Friday, October 12 was a travel day for us. After a very comfortable night at the Twin Arrows Casino in Flagstaff, AZ, we headed south to New Mexico for the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. As we drove along I-40 in New Mexico we kept seeing long train after long train after long train, which, of course, made Pam curious. Thank goodness for Google! Turns out this is one of the busiest train corridors in the U.S. Ninety-two trains per day travel alongside I-40. The average train is 8,000 feet – nearly 1.5 miles – long! How would you like to have to wait to cross the tracks for one of those puppies?
Another item of interest was a huge field of solar panels in Gallup, New Mexico. Google to the rescue again! Standard Solar, a solar energy company, is financing and operating a 31-acre solar farm that is expected to generate enough electricity to power 2,500 homes in Gallup, saving the city about $785,000/year and providing almost 10% of its total energy. There are 28,896 panels. The really big deal is that it is anticipated that this solar farm will reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 3.5 million pounds/year!
So even when all you’re doing is riding along in your automobile there are things to be learned!
JodockWorldTravel 