such slow precision.
We drove 86 miles south to San Angelo but it only took us a little over an hour to drive the distance. You see, the speed limit is 70 mph on a farm road which is paved and lightly traveled. On the way to San Angelo we saw miles and miles of scrub trees and brown grass with ranch houses some distance from the road. They all had gates at the end of their lanes and the houses sat low in the landscape. Most of the buildings are small and beige in color, the same as the surroundings in which they stand.
When we arrived in San Angelo we stopped for lunch at the Mesquite Bean Cafe. It was a part of The Cactus Hotel, the first hotel by the Hilton. When we went to the bathroom we crossed a small ballroom which was set up for a small wedding. The floors and the staircase were done in a bold blue and yellow tile. It was quite ornate. Walt had fried catfish for lunch while I chose the salmon with dried tomatoe sauce on top of the salmon. It was quite good and very economical. They had buttermilk pie for lunch, which we asked about and think it was like a custard pie. Walt had some bread pudding and he enjoyed it very much.
After lunch we went to the Fort Concho Museum. It was a frontier army post form 1867-1889. The fort a historic preservation project and museum which is owned and operated by the City of San Angelo, Texas. It included 23 original and restored fort structures. We had an individual give us a tour.
It lasted about 1 1/2 hours but was very interesting. Walt certainly enjoyed himself.
We then drove back to Tye. It was a busy day. Tomorrow we are planning quilt shops, CVS for drugs and grocery store. It seems we could always use more fruit and veggies.
Goodnight-----Marge
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