December 25, 2001
Merry Christmas to you! And if you're at all like us, you are enjoying different things today than you were a year ago. And probably have some different views of things as well. It's been an interesting and fun year.
We're happily parked at the Thousand Trails preserve in Palm Desert, near Palm Springs, CA, the door and windows open enjoying the 66 degree warmth and sunshine. Went to a midnight church service last night, came home ate a bowl of popcorn and decided to sleep in this morning. At 5 or so I realized that the Road Abode was playing freezeout with me again, so I got up to make sure the heat was on. And the clock was off along with the little electric heater we like to leave on when it gets into the high 30's and low 40's at night. Muttering about the lack of power (for the second time since we'd parked here on the 16th), I flipped on the forced-air furnace and went back to bed. When the neighbor turned on his generator I looked at the still off clock, peered at the little battery powered one, and saw it was 6:30. Figured we had a major outage, not the brief one we'd experienced the night it rained, and rolled over to continue "sleeping in." Only my mind didn't want to sleep, and got to thinking about that young couple on the other side with the smallish class-C motorhome with the kids......and figured they probably didn't have a generator and might like to share ours if I fired it up to get the heaters running. Now, if we'd been alone, the inverter would have made plenty of electricity for our needs through breakfast, showers, etc., but we weren't. There was this nice couple next to us and, well, it's Christmas day and all. I dragged out, pulled on my sweats and went outside into the squinty sunshine to see what was up. The other neighbor with his generator came out and asked me if I knew anything about generators because while his was still running, he wasn't getting any juice. Hummmmm. After getting my stepstool, flashlight, mirror, and a quilted shirt, I managed to find a couple of switches that were unmarked, all the while silently singing the praises of stupid manufactures who put things that need maintenance in places where it is impossible to maintain them. One switch was off and one was on, and I sent the owner off to find his book so I could tell what did what. And while he was doing that, here came the guy without any generator as I'd guessed. His wife was most grateful for her morning coffee after we had him hooked up. Turned out the switches were the breaker switches, and a quick flip and everybody was happy. By this time I'd managed to make enough noise to wake my bride, and we took off for our morning walk. I was secretly just wandering around looking for a park employee (ranger) to see what was up with no electricity. Turned out it was a transformer someplace down the line. Probably be without power for several hours. Then we found Frank and Susie from the Lake Minden preserve by Sacramento, CA. We'd met in August, and helped them move their 5th wheel trailer as they'd sold their truck. What fun! They have a nice motorhome, and I was curious about how they liked it compared to a 5th wheel, and we all had stories to tell. Finally got home for breakfast at about 11. And a potluck coming up at 2.
But back to the Slabs for a moment or two.
Beautiful sunsets here in the desert! Watching the line creep up the Chocolate Mountains was almost as fun as watching the sunset itself.
Friend John had caught up with us, and was getting used to his new extra-fancy (yes, I'm envious) Cannon digital camera. Now, if you look at the picture of us he took, you'll see that my thumb is on the trigger of my little Kodak. And it worked! I love taking pictures of people taking pictures of me! And a bonus is seeing the sunset in his lens! And by the way, John, if you're reading this, thanks again for taking and sending the picture to us. And thanks for coming to visit in the first place!
That's John's rig next to us, and the picture on the right is the rig belonging to Sam. Sam had walked over to us while we were wandering around wondering where to park when we first got here. He's a member of LOW (Loners on Wheels), and a friendlier more informative guy is hard to find. He ended up inviting us to visit and stay on his property in Mexico when we get down there. I took copious notes and they are in the file so we won't loose them. Notice the blue water tanks I talked about before.
The other side of Sam's rig. He's got the three-wheeler he runs around on when he's not riding his bicycle or driving his little Toyota truck. The whirlygig comes down when it's blowing too hard, and the pallet it's fastened to has "Sam's Home" written on it. And there's Barb looking at birds and wishing we could get better pictures of the too-far-away ones. We're enjoying one of several bird watching areas around here, thanks to John and his Honda that he tows behind his motorhome.
