Backroads in Oregon

Wyoming

Mesas on high

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Along the Interstate in Wyoming, the scenery melds into moving pictures. What woke me up was  the appearance of mesas and buttes. The deep rich browns and bronzes and sometimes faces immortalized in rock. I love these formations.

Power to what?



As we drove through Wyoming we observed an interesting lesson in evolution of power generation. Looking northwest we saw a huge hovering cloud of black smoke. My first thought was 'Fire!' But as we drove closer, a large coal energy plant was the source. Thick black smoke poured out of the high stacks and hung suspended over the brown surface.

Ironically, on the opposite side of the highway was another power plant, but powered by natural gas. At least the air was cleaner.

Then several miles ahead were familiar wind turbines, which I call Texas Sunflowers because fields of them are so common. I am curious where all this generated energy goes. I can't imagine that it is all used by communities in Wyoming. Or perhaps we merely traveled through their region where energy production is dense.

It certainly makes me more energy conscious than I was.












Next: Utah and Idaho
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