WEDNESDAY, SEPT 24

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 24: 

     Rained last night, and still a light rain this morning.  Slept in a little, and had a leisurely breakfast, as we only needed to drive about 100 miles today to get to Grand Coulee.  But it still took about 3 hours, as the grades and curves, although not nearly as bad as yesterday’s, still slowed us down to 25 or 30 mph at times.  Picturesque high desert scenery for a lot of the way; scenic in its own stark way.  Amongst the sagebrush, we’d see lots of splotches of black, and also what looked like black haystacks . . . similar to the seastacks we saw on the north Pacific.  We learned later that both were results of the volcanic lava rock here.

     Arrived in the town of Grand Coulee, and got set up in our RV park just outside of town.  The owner was very helpful and put is in an easy-in, easy-out site.  The moment you walk outside, you’re surrounded by the fragrance of sage – smells heavenly!

     Soon after we got here, we unhitched and drove a couple of miles into town and beyond to the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center.  They had their last tour of the day at 4:00, which we wanted to make.  Another great tour!  Took us to the 3^rd powerhouse and on top of the spillway itself.  We were both so impressed with what we learned here about this dam, things which we’d  no idea about. The stats are amazing:  It was the largest concrete structure in the world at the time it was built (begun in 1933, ended in 1941) . . . 12 million cubic yards of concrete, which would build a highway from Seattle to Miami  (it’s still #2 in the world, surpassed by a dam in China as the largest).  550 feet tall, nearly as thick, almost a mile long.  It’s the largest single producer of power in North America (power of any kind – coal, nuclear, electric), generating more than 21 billion kw of electricity each year.  It provides electricity for 11 western states.  In fact, the 3^rd powerhouse by itself can provide all the electric power that both Seattle and Portland need.  (This third powerhouse was added in the 1960’s, when the booming post-war years saw the need for even more electric power. As the plans were being laid, the USSR had unveiled their newest dam which produced more power than any other in the world; not to be surpassed by those Dirty Commies, the Grand Coulee engineers were directed to keep upping the wattage that this new powerhouse would be able to produce.  So they did – at that time the highest in the world.)  The Grand Coulee is the largest dam of the 14 which are on the Columbia & Snake Rivers, providing power to the entire northwest region and beyond . . . the Bonneville Dam which I toured back in Portland is another in this matrix.

     This was another WPA project during the New Deal.  It had been conceptualized many years earlier, but never brought to fruition until FDR & Congress allocated WPA funds for it during the depression.  At one point the project employed 10,000 workers.  We heard repeatedly that today we don’t have any idea as to how devastating that depression was and what a shot in the arm projects like this were to thousands of skilled laborers who were unemployed.  And the dam’s ability to produce confidence wasn’t just limited to the workers it employed, but to the nation as a whole.  It was a sign and symbol that America could still imagine and produce tremendous things, at a time when the general population wondered where the nation was headed.  As the Woody Guthrie ballad said, “It’s just about the biggest thing that man has ever done.” 

                                                                           


                                                            3rd Powerhouse:      

                                             Generators in 3rd Powerhouse:                                                          

                                               Crane used to move hundreds of tons of equip:

 

                                                 Storage of emergency door, weighing hundreds of tons:

                                               Pipes used to carry water to irrigation lake, pumped up by powerhouses:

 

 

 

Looking down at spillway: 

 

Lake Roosevelt behind the dam: 

  

 

   Ironically, it wasn’t electric power which was the original impetus behind the idea of a dam here in this part of Washington.  It was for irrigation purposes for the entire Columbia basin, 1 million acres which received less than 10 inches of rain a year, rendering most attempts at producing viable crops a failure; it was considered a vast wasteland.  But as soon as the dam and first powerhouse came on line in 1941, we were at war, and the dream of irrigation gave way as a priority to producing energy for the ship and aircraft building industries in the northwest.  It wasn’t until 1951 that the pumps to provide irrigation were completed and first used.  They transformed the entire arid central region of Washington to an agricultural mecca.  Now we get an abundance of fruit (cherries, apples) and other products (Coors has thousands of acres of hops) from this area.  Including the grapes that we learned about a couple of days ago.  Love it when everything ties together! J

     On our way back to the RV for dinner, we made a slight detour to a viewing point where you can see the entire dam in context.  Even though not a clear day (an anomaly here in the high desert), the view was still pretty impressive. 
                                                              

     Finished our spaghetti leftovers, changed into warmer clothes, and headed back down to the Visitors Center for a film at 7:30 and laser light show at 8:30.  The film was only one of several which the Visitors Center shows . . . this one was on the actual building of the dam – an engineering and construction marvel - and its impact on the region both back then and now.  Then we went back outside to watch the laser show.  As we walked across the parking lot, even though pitch black, the sound of the water rushing over the spillway was tremendous.  We hadn’t seen or heard it before . . . right now, they don’t have a need to let any water out, but our tour guide said that they do it at night just before the laser show for the effect.     They have a small amphitheater where you can sit to view the show, but it was still spitting rain, so we watched from the comfort of the truck, with the windows rolled down so that we could hear the accompanying narrative and music.  The lasers are projected onto the spillway of the dam . . . was another version of the history of the area and story of the dam.  Very artful and creative!
                                                               

             

      Yet another example of how our National Park Service (although, technically, Grand Coulee Dam is under the auspices of the Bureau of Reclamation, but still part of the Dept of Interior) goes above and beyond to enhance our enjoyment and appreciation of our country’s rich landmarks.  Both the laser show and tour were absolutely free.  Beyond the cost factor, we were very impressed and grateful that they even provide access to the dam at all, given the security risks.  We all had to pass through a security clearance similar to airports before the tour, and an armed guard accompanied us.  Of course that costs money!  But we two taxpayers are very grateful that they’re using some of our $$ for that purpose . . . to grant access to ordinary citizens who simply  want to experience, enjoy, and learn more about our national treasures.