Hi All,

Well it was another great day in seismoland. Though I gave Don a lot of grief on the hairpin turns on the way to The Geysers Geothermal Fields, it was well worth it. I mean the trip to the fields, not giving Don a lot of grief. I told him earlier it was good I don't have long fingernails anymore, or he might have needed emergency medical care when we arrived. He kept saying he might have to stop to get the circulation going in his arm again, but I let it go for just a bit and when the color returned to his arm, I knew he was all right.

Enough already! The drive was spectacular by anyone's true appreciation of nature. There were plentiful rock displays amidst treelined roads. We made it to the Calpine Geothermal Office for a two o'clock tour a little early and had plenty of time to enjoy the visitor center. It has a huge room with a raised relief map on display in the center area with buttons you can push to light up the geyser station which is being referenced in the material along the side of the table rail. They had a tiny gift area, but just large enough that I found the perfect gift for the person who wins the 200,000th visitor contest. It a book called "A Geysers Album, five eras of geothermal history." It has many photos circa 1800's and the background on how the geysers developed.

Next we were led to a very new model bus. It was so new you could smell the scent of the dye in the fabric. All air conditioned and marvelously comfortable with excellent views. Upon boarding the bus we were handed hard hats and safety glasses. When we got under way we had various power plants and various types of pipelines explained to us as to their use. It only took about 15 minutes to reach our destination which was one of the smaller power plants. The Geysers Geothermal Field sits at the base of Cobb Mountain which is part of the Maacama Mountain Range of which there are three dormant volcanoes; Mt. St. Helena, Knochti and one other we can't remember.

We made a circular drive around the property. Our first view was the piping system which collects the gas from beneath the surface. This is superheated water which turns to gas which is actually dry steam. It goes through a filtration system to filter out small rocks and sand and then is piped over to the geothermal plant where it is directed into a dual turbine system. Each turbine, weighs about eight tons and connected to each turbine is a generator. The turbines turn at about 1400 rmp and connected directly to the generator by a shaft, this turns the armature in the generator which generates electricity.

After this view we went below to the power station itself and met in a meeting room and had the entire process explained to us before we took our tour of the power station. We were warned that the sound inside was much higher than commercials on television and were offered ear plugs, which we graciously accepted. We were also told that if we heard sirens we were to run faster than the tour guide.

After we put on our helmets, safety glass and inserted our ear plugs we were on our way to the station, with one last warning, that if we saw any rattlesnakes to advise the tour guide and he would call someone else to collect it.

The tour inside was very interesting as the equipment is far larger than one imagines from the size of the exterior of the building. Each step of the process is labeled for easy viewing, with the exception of the basketball hoop and balls in the center of the room. We learned that each operator must be on duty for 12 hours at a time and as one can get bored and need exercise, the equipment is placed there to keep them alert.

There are 3 master computers that control this facility and they work in tandem. In the event that two of the computers are lost or go down for some reason, one computer can operate the entire system on its own. We were told that on one occasion a 3.4 magnitude earthquake did upset the balance of one of the turbines and it had to be shut down. There are many research groups which have an active interest here and there are more than 100 seismographs in the area. Rather impressive.

There are 32 power plants in operation, but as for viewing steam rising all over the place, it does not occur during warm weather. We were told the magma is from 5 to 7 miles deep. The wells are drilled down about 14000 feet. The wells are lined all the way down until they hit green rock where they have no lining. That is where the steam is collected.

While one needs security in many areas. In this one, it's not from people but from the wild critters. Mountain lions are the predominant problem along with other wild creatures in the area. Today when we left the tour driver had to be certain the electric gate was closed as not to allow any animals to enter the premises and cause the person on duty an unexpected fright. They do have a system in place in the event the person on duty does not answer pages which are broadcast throughout the facility. If they do not receive a response from the operator, they will immediately send medical technicians and other staff.

After the tour Don had some time to speak with the tour operator and was shown a list of chemicals they normally runs tests for. Helium 3 was not on the list, but the gentlemen said he would get back to Don and let him know if they are doing testing for this element.

So as you can see, we learned a lot, had a great excursion on a beautiful day and truly enjoyed this experience and would highly recommend it to anyone. As soon as we get the photos developed, they will be posted on our web page and will let you know when they are ready for viewing.

No Wahoo's for the day, but a definite, thumbs up!

Petra & Don