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Monday, July 31, 2006

Alaska Day 76

Sunday July 30, 2006 Grand Coolee WA Log 0 Miles
We visit St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Grand Coolee, and following "coffee hour," we are invited to go out for breakfast, but Bob has already invited us for his special vegetable soup and cornbread, and Wilma never turns down hot buttered cornbread, so we regretfully decline. St. Dunstan's is a small mission, and the Vicar is the lady in the pictures whose dress has some red. We learned a bit of their history during the coffee, and they asked us "20 questions" about the different churches we had visited during our Alaska and Canada travels, which we enjoyed sharing.

In the afternoon we drove to the Grand Coolee Dam, which is the largest concrete structure in the United States. We took a tour of the Visitors' Center, which is to be the site of a laser light show at dusk (10 P). A very interesting exhibit was a mock telling the story of making and using electricity, with a generator leading to the switching house (stepping up the voltage for traveling) to the transmission lines to the transformers (stepping down the voltage for consumer use) for homes. We saw the lasers which would be used in the evening show.

Dinner was at a recommended local Mexican restaurant, with some different menu items, and then back to the RV for our warm coats, blankets and lawn chairs. We find a front row spot for the laser light show, and sit back while an amazing show is given. It tells the story (audio included) of the building of the dam and its uses. One impressive part was Neil Diamond's song about coming to America, which indicated how important this dam is to the northwestern part of America.

Pictures are here.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

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