Joe’s 76th birthday!! What a man. He is still strong and healthy. Praise God.
Today we decided to cross the river and drive Washington highway 14 west to the Bonneville Dam. Along the way we toured a number of quaint villages nestled up to the Columbia River with beautiful fruit orchards and vineyards between the villages.
Today we decided to cross the river and drive Washington highway 14 west to the Bonneville Dam. Along the way we toured a number of quaint villages nestled up to the Columbia River with beautiful fruit orchards and vineyards between the villages.
A point of interest was Stonehenge, a replica of the one in England. It was a monument to the soldiers killed during WWI, erected by a Quaker who was very much against the war. Close by was another monument to those service people who died in WWII, Korean War and Vietnam. For a veteran of the Vietnam war and a retired military man it was a very meaningful moment.
Moving on to the Bonneville Dam, we were able to tour the workings of the dam, and saw the generators in action. What was fascinating is that they regulate the revolutions of the generator to 62 revolutions per minute. This is done by manipulating the turbine blades that are in the water. It requires constant attention because the flow of the water is not regular. Understand, this rate of revolution is only for the Booneville Dam, one of 13 on the river. Each dam has different revolutions due to their particular design. These 13 dams provide power to the entire northwest area of the United States.
Just a comment, the river is awesome, the gorge is spectacular, yet, puny little man has placed 13 dams that virtually control the river and the salmon migration up the river. He has also laid railroad tracks and highways on both sides of the river. It makes one wonder. We returned to our campsite via the Oregon side of the river, tired but happy campers.
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