Day at sea, oops mean river. Such a unique difference – you see shoreline all the time! We are sailing from Richland to The Dalles. The Dalles was named by the French because of the stepping stone like basalt rocks going down the river in the rapids. There of course is no more rapids on the Columbia because of the dams. There are 18 dams on the main Columbia River and over 200 in the Columbia River basin. The river drops about a half mile from the source to the ocean. You can just imagine what it is like at the mouth of the river at the ocean. More on that later. There is an underground control center run by the Army Corp of Engineers who operate all the dams and the river flow. An incredible feat! Did you know the Columbia is the third largest river in the Americas behind the Mississippi and the Piranha Rivers?!

Looking up the river, Mt. Hood comes into view. Beautiful!

The John Day dam is the biggest drop in the lock system – 113 feet. Because of this drop the lock mechanism is different. It is called a guillotine style. We go up to the top deck (6 floor) to observe the ship coming in, the water going down and then up comes the guillotine to let us through. Amazing engineering and fascinating to watch the process.

Other Columbia River info learned at the lectures today…..there were over 250 steamboats transporting cargo and people along the river at one time. When they would come to rapids, they had to unload onto a rail cart, where tracks were laid to take the goods/people past the rapids. The unload, reload process took 14 different times. Thank goodness for the trains built on both sides of the river.

Next came lock systems to get around the rapids; built by the Army Corp, first one in 1978 and then in 1905. It was not until 1932 when FDR promised to have dams built to create cheap electricity. The first dam built on the river was in 1938 – the Bonneville. The second dam built was the Grand Cooley dam up near the border with Canada.

Our ship has taken us through 7 dams. Tomorrow we will go through The Dalles, longest dam and then the Bonneville dam.

A second lecture today is about the Corp of Volunteers of Northwest Discovery or Lewis and Clark expedition. Meriwether Lewis started in Harpers Ferry (where I just visited on my e-bike adventure!) obtaining weapons and supplies. In Harpers ferry there is a building with displays about the expedition.

Dave, our lecturer, ends the talk right as the expedition crosses the Bitteroot Mountains and sees the next range of mountains. If you haven’t read the book “Undaunted Courage,” it is about the expedition and worth a read. Of course, we all know the ending,

This evening our group from The Glenridge gets together for a cocktail before dinner. Great fun and conversation! A photogenic group! Tomorrow we will see the Multnomah Falls and wander the town of The Dalles.