Dam House Trip

June 19, 2011
By John Schmit


We had a great time over the weekend on June 11th & 12th. We visited with Heidi and Artie and saw their new house under construction. We also went sightseeing including visits to two Dams, one on the Snake River and one on the Columbia.

We started out crossing the Cascade Mountains at Snoqualmie Pass. We were surprised to see the snow still on the ground at the 3000 foot level. The lake (Keechelus) just to the East of the pass is man-made and usually has tree stumps showing. This year, for the first time we've seen, the lake is so full the stumps don't show. We also tried a different lookout point to see the valley around Ellensburg. It's a very pretty farming community.

Once we arrived in Tri-Cities, Artie and Heidi took us out to see their new home under construction. The whole neighborhood is brand new and located fairly close to shopping and restaurants. They took us out to see the area including views of the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory where Heidi works.

The next day we continued sightseeing by going up the Snake River to the Ice House Dam. Like the full lakes, the rivers are very full too. There was plenty of water flowing over the spillways of the dam. Cameras are forbidden inside the facilities, but we did go inside and looked at the various exhibits there, including the fish ladder and fish counting room.

On the way home we drove North along the Columbia and stopped at Wanapum Dam near the I-90 freeway. Here again the lake was full and lots of water flowing over the spillways.

All and all a nice visit and some fun sightseeing!

Click here to see the pictures.