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Carlsbad and Oceanside, California Places Visited:
The wind is howling. It blew relentlessly all day yesterday and rocked the motorhome until after 11PM last night. We are in Desert Hot Springs and located in that wind tunnel where all the wind turbines are. I suppose sustained heavy winds are to be expected when staying in Desert Hot Springs. We did a wind generator tour this morning. It was a great tour. The tour guide did an excellent job. We could tell he was someone who loved his job. San Gorgonio Wind Park in California is the oldest wind farm in the US
While those wind generators do not look very big when viewing them from I-10 many of them are giants. There are some near the interstate that sport 20-year old technology that only have blades of around 20' to 30' and only generate 350KW of electricity, however they are in the minority.
Mike & Joyce with the San Gorgonio Wind Park in California
Many of the new generators have 80' to 90' blades and produce 1,500KW of electricity. These are serious wind generating machines. The blades in this pic are each 90' long. The necelle (housing around the generators) are large enough to drive a full-size 15-passenger van into. In other words they are BIG. They just look small. According to our docent, many states could produce more wind generated electricity than California but those states do not have transmission lines in place to transport the generated electricity to the urban areas that consume it, and transmission lines are very expensive to build. The generators on those truly big units are the size of a small bus. I guess they would have to be to generate 1,500KW. The large blades, 80' to 90' in length are not only heavy they have to be transported on loooooong trailers as wide loads. Most of the blades are made of fiberglass and have to be transported to the wind fields from areas of the country that specialize in fiberglass manufacture. Mike & Joyce with the San Gorgonio Wind Park in California
These wind generators are not owned by a power company they are owned by individual investors and companies. There are over 80 wind farms in the valley with a wide variety of owners that all sell electricity to area power grid. According to our docent there are over 4,000 wind generators with many more coming on line. These 4,000 wind generators are producing more electricity than a medium sized nuclear power plant.
After the wind generator tour we headed to the Palm Springs aerial Tram. This tram is located a few miles west of Palm Springs off SR-111. A steep drive in your automobile takes you to 2,643' where you catch the tram. The Tram passes through five unique life zones from the hot Sonoran Desert to snow covered alpine peaks atop Mt. San Jacinto at 8, 516'. View from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California
This is a view from the tram looking down at the bottom station, parking lot and road leading to the bottom station.
Joyce at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California
At the top they have viewpoints, two restaurants, gift shop, natural history museum and a theatre showing a special documentary film on the history of the Tramway. For the more adventuresome you can hike away from the tram or during the winter go for cross country skiing.
Mike & Joyce at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California
It was warm to hot at the bottom but by the time we got to the top we were in snow and it was chilly especially with the wind. We could see the Salton Sea as well as all the cities in the Coachella Valley on the way up. The thing that sets this tram ride apart from others is the rotating gondola. The gondolas holding 80 passengers each make about two complete revolutions during the spectacular 10-minute, two and one-half mile aerial trip. It is an odd feeling to be in that tram as it slides up or down the mountain while spinning around. Of course that feature means that your view is constantly changing. By just standing in one place the entire panorama passes by your eyes faster than you can process grandeur of it all. We dined at the summit with a wonderful view of the Coachella Valley. It just doesn't get much better.
Saturday, April 30 Carlsbad, California.-- $Free. Boondocking in friends driveway N33° 9.960' W117° 21.015'. We moved the motorhome to Carlsbad this morning. The winds through the valley have been so bad the last few days I wanted to get the motorhome through this venture before the winds started howling again. We didn't manage to get through the pass before the winds started but we did get through before they started howling. The wind generators were all turning when we transited the valley indicating at least 15-mph. Carlsbad is located on the coast 35-miles north of San Diego. In fact Carlsbad is one of the northern cities in San Diego County. The drive over was uneventful with most of it on the interstate system. In California interstates are known as "freeways". Our friends Ken & Katharine live in a new home on a cul-de-sac several blocks from the ocean. The cul-de-sac has one paved RV site tucked away for the use of homeowners. We are staying in that RV site. That is so nice since RV Parks would be costing $40 or more. Our friends and tour guides Ken & Kauleen
After visiting with our friends they took us for a walk through the town and down to the ocean where we walked along the beach for five miles or so stopping to eat in a fish place with a great view.
Later Ken & Katharine took us for a long drive where we got a first hand view of the Oceanside Marina then the Famous Oceanside Pier (the longest pier along the Pacific).
