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June 23, 2001 Today’s adventure included traveling from Sauk Center to Pipestone. Along the way we passed through a wind farm. We found out later from some literature given to us at our campground that this wind farm is called The Pipestone County Wind Project. There are 400 towers along a 30-mile stretch of Buffalo Ridge, an area of high ground near Ruthton, Minnesota. Each tower is 168 feet high. Each of the three blades is 82 feet long. With a blade at the highest position the over all height is 257 feet. The towers are a minimum of 552 feet apart. Only 2% of the farm land is lost to wind farming. Any new towers must be built in winter to avoid harming the crops beneath them. Each blade weighs 5566 pounds. The total weight of tower and blades is over 200,000 pounds! The base of each tower is 415 tons of concrete and 4 tons of rebar. Each turbine can generate enough electricity for 250 homes. These turbines are the largest manufactured in the United States. We also read that this area of the country is called “The Wind Power Capital of the Midwest.” I believe it. The only other place we’ve seen a wind farm is in Canada on our way to Banff National Park. We will stay at the campground here for two nights. The sign on the front door says, “Welcome to the nicest little campground in the nicest little town in Minnesota!” It was a very nice campground. But it is even hotter here… in the 90’s. But Ed Emerick was determined to make his trailer sparkle in the sun despite the heat. We all very graciously sat in the shade and supervised! He was heartbroken to discover that the hard water had left spots and streaks. Kevin Allen suggested using a vinegar and water solution. Wipe on – Wipe off. It worked great! Shiny again. He was a happy camper. Later we all agreed to go out for pizza. Yay! When we arrived back from dinner, it had cooled down considerably so Scott and I washed our trailer. Peer pressure! I should mention that we had to pay extra to wash vehicles. $5 for one, $8 for two. We washed both the trailer and the truck. It got too dark for us to notice if we had any spots or streaks! Later, Kevin Allen gave the Emerick’s and us a private showing of the first 100 Power Point slides he made of the pictures he took of last year’s Wagon Wheels Caravan. Good memories. It got cool enough for us to turn off our air conditioning and leave the windows open all night. We are grateful for the breeze. We are also grateful for the huge motor home next to us that is blocking the light from the huge arc light nearest to us! --Scott & Lise <>< S.L.SCHEUERMANN@WORLDNET.ATT.NET |