Month: April 2016

Plymouth Washington Corp of Engineer’s Park – Tuesday April 5, 2016

Did some updates too:
4/1/2016 Add drive maps
4/3/2016 Add drive maps
4/4/2016 Add drive maps
campsite pictures
awning locks

This is our last night of this trip, we’ll make it (Edit  home actually we have two homes now, a motorhome which moves and a house that doesn’t move) to the house tomorrow.  We must be home for appointments Friday afternoon.

Today’s drive:
We are on the Columbia River
.
Campsite 29.

Came through here last September and stayed in site 30.

Three Island Crossing State Park, Glenns Ferry, ID – Monday April 4, 2016

First off I forgot to take campsite pictures today.

We are in site 56 in the lower campground.  Today was the longest drive for this trip home 433 miles.  This is where I had already planned to spend the night however about 10 miles before we got here the wind REALLY came up and if this wasn’t the plan we would have pulled off here anyway.   The motorhome ahead of us since Twin Falls had his large awning being blown open the last 5 miles or so.  He pulled off I-84 just ahead of us.   Several years ago I bought an awning lock which is made just for days like today, ours didn’t move.  Having the awning deploy while you are driving down the highway is not fun and usually destroys the awning.
Campsite picture.

These two sites are listed as separate campsites.
Look how close the picnic tables and campfire pits are located.

This is the awning lock I was talking about.
Today’s drive.
Drove around a little looking for a pull through site out of the wind.

Virgin River Canyon Campground – Saturday April 2, 2016

We are in site 71.

Bad internet, update later. Back to update 4/4/2016

Campsite pictures of site 71.

I also spent time on Saturday playing with my new telescope.  Working to get my camera attached and focused.
This is the view across the valley with my normal lens.
This is through my telescope. It is one of the below plants on the center ridge in the above picture.

This is a rock outcrop on the highest ridge.

I think I’ve figured out how to fix the focus problem.  I’ll need to take the adapter I purchased apart and shorten it’s main barrel 1/32 to 1/16 of an inch.  I will work on this when we get home and before we leave for Yellowstone in May.

Hoover Dam – Friday April 1, 2016

We stopped at Lake Meade National Park because it fit our trip home,  Since we are so close to Hover Dam a tour of the dam was a must.

Internet is really really slow.  I have more dam pictures, I’ll go back and add them when I get a better connection.

We were at the dam at 8:00 a.m. visitor’s center opened at 9:00 and we were on the first tour of the day at 9:25.

More later. Back to try and update.
Here is one of the rotors out of a generator for a PM rebuild.
The dam has 17 generators.

This pictures is from the visitor’s gallery looking down the powerhouse.

One of the many tunnels inside the dam.  There is a total of 9 miles of tunnels and rooms inside the dam.  We were at an elevation of 705 feet above sea level and the top of the dam is at 1232 feet, so we were quite a ways down inside.

All the heights inside the dam are measured from sea  level.

This is one of the inspection tubes that goes out to the surface of the dam.

This  is a picture of the wood form that was used to this tube. Concrete was poured around this form and that the form was dismantled leaving the inspection tube.

This  is looking out the end of the inspection tube towards the new bridge.

Another tunnel.

This is one of the passages that goes up and down inside the dam.  I think the guide said one had 1400 steps and another has 1700.

Imprints of the wood used to form this tunnel.

Had to show more dam pictures.  It is really cool dam.

This new bridge built after 9/11.

Parking garage and visitor’s center.

Bronze casting of the people who worked on the rock wall.

Today’s drive up to Virgin River.
Our campsite.