This is a picture looking down from the Nevada side of the dam. The first part of the tour was to go down inside and look around. We also saw the turbines and got a lesson on how electricity is generated. I vaguely remember from my schooldays how it all works. It still seems impossible to me that electricity can be generated and then moved all over the country along wires. There is a cool museum with memorabilia that tells the story of building the dam. Before they could start building they had to do small things like build a town for the workers and build railroads to get materials there and build plants to mix concrete. One of my favorite things is the way the dam buts right up against the walls of the natural river canyon.
This picture shows the detail of the concrete blocks from which the dam is built. And look at the bus driving on top of the dam. We did drive over the dam on our way to Williams, Az. Pretty cool.
Another interesting thing - the water was routed through 4 pipes around the river bed for two years so that the dam could be built.
This is the Colorado River as it comes out of the dam. I was amazed at how little turbulence there is in the water as it comes out. Also look at the concrete structure in the upper right with the 6 circular holes. If the water comes down the river too fast, it can be routed around the turbines and spews out of those holes and 6 on the other side of the canyon. The dam was built to manage the water flow as well as to generate electricity.
This is a picture of Lake Meade above the dam. Again, the water is so calm - no crashing about at all. The white line(called the bathtub ring) is where the water comes during flood times. This is just a tiny piece of the lake. And there was no way to get a picture of the water above and below the dam. It is incredible the difference in the depth of the water. And this is a mid-height dam!!And two last pictures. First, proof that we were really there. We are standing on the dam and that is the new road that they are building behind us so everyone does not have to drive over the dam. Traffic is often backed up 4 hours in the summer.
And last proof that Dad took the pictures:
There are 280 more pictures. Bet you can't wait until we get back so you can see them all. And this is only day 2.
About time... I was about to call and ask about this post. I'm glad you had fun and thank you for limiting it to about 10 of the 200 pictures. I love you both and hope you continue to have a fabulous time.
ReplyDeleteAHAHAHAHAHAHA I love you so much. I'm glad y'all are working on the task I gave you - to take pictures as proof you were there. That dam pretty incredible!
ReplyDeleteAnd Erica- If they put all the pictures on the blog, we can at least pretend to look at them. When they get home, you know daddy is going to borrow the projector from work, hang a sheet, and we're going to be stuck looking at all of them - just like the old days at 722!
Nice work. Glad to see you are having a good time. Do you have a digital camera or are you guys taking pictures with dads camera? How many rolls/memory cards can you go through in a week?
ReplyDeleteDan
Dan, Dad has his digital camera with 2 rechargeable batteries, a 16 gig USB drive and his laptop which has 60 gig available. He is passing pictures to me on my USB drive because he cannot get on the Internet. What a zoo!!!
ReplyDeleteDear Paul and Sue,
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! I was hoping to see a pic of the 2 of you, and finally... my wish came true! Guess this explains why you didn't respond to my email on Mommy's anniversary, eh? You weren't, by any chance, in NM on the 19th, were you? Mommy would've been overjoyed!
Hope the trip ends as it began-wonderfully! Bec, Chris and Greg did a 5-weeker this past summer, doing what you are, minus Las Vegas. What memories they made together! What pics we've seen thusfar were fun to view, but there are still hundreds, I hear. Must be in the mood.
Safe return! Love you both! Hi to our precious Goddaughter, too!
Gina