I gave up and tried to take a picture of some of the birds anyway. Those white pelicans are just too beautiful in flight, with their black wing tips and large wingspan. And Barb is looking at the canal that is on the map and defines the eastern most boundary of Slab City.
We left the Slabs and headed to Palm Springs on Hwy 111 along the eastern coast of the Salton Sea for most of the way. The Coachella Valley is home to many date farms from which 90% of the dates in the U.S. are shipped. So we had to stop and test a date (milk) shake. It was so good that we had to use the free date shake coupons Barby found at our Thousand Trails park and come back for more. And to buy some dates for gifts (Happy Birthday, Mom) as well as our own enjoyment. I had no idea there were so many varieties of dates. Or that they'd been imported to this area because of the climate and water in the early 1900's. The samples were great, and we got to try about 8 or 10 varieties before deciding on which to buy.
One of the places the visitor center volunteer said we "had" to visit here in Palm Desert was the Marriott Hotel. Well, both Barb and I have done extensive traveling in our past lives, and stayed in some nice hotels, but this person was insistent that we visit, so here we are. Barb taking pictures of black swans and me taking pictures of white ones. The golf course surrounds the hotel, so you can imagine the views from the rooms. Dozens of little shops around the lobby and down hallways, reminding us of the hotels in Hawaii.
There were too many great photo opps inside the building, and this is looking from those little shops into the lobby. The white tier-type construction is a waterfall and boats in the lower right of the photo can take guests to one of the dining rooms or just on an excursion around the property. And the entrance has lots of date palms and flowers, and that wonderful lush green grass.
But grass isn't the only plant used to beautify the entrances to the subdivisions, country clubs, and hotels. Several use native plants arranged nicely such as on the left which is the desert-type landscaping following the long entrance to a posh golf/country club. And there we are tucked into our space among the date palms.
And another shot to give you an idea of what a date palm farm used to look like. Today they're planted closer together, but you get the idea. And then it was off to play tourist--to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Park. Only we were fascinated by the model trains.
The miniature towns, the "wreck" with the ambulance, dead cow in the road, the police car, the wrecker towing the car back onto the road, the gravel car with "Spokane, Portland and Seattle" on it, and the new construction where Barb said I'd be happy working -- they have plenty of outhouses!!
After enjoying "The Alps," it was off to enjoy the "real" reason we came. This little guy is one of the smallest raptors in this area.
The American Kestrel has been called a sparrow hawk because of its size, but it's still a beautiful bird. We saw one a bit larger (probably a female) sitting on a railing at the Marriott Hotel the day before.
The Living Desert wasn't limited to only the native plants and animals, as this graceful Serval will attest. Both stripes and spots in its fur. And there's a raven sizing me up in one of the aviaries. It was fooling around with a buried rock and I was wondering why, so I took my key and dug around the rock to loosen it, then stepped back to see what the bird would do.
It went back to the rock immediately, pulled it out of the ground, fussed with the hole a bit, tossed the rock aside and then sort of just stood there eyeing me. I bent over slowly, stopping whenever the feathers on its head would come up a little until it settled back down, and then would approach a little further.
And eventually got to the point where I was stroking it gently on its back. At that point Barby came in for a better picture of the bird and I stood up to relieve the cramps of an awkward position held for too long.
A family came into the aviary, and I figured the noise and activity would frighten the bird off, but the kids quieted down immediately, and the young lady wanted to know how I was doing that. I told her to go slowly and stop when the head feathers came up, and pretty soon she was touching the bird. Each of the 3 kids got a chance, with the bird hardly moving at all. And there's Barby sitting by some Purple Prickly cactus. We also enjoyed Beaver Tail, Dinner Plate, Rabbit Ears, Potato, and colorful other names of local cacti. All mostly round in their shape and colors ranging from purple to light green.
