June 27,2008

We continued our journey west today to Welcome, Minnesota. The population of this friendly city is 721. We took a leisurely walk around town and found a couple parks and a water fountain built in 1914 for people and horses.





Lately, we have seen lots of wind generators along the way and today we had the opportunity to talk with two men from Texas who work on them. These generators stand 300 feet tall and the blades are 150 feet long. This one is used to power two ethanol refineries in the area.

This is at the base looking up to the top 300 foot above. The wire coming from the top at the rear is attached to a winch and is used to lift tools to the top and back down again.

If you look closely at the center of the propeller, you can see an open door. This is access to the outside of the generator.

This is one 50 foot section of ladder the men climb to reach the top. The safety cable in the center of the ladder is attached to the harness the men wear while working.

It was nice to learn more about the generators from the people who work on them. We were definitely impressed with the large size and output of these mega generators.