Tuesday night it was softball games for two or our granddaughters, one in Royal City and one in Moses Lake. A thunder storm rolled in and the the games were cancelled in the first inning. There are more games scheduled.
On Wednesday we went to Grand Coulee Dam and took a tour of the pumping facilities.
Pictures of the dam are deceiving. Due to the width of the dam it doesn't look that tall but when you see it in person you can observe just how massive and tall it really is. It produces more electricity than any other dam in the North Ameria. Even combining the output of some of the larger dams wouldn't match its output.
Pumps that feed water over the hills to Banks Lake.
On the drive up from Soap Lake on there are a series of lakes and the entire route is very similar to being in the Columbia Gorge on I-84. As I hadn't really looked at a map I kept wondering where the Columbia River was. It wasn't until we got to the dam and the river was flowing north that I looked and saw that the river wasn't near the route we took.
Banks Lake which is 27 miles long
Banks Lake Video
The last lake before getting to Coulee City is Banks Lake which receives water pumped from the Grand Coulee Dam. Banks Lake feeds a series of canals that provide water to the Columbia Basin. Without the water the basin was a desert. The water turned the basin into an agricultural bonanza with numerous crops, orchards and vineyards everywhere.
We learned that all the other lakes we passed were natural lakes and spring fed. There are a number of State and local parks for camping/RVs and RV parks/resorts, many with marinas as fishing is a favorite activity.
Grand Coulee Dam Video
We plan to return to the area sometime in the future to camp and do some fishing.
Last night we went to our grandson's baseball game. It started to sprinkle but not enough to affect the game.
Not much planned for the next few days other than spending time with our daughter's family.
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