Trip to Tehachapi 05-08-08

I have not been to Tehachapi for about five years and then I only stopped for gas while driving east on Hwy 58. This time I saw an entirely different section and it is lovely. Mabel's daughter and her family live in a gated community in this wide valley with several lakes, a golf course, equestrian trails, etc.

You can see it was very hazy, maybe it always is, I don't remember that from my previous visits, but they may have been different times of the year.

There is pasture, apple orchards and some crops, but the surrounding hills are typical of native California flora and have heavier vegetation on the east and north sides and mostly grass on the west and south, which get much more sun.

I drove I-15 to US395 to CA58 and approached the town from the east. Along the ridges of the Tehachapi Pass are wind farms (although I think wind orchards would be more apt) that take advantage of the very strong winds that dominate the weather. You can click on the images to enlarge them.

It is somewhat mesmerizing to look at the propellers going around, seemingly at different speeds, but all going the same direction, of course. They are so white against the hills and the sky, they really dominate the view. There are many wind farms in California, all working to make power for the enormous and continually growing population. The power company envisions in the future fifty square miles of wind farms, which would make this the largest wind farm in the country