I recently took a road trip to Brentwood TN to see my son Jeff and his family. I made a few short stops along the way to see the country side and take a few photos. The 1st shot of the day was Mt. Humphrey’s with an elevation of 12,637 feet it is the highest point in AZ. This was taken off of Route 40 just west of town. I know it is a normal scene for Northern Arizonans but for everyone else it is always something to behold.
From there I stopped at Winslow, Arizona the iconic route 66 town about half way between Flagstaff and the New Mexico off of I40. For all my younger readers the Eagles had a hit song “Take It Easy”.
“Well, I’m a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my lord
In a flatbed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a look at me ”
Moving on down the road I spent some time at the Petrified Forest National Park. Any time I can spend in a National Park is time well spent. It was high noon so there wasn’t the great light that we want when taking Landscape photos but sometimes you have to take what you can get. The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic, about 225 million years ago. The sediments containing the fossil logs are part of the widespread and colorful Chinle Formation, from which the Painted Desert gets its name.
After an evening in Albuquerqie, Route 40 was closed due to the biggest snow storm in over 100 years across the panhandle of Texas I was able to get back on the road about 1:30PM. They detoured traffic to the south through NM and east towards Dallas. I took a few shots of some towns on Route 285. I always wonder what a person does for a living in a town that looks like only about 5 or 6 houses are inhabited and how they get their groceries. One such town was Encino, NM. It has a population of 82 since 2000 and has a Fire Department and one business, Dairy Queen. The main source of employment is Oil and Gas mining and Construction.
Moving on down the road into Texas it was a completely different story. Lots of activity and commerce. Oil fields, ranges of cattle and farming were abundant but what I wasn’t expecting was the miles of Windmills creating another source of energy. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state. Wind power accounted for 6.9% of the electricity generated in Texas during 2011.
Texas farmers may lease their land to wind developers for either a set rental per turbine or for a small percentage of gross annual revenue from the project.[14] This offers farmers a fresh revenue stream without impacting traditional farming and grazing practices. Although leasing arrangements vary widely, the U. S. Government Accountability Office reported in 2004 that a farmer who leases land to a wind project developer can generally obtain royalties of $3,000 to $5,000 per turbine per year in lease payments. These figures are rising as larger wind turbines are being produced and installed.
There were also a large number of Hawks that make their nests on top of Electric Poles along the road.
Finally arriving in TN I was thrilled with the prize at the end of the trip:
