Windmill Generator (Not an Alien Pod)

For those of you who follow Linda on Facebook, we posted this picture last week as we were traveling up from Colorado. For three consecutive days, we saw this on the road. On the second day that we saw it, it was parked at a rest stop. We got to chat with the guy driving the escort vehicle and contrary to us thinking this might be an alien pod, it turned out to be a generator that goes on a windmill. It weighs 240,000 pounds…holy cow ! It was picked up in Brighton, Colorado and is going to Pocatello, Idaho. The tractor pulling it started to leak oil so he unhooked and left it parked at the rest stop until another tractor could come the next day.
At first we couldn’t figure out where this generator would go….on the ground ? But then we came to a whole ridge of windmills in Wyoming. Upon closer inspection it looks like this is located on the backside of the blades. Look at his picture….it’s the button-like thing on top behind the blades. Mystery solved…..no aliens….just mother nature at work with pure energy..

Sunday Drive….

Took a great drive today…left around 11 this morning and got home around 4. We drove to Jackson, an hour away and then went over the Teton Pass….When we met fellow Escapees Molly and Bob the other day, here in the park (thanks to an introduction from Bobbie), they told us about taking their motorhome over the Pass. Although we didn’t take our rig, it’s still a 10% grade (Jim, you’d be really proud of Linda !).


Gorgeous views from on top of the Tetons… Once we came over the Pass, we were in Idaho and continued on to Victor, took a turn onto Route 31 and continued towards Alpine. There is a great recreational area, called Palisades Reservoir that you drive along for many miles and extends all the way down to Alpine. What a great resource for boaters, jet skiers, etc.

This is at the base of the reservoir….

A gorgeous day on the water…

We found a place where we could stop and let Boomer go swimming. For some reason, unknown to us, there were a number of butterflies that were attracted to this area of the shoreline. Couldn’t see anything special about it. There was a lot of wood pieces washed up on shore and this mushy black stuff on the gravel.

Beautiful pattern on the butterflies…

Drove along this view for many miles…. Clouds so fluffy and white and snow capped mountains in the distance.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there has been flooding in the area. With the extensive snow pack and melting, the Snake River is huge and over its’ banks in many areas…..perfect conditions for the rafting companies. Saw several groups taking on the river today. Not a time for novice kayakers or boaters to be on the water….
It was great to drive around in Jackson and check it out. It’s a good sized town…population is over 8000. The campground, where we’ll be staying, is right in the middle of town so it will be very handy for selling and going out to eat or checking out all of the cute shops. Have about another week here in Thayne to get our work done. Hope everyone had a great weekend. Back to work tomorrow….