Wind Turbines

On the way to Leesburg, Virginia to see my son I could see these wind turbines on a far off mountain. I so wanted to be close enough to get some kind of photo. However, they were many, many miles away. It was shortly after seeing them that I took the photo of the blades being hauled on the back of a truck. (posted here)

That first night in Leesburg I got on the computer after everyone had gone to bed and checked a few of my favorite blogs. Imagine my surprise to see wind turbines on b13's blog. He had been in California and had a wonderful photo of them. (see here) I was happy for him and sad for me. In truth I was just a little bit envious. Then, taking a different route back home brought me to Mount Storm, West Virginia and the turbines you see in the photos above.

To get these photos I zoomed in from the main road. As is often the case on this particular mountain range it was a cloudy hazy day over the mountains and I don't have an excellent zoom range on my camera. Leaving the main road and traveling down a rural road we were able to get much closer even though we were looking through trees.

That's when it happened. My camera battery died. Did I remember to take my charger with me that is adapted for the Jeep? That would be a resounding NO! I was never so disappointed but I got to see them and did get a couple of photographs. They aren't the greatest but they are proof I was there!

Like me, most of you do not go anywhere without your camera. If I can pass on one word of advice, ok four words, REMEMBER YOUR CHARGER TOO!!!

On The Way To Leesburg

A couple of weeks ago I went to Leesburg, Virginia to visit my son and daughter-in-law. I took lots of photos along, during, and on the way back. This week I thought I would share with you some of the many "finds" that captured my attention.
I'm sure you're wondering why I posted this lovely scene of a fence and wildflowers. Well, as will become apparent, it is a necessity to have a clean windshield when one is trying to point and shoot through the windshield while on a four lane highway. (I was in the passenger's seat so I wasn't driving and shooting at the same time.) This scene was beside the road when the windshield got cleaned because I was losing my senses shooting around bug splatters! The fence separated the Interstate from a Christmas tree farm. So clean windshield, shoot a nice landscape and on we go!

"Going Down That Long Lonesome Highway"

(anybody remember the TV show Bronson)

This is what you might call an odd shot. Can you guess what it is? This was the second of three trucks we passed. Each was carrying a blade from a wind turbine. Miles back we had seen wind turbines on top of a mountain. They were pretty far away. Stands to reason this was one being transported to be erected with those. This wasn't something you see everyday; but I was quick and caught all three actually. After the first one that I almost didn't get I watched for more and was rewarded with the other two. Not great shots, but I thought interesting.

Sideling Hill is one of the best rock exposures in the Northeastern United States. The cut reveals a 350 million year old section of rock which was folded by a massive compression of the earth's crust some 245 million years ago leading to the cut's distinctive "U" shaped fold which is called a syncline. The Syncline was exposed when 10 million tons of rock was removed to complete the construction of Interstate 68 in the late 1980’s. This is in the state of Maryland not far from the West Virginia border.

Putting aside the quality of the photos I hope you enjoyed this first stage of my trip. Tomorrow we'll be in the historic city of Leesburg. Hope to see you then.