Ginkgo Petrified Forest

My Father-in-Law also took me to the nearby Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. Who knew the desolate land of Central Washington was once occupied by big trees!

We went on a hike  in this park while waiting for the Tour to start at the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility. The Ginkgo tree is all but extinct. I enjoyed this day with my Father-in-Law. THANKS!

Sometime during this fun filled day we had lunch at one of the Burger joints in the big town of Vantage. Now, I am not a big restaurant goer. Mainly because of money, but another reason is because I am not impressed with the food. It isn't anything special. I don't know if I was really hungry, didn't think I was, or what but this Chili Cheese Burger I had was quite scrumptious. In fact, I was wanting to go back. I still do, but the novelty has passed with time. I'm sure I might be able to break down and go again. Yes, it was that good.

If I Had a Windmill...

Last month I had the opportunity to go to the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility with my Father-in-Law. It is located in Central Washington and is a pretty amazing site. We went up to the site twice. The second trip was so that we could go on the tour.

The facts I gleaned from the tour and the ones I have just looked up different. So instead of facts, let us consider them estimates.

From base to tip of the blade is around 351 ft. The foundation is anywhere from 25 to 32 ft. deep. The top is fully rotational, to an extent. (Eventually it has to unwind but can rotate in a circle a few times before having to reset itself.) The blades also can change their pitch. Both things are necessary because these beasts can not operate in winds exceeding 55 mph or below 9 mph. The winds in the area have been recorded to reach as high as 90 mph.

The ladder up is approximately 221 ft. up. In the Windmill we were taken in, while on the tour, there was a small elevator. It goes slower then if you were to climb up. Also, it is unable to go clear to the top because the 'tower' narrows the further up it reaches. The elevator is there, from what I can remember, for 'important people', news crews, when it was getting built and they did a story on them, and training. Or most likely because they were itching to spend money.

The blades are approximately 125 ft. long. This blade was damaged on the trip. A crane operator dropped it. I wish I could remember how much it cost. Most the parts came from Europe, Denmark I believe.

There are 149 operating turbines. Each one has their own 'weather station' at the top that allows the turbine to 'follow' the wind. Watching the blades in the winds can be eerie. They are quite flexible.

One turbine produces energy enough for around 460 houses a year. It is nice to know about this clean source of energy but we need to be careful about it also. We wouldn't want to change the rotation of the Earth!

"Ooops!"

So I just signed off of Skype with Ella. She was on the PC, I was on the Mac. I couldn't hear or see her so Amanda typed what was going on. When I signed off of Skype Ella goes: "Ooops!" than she goes "More. More." I LOVE MY ELLA!

A Stroll with Ella

On Saturday, January 16, Ella and I took a little stroll. Amanda was out grocery shopping and I was at home with Ella. Since we watch all our TV on the internet, and because we got a sweet TV now, I have been wanting to find a way to hook our MacBook up to the TV. Amanda told me I should take Ella with me to 'Best Buy' and check out my options. I was playing the Nintendo Wii at the time. I decided that was a great activity to do with Ella. I don't know if Amanda was thinking I would take the stroller or not but I decided against it. So Ella put her coat and boots on, and I put my jacket and shoes on, and off we went.

I am amazed, and pleased to state that Ella walked the whole way, her hand in mine. Ok, to be totally truthful I lifted her over a small wall and a couple of puddles but that was it. The rest of the way she happily walked, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Even after the 0.7 miles she enjoyed getting into things at the store. Yes, 0.7 MILES! Here is a map to prove it.

Point "A" is where we live, Point "B" is 'Best Buy'.

Car Accident!

So the day before my birthday somebody was nice enough to give me a gift. Here it is:

So I know this entry is over 2 months late but I told Dad I was going to post the pictures.

All of us were in the car. We were pulling out of our little apartment complex when this happened. We had to cross a busy road and there isn't really a safe way to do it unless you take a right, go down the road a ways, and if you get lucky flip a U. I thought I could go so I started. Another car showed up so I stopped. The car behind us thought we went and gunned it, thus hitting us. For being so close, he hit us hard. It was a couple of "punk" dressed kids but they were surprisingly good about it all.

Well, now it is fixed. It may have possibly fixed our alignment issues too because the last time we checked it is much better. Before it couldn't be fixed with shimmies, now, apparently, it can. I will have to show you the difference later because I don't have the information with me right now.

Did You Know?

Take a close look at this picture.

Was I the only one that missed that Nathan had a go-tee? The funny thing is...

I was THERE!

Lost and GOTTEN!

So several weeks ago we were up visiting Grandma and Grandpa Winston's. Amanda was preparing for the day in the bathroom. Ella was helping by watching her rings. She had them in her hands and was going towards Amanda when she stumbled. One, or more, of the rings flew out of her hands. One of them, yes, it would be the wedding ring, landed in the air vent that comes out from the floor. This air vent did not have one of those 'traps'. It was just a tube that acted like one of the slides you go down at a waterpark.
I tried reaching my arm down to get it. I was able to get my entire arm down put the angle was too steep. The ring slid further down than what even my "monkey arms", as Nathan once called them, could reach. We also tried a vacuum. It was Grandpa's idea and was a good idea, but didn't work. Luckily they had a crawl space. It was quite clean down there. I ended up having to undo the tubing from the vent and retape it back up. Anyways, here is some pictures of the experience.