On the Road Again - RWF

June 7th

The drive from Austin to Santa Fe was about 11 hours long, most of it on old two-lane highways. It was a smooth enough ride, but there was a lot of road noise. It would have been a very boring trip, if not for the absolutely enormous Roscoe Windfarm. Thankfully, there was cell service, so I started reading aloud about RWF to help pass the time, and then we both wanted to know more because it was so fascinating.

These photos were snapped through my window at 75 mph* and don't come close to capturing the feeling of seeing these giant wind turbines, their blades rotating slowly, replicated endlessly into the distance.

Roscoe Windfarm covers 100,000 acres of land, most of it leased from cotton farmers who continue to operate their farms around the big turbines. There are 627 of those giant turbines, each around 400 ft tall. Wow!

We were a little surprised to learn that Texas windfarms provide more than 20% of the state's power. As a place that became famous for oil, it's pretty impressive that Texas is #1 in the country for windpower. Still, it was interesting to see oil rigs dwarfed and outnumbered by the wind turbines, which may be a glimpse into the future of renewable energy in our country.

*Yup, the speed limit on these two-lane highways in Texas was 75 mph. We were probably moving faster than that, but didn't look at the speedometer, which is hard to see from the passenger seat, anyway. That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.