California, Palm Springs - Windmills and Village Fest

Mike has always been interested in alternative energy, (would love an electric car), so I decided to take him on a tour of the windmill farm here for his Christmas present.

Between the coast and the Coachella Valley lies the San Gorgonio Pass. A railway, Hwy 10 and a lot of wind funnel up through it. It has been the site of wind turbines since they were originally conceived as it is one of the windiest places in the U.S.

The tour started in a building in the midst of the wind farm where we watched a video (promoting the wind energy sector job opportunities) and  then listened to a lecture about the evolution of the technology.

Randy, the tour guide, then took us outside to look at the various pieces of old windmills while he outlined the advances made and problems with the various designs.

Most of the older windmills have been dismantled but some still remain as reminders of the early technology and some because of the expense of taking them down. New contracts require that the developer assign funds for their disposal before they are allowed to build them.

Next we all got into a bus to drive around the wind farm and look at the different examples.

Although this style is still in use it is considered a failed design as the vibration of the blades loosen the bolts of the supports and they have to be regularly tightened.

There are over 3,000 windmills in the pass, powering the Coachella Valley and beyond.

The modern ones are larger, more efficient and produce more power and as they gradually replace the older ones there will actually be fewer windmills producing more energy.

When asked about why some of them were not turning, Randy explained that some may be decommissioned, some may be down for regular maintenance and some may have been turned off because there is currently an excess of power and the storage facilities are full. He said the biggest challenge for both solar and wind production is how to store it if it is not immediately needed.

We also saw 2 solar farms, utilizing land between the windmills and this, a Compressed Natural Gas facility that can be turned on at times of peak usage. It can start producing energy with a 10 minute start up time.

The tour took about 2 hours, was entertaining and informative and ended with a stop at a little market for a complimentary date shake.

 We were home in time for a swim with the kids and then Chris and Jason arrived and we drove into downtown Palm Springs, where, every Thursday night, one of the main roads is closed to vehicles and filled with tents for Village Fest.

There are buskers (I am not sure if the picture is clear enough but this guy was playing guitar with a live rabbit sitting on his head)

artists and food tents. The kids both were given American flags and waved them enthusiastically all evening.

Lots of people and dogs.

Plenty of food choices. I ate Greek ( had to share my Baklava with Avery and Maya while they waited for their meal - sigh). The kids had pogos and funnel cake, Chris and Jason had burgers and Mike and Aimee; Mexican.

 We met a very nice group of United Air stewards who gave Chris some free drink vouchers when they heard she was flying home United.