Our weekend adventure

This past weekend we drove out to Wilson, TX (pop. 562) for our niece's 2nd birthday party and to spend some time with Chris' side of the family.

Wilson is just about 20 miles outside of Lubbock, and is a good 5 hour drive for us from Dallas/Fort Worth area. What a drive!

Unfortch, I did not take out my camera to take pictures along the way because in all the previous times I've tried, they..... well, they sucked. So, these pictures are not from me (as if you couldn't tell because they are actually pretty good!).

To give you a better description of the area to an outsider, which I am to this part of Texas, I found this account on another blog that I thought really summed it up well:

Yesterday began southeast of Lubbock with a nice sunrise to the left and dense fields of cotton to the right. Smell was the dominant sense, though, as I passed through a long dusty cloud emanating from a compost factory. Whew. That was followed by long sulfur-y miles, apparently due to the petroleum being produced at closely spaced pump jacks.

This is not to say that it stinks out there - it really doesn't. It's just that you'll get these "whiffs" from time to time. It's a dry and pretty flat terrain, with cap rocks and wide valleys. You can see for miles and miles.

Along the way, just as you pass out of Abilene, you will start seeing and come across the "wind farms". Giant windmills to harness wind energy for electricity. Did you know that Texas produces the most wind power of any state?? This picture below doesn't do justice to the sheer size of these things!

This is ONE blade being transported.

All in all, we had a great - albeit HOT - weekend. It was nice to get out of town and see his family, and I can brag that my cooing/moving baby-doll present was a hit with our niece!

Picture credits: Photos 1 & 2, Photo 3, Photo 4, Photos 5 & 8, Photos 6 & 7