AOSA 2010 - Grand Coulee Dam

Sage Brush Seeds.  This plant was common
along the roads and across the prairie.

Today we rose a little later after a good night's sleep and drove 88 miles through the countryside to The Grand Coulee Dam.  What an amazing, technological wonder.  The dam was built in the 30's  as a way to help farmers irrigate their land.  It has been a major success as the Columbia River system now provides a huge percentage of the nation's farm products.

The Fog Covered River

The sights began shortly after we left Spokane. The roads were so straight, the dotted yellow line in the middle turned into a solid yellow ribbon. The fields of grain along the side of the road were yellow with last year's crop and, at the same time green with next year's.  The purple mountains in the near distance faded into snow capped peaks in the far away distance. We passed  a fog covered river, the thick cloud blanket completely obscured the water below.  The sky was wide, clear, and vibrant blue the weather once again was our friend.

Grant Lake behind Coulee Dam

As we approached the Dam, we began to see glimpses of Lake Roosevelt.  We finally drove up to the dam and went into the Visitor Center.  I signed the guest book and left a comment, "This is a techological marvel and a worthy stimulus project."

The Spillway

Michael Looks Down on the Spillway

We were able to get a tour of the Dam.  We visited the huge room with 6 humming generators of immense size.  Our guide filled us in on the magnificent power of the water that turns them converting the water's energy into electricity.  We finished our tour by driving along the top of the dam, stopping to view the spillway.

We finished our tour with a recommendation for lunch from Sean, our tour guide.  We ate at a little Pizzeria in the town of Grand Coulee.

The Town of Grand Coulee and the Bridge 

We're back in Spokane now, we've returned our rental car and we are ready for a great AOSA conference.  The next installments of the blog will be news and pics of the conference as they happen.

You can find more pictures of the Grand Coulee excursion on my Spokane Gallery, Grand Coulee