A wonderful specimen of a Golden Eagle, and there's Barb sitting by more cacti. These are mostly "barrel" cacti as this is a Barrel Cacti Garden, round in shape, and mostly green.
And here's Barb standing in some cactus, showing me what it looks like. And of course I had to take a close-up of the little buds. And behind it is one called a Potato Cactus. At least that's what the sign would have you believe.
A good shot of a couple of the parks logo, the Cheetah. And the "Jenkins Family Petting Kraal" in the African Village.
The two of us, our Christmas tree, the crèche, and smiles. And then to a "Windmill Tour" that I found to be interesting to the max. In the early '80's we had the opportunity to invest in a project that was building wind generators in the Tehachapi area of California. We were slightly skeptical of the details of the deal, and in particular I was bothered by the government subsidy of the technology, largely because of the infancy of the technology. But the idea of using wind to generate electricity is one we embrace as much if not more than using solar power. On the right is a picture of one of the older (failed) units. (And I should mention that according to our guide, those early schemes and companies all failed when the govt. pulled the subsidies.) The three blades are lying on the ground to the left, the hub is next (the rusted part) connected to the transmission (the green part) and the generator (the black part). And in the background is part of the "farm" that is "raising" electricity.
A better shot of the three blades from the failed unit, and then a similar technology in operation. The blades on these units are about 17 feet long, and the hub of the operational unit is about 48' off the ground.
One problem is the vibration started as the wind hits one blade differently then the others, resulting in broken blades in the early attempts. A more modern unit is on the right, with there being a large rubber connector between the drive shaft from the hub and the transmission. Here the connector is the large black thing just to the left of the blue thing with the number 2 on it. Number 3 is the generator. The smaller generator attached to the larger one is to generate electricity to excite the fields of the magnets inside the large generator. Making electricity is simple. Take a coil of wire and a magnet and move them past each other. In this case, the little generator is "making" the magnet which is permanently mounted inside the larger generator, and the drive shaft is moving the coils of wire which are attached to it.
Yup, that's us letting the 17' blades look big, and then looking east across the "farm". Over 4,000 generators here of all kinds, sizes, age, and design. There are three with 50' blades with the hub 180' from the ground! These wind generators provide only about 1% of the U.S. demand; it is considered an alternate form of energy. However, none of them are built in the U.S. even though there is a great demand for them; in fact, they are now found in 37 of the 50 states. Denmark and Germany are two of the major producers, but they can't keep up with the demand.
On the left is Bob Patterson, the tour guide and a walking encyclopedia, and on the right is a two bladed unit leaned over for repairs. These fell out of favor when the "stoppers" on the end of the blade became a maintenance headache. Seems they're a bit too sophisticated for operating in these desert conditions. They are hung with a hinge point and a spring to hold them in this position. Then when the blades would turn too fast, centrifugal force would move them into a position acting as a paddle against the wind, slowing the blade to a safe speed. But they'd get stuck open, or wouldn't open at all. Besides, the tower was facing the wind, and the blade behind it, causing a wind shadow for the lower blade, making them oscillate wildly.
A close-up of the unique drive shaft/transmission unit, with the generator on the end. And then a more modern and in-use unit. The hubs can rotate the blades to control the speed, (left end) the large transmission which turns two generators. The blades face the wind in these units, eliminating the "dirty" air from the tower.
On the left are the two generators, and on the right one of the blades.
I was standing in the same place for these pictures, showing the ability of the units to turn into the wind. There is a small weather station mounted on the top of the nacelle that measures wind speed and direction. It in turn gives instructions to the computer that controls the angle of the blades to the wind, and the direction the unit is facing. On the right you can see half of the clam-shell nacelle open. The tour guide said this happens once in a while when some maintenance person forgets to lock it down and the wind blows hard. It takes a wind of about 7 MPH to get any action at all, and about a 50 MPH wind to get it to shut down by turning the blades into the wind and the rotation to stop.