Long Damned Dam Outing!

Today we took a pretty long day trip to see some dams that we hadn't yet taken the kids to. We left Entiat, and traveled up 97A to Wells Dam. This dam has extensive fish spawning areas and fish ladders. It also has a nice small park with restrooms and viewing area. No tours available as far as I could tell, but a nice place to stop.

Next, we continued up 97A and then headed East on 173 which eventually brought us to Chief Joseph Dam. Boy, I didn't realize how BIG this dam is! Since 9-11, security at all of the dams tightened, and it is less accessible to visitors. However, Chief Joseph Dam was offering a tour, which we made it just in time for. No cameras (damn!!!), no purses, no cell phones....the tour guide was from the Army Corps of Engineers, and she tolk us all about the dam as she drove us across the section with the turbines. As we drove, we passed several members of the Colville Indian tribe, who are the only people allowed to fish from the dam. There were about 20 tribal members fishing. Chief Joseph Dam has no fish ladder, so the salmon and any other fish going up stream are at a dead end, so to speak. To my knowledge, the Colville tribe was hurt badly when the Grand Coulee Dam was built...they relied so heavily on the fishing on the other side. Anyhow, the tour was FABULOUS at Chief Joseph Dam. The kids did pretty well, too. I did get a shot of the dam from an outside viewpoint, though no pictures are allowed to be taken inside.

Next, we headed to Grand Coulee Dam. First we stopped at a view point, and I was able to get a pretty good picture from far away. Grand Coulee is the largest concrete structure in the U.S. Very impressive to see. But, after going through the previous tour, we didn't have the energy to do much walking in the visitors center.

The other dams that we saw today are Dry Falls Dam (small dam at the base of Coulee Lake), Lake Chelan Dam (which is actually on the Chelan river, not the Columbia), and the one we see all the time: Rocky Reach Dam.

I'm glad we did the trek today...we won't need to do that again for a long while!

Bowen has taken to map reading, and he loves to pour over maps to find the dams and airports. He's reading very well, and if he's not reading a map, he's drawing one of his own!

On the home front, our house in CA has closed, and we've finally placed the order for our new house. It could take up to 17 weeks to be delivered and set up....around Thanksgiving, but with any luck it'll happen sooner. Lots of work to do in the meantime, and we're hoping to get a garage built before the home is put on the property.

I could write more about all the things we've been up to, but I'm too tired! Enjoy the pictures!