Then two blocks south of the Oceanside
Pier they pointed out the little blue house on the corner made famous
as the house that Tom Cruise lived in. At least the little house his
character in the movie Top Gun lived in. I can still see him jumping
on his motor cycle and speeding off down the street.
Our friends have told us about the annual Carlsbad Village Fair held in the streets near their home every year. Carlsbad closes down city streets and 900 plus vendors set up booths selling everything from Animals to Xylophones. We walked over early enjoying breakfast in a quaint corner café then proceeded to take in each and every one of the 900 booths. We weren't buying but people-watching was fun. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70's. A natural air conditioning was fluttering in from the ocean only a few short blocks away. Later in the day our friends put us in their fancy jeep and took us for a ride to see the area. Brilliant colors of ranunculus flowers at Flower Farm east of Carlsbad, California
There was a flower farm west of town that was simply indescribable. We wandered around in the retail area and resisted walking through the fields where were charging a fee to walk amongst the flowers. Instead I found an opening in the hedge and took this pic. The fields are ranunculus flowers in brilliant golden yellow, bright orange, soft rose, pastel salmon, intense pink, flaming red and pure glistening white. These fields have been compared to the famous tulip fields of Holland. Walking through the fields used to be free until someone said they should charge to walk in the fields.
Brilliant colors of ranunculus flowers at Flower Farm east of Carlsbad, California
This is what the ranunculus flowers look like up close. The colors were just as bold up close as in the field.
California coast around Carlsbad and Oceanside
After enjoying the flowers we wandered south down the coast since we had gone north the other day.
Beach at Oceanside, California
They took us into several State Parks right on the ocean. Both of these State Parks had RV-sites for around $28 per-night with no utilities. The Harbor at Oceanside has overnight spaces for $10 after 6PM. I suspect some people park on the streets during the day then move to the Harbor at night.
Monday, May 2, Carlsbad, California.-- $Free. Boondocking in friends driveway N33° 9.960' W117° 21.015'. Ken and Joyce at Café 101 in Oceanside, California a national icon featured on the Travel Channel
We ate breakfast with Ken at Café 101 in Oceanside a national icon featured more than once on the Travel Channel. Outside Café 101 sports a beach mural while inside the walls are adorned with classic pictures from the 1960's. This place is truly a holdover from the "good-old-days".
The remainder of our day was spent at the San Diego Wild Animal Park located about 30-miles east of Carlsbad. Ruddy duck in one of the ponds at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
Ruddy ducks are small ducks with conspicuous white cheaks and the powder blue bill.
The Wild Animal Park is one of those huge attractions that has so much to see and do that it is not possible to do it all in one day but Joyce and I gave it a try.
I wouldn't venture a guess as to how many miles we walked today but it would probably scare both of us.
Black Crowned Night Heron at the San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
The bird to the right is a black crowned night heron. They are nocturnal birds and rarely seen during the day. Strangely we saw eight or ten around the park today plus several nesting in one of the rookeries located in the park. These are native birds that can come and go from the park at will.
Exotic Goat camoflauged among the rocks at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
This looks like an orchid tree bloom that are common in south Florida
In between walking to exhibits we took the mono-rail around the park twice. By doing that we were off our feet for two hours since it takes the mono-rail an hour to make one round trip. This looks like the orchid tree we see in south Florida.
Rhinoceros mom and babies at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
This is spring and the park is proud of the number of babies being produced, 26 so far this year. There are a number of rhinoceros babies, an elephant baby and all sorts of others.
Egret rookery at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
This egret rookery in trees above one of the ponds is not part of the "babies" they are proud of. These egrets and some herons not pictured have decided to nest in the wild animal park and just add to the ambience.
Landscaping at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California was well done
I think this is some form of agave bloom. If not please let me know what it is.
Landscaping at San Diego Wild Animal Park 30-miles east of Carlsbad, California
In addition to the animals the plants are magnificent. I enjoyed
them as much as the wildlife. I think these are called red hot poker.
Until next time remember how good life is. More California AdventuresAdventures by State ** More 2005 Travel Adventures
Mike & Joyce Hendrix
Mike & Joyce Hendrix who we are We hope you liked this page. If you do you might be interested in some of our other Travel Adventures: Mike & Joyce Hendrix's home page Travel Adventures by Year ** Travel Adventures by State ** Plants ** Marine-Boats ** Geology ** Exciting Drives ** Cute Signs ** RV Subjects ** Miscellaneous Subjects
We would love to hear from you......just put "info" in the place of "FAKE" in this address: FAKE@travellogs.us Until next time remember how good life is.
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