FRIDAY, AUGUST 22

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22:

     Lynn picked me up mid-morning.  Bill bowed out today because he wasn’t feeling great after his fall yesterday, coupled with the fact that he didn’t sleep very well last night because of some cramping.  He assures me when this happens that it’s only temporary and that if he just continues to exercise his legs/knees, it will improve.

     We drove a few miles east into the Columbia River Gorge.  Our first stop was as Multnomah Falls.  I’d been there a couple of times before when I’d visited here, but had forgotten how lovely these falls were.  But it was really, really crowded (and on a Friday morning . .  . can’t imagine what it would be like on a weekend!) so we didn’t stay too long nor do the hike up to the top.  I once read that this is the most photographed spot in all of Oregon, and I believe it . . . its proximity right off of the highway makes it very easy to get to.

 

      Then drove a few miles further on to a fish hatchery.  Not a whole lot going on there, but a lovely place with inviting grounds and landscaping.  The clear, warming weather made it just a nice, easygoing, pleasant walk through the grounds.  

                                                

         

       Our last stop was at the Bonneville Lock & Dam, just down the road from the fish hatchery.  Turned out that we saved the best for last!  We got there just in time for a guided tour.  Our tour guide, Ranger Ron, was actually an employee of the Amy Corps of Engineers (although he had previously been a National Park Ranger, up in the Northern Cascades Nat’l Park.  He shared with us that he got his inspiration to do this kind of work when he was honeymooning up in Skagway, Alaska, and  took the historical tour of the gold rush town there, as did we.  He thought to himself, “Wow, these people are getting paid for talking about something they really are interested in!  I love to talk; I could do that!”)  He was a terrific guide, and had a great dry sense of humor, especially when poking fun at the federal government.

     Learned a ton about the dam – its history, its functions, its size, etc.  It was built during the Great Depression as one of FDR’s PWA projects.  It employed 3,000 men who were eager to work for the equivalent of $12.00/hour at hard manual labor, including using 100-pound wrenches like this one.  

                                                        

       The shifts ran 24/7 for about 3 years, when it was completed.  

       The dam’s  main two purposes were for river navigation and the production of hydroelectric power.  Ranger Ron gave us lots of statistics about how much electrical power this dam generates, which I can’t remember, but it provides electrical power for all of Washington, Oregon, much of Idaho & parts of Montana, Colorado and California.  This region has the highest percentage of power coming from hydroelectric sources than anywhere in the country.  What was really interesting and remarkable is that back in WWII, the dam provided all of the power for the factories and shipyards in Portland which were producing one BIG ship per day, as well for the aircraft factories like Boeing in Seattle, which produced 55,000 planes during the course of the war!  Because of this strategic importance during the War, our government felt that it could be a prime target for Japanese submarines or planes coming up the Columbia to attack the dam.  So, it was turned into a small fort, with 200 soldiers stationed here, and a machine gun turret (which Ron wryly added was aimed at the employee entrance).

      After our tour, we walked around the grounds a little, viewing the fish ladder for the salmon and other fish which need to get around the dam in order to get to their spawning grounds.  Ron told us that this was the first dam to ever incorporate a fish ladder in its design, even though it was by no means required by any Environmental Impact statement back then!

 

     A really informative, enjoyable tour!  I’m sorry that Bill missed it – he would have liked it a lot. 

     Drove back to Portland/Vancouver.  As has been the case for the last few days, the morning was pretty cool – needed a light jacket, but by mid-late afternoon, very warm.  We picked up Bill, and then drove to Lynn’s condo.  She made a delicious shrimp pasta salad dish.  She’s spoiling us!  After dinner, I showed her on the map our tentative plans for the rest of the trip – going south on the Oregon coast, then up to Crater Lake via Grants Pass (which she said ought to be awesome for a white river rafting trip!), to Bend, and then back via Oregon’s wine country (McMinnville area) north to Washington and Mount Rainier, and on to Seattle.