The two RV Gypsies saw a laser light show at Grand Coulee Dam

The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
at Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state.
July 14, 2013

(As a geological term, coulee means a ravine or deep gully, usually dry, which has been cut by water)

Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam - Steamboat Rock and State Park

Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam
Steamboat Rock and State Park
Lee Duquette enjoying the scenery on the way to Grand Coulee Dam
Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam
Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam
Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam
sign - entering Grand Coulee city

Grand Coulee Dam is in sight

Beautiful scenery on the way to the Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is in sight
Lee Duquette views Grand Coulee Dam from a distance
the bridge at Grand Coulee Dam
the lake by the dam

Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhouses. The third powerhouse was completed in 1974 to increase energy production, and it makes Grand Coulee the largest power station in the United States by nameplate capacity at 6,809 MW.

bust of Theodore Roosevelt
bust of Theodore Roosevelt

Inside the Museum / Visitor Center at Grand Coulee Dam

sign - entering Coulee Dam
display inside the Coulee Dam museum
display inside the Coulee Dam museum
display inside the Coulee Dam museum

Below - Karen Duquette took a photo of a photo: On June 14, 1951, 50 Princesses and the Queen of the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival participated in a symbolic pouring ceremony. Standing at the top of the canal wall, they emptied gallon jugs of water from all 48 states, plus the territories of Alaska and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia into the newly completed feeder canal. The ceremony symbolized the entire country's contribution to the project, and the benefit the project would have to the country's economy when irrigation started the following spring.

display inside the Coulee Dam museum
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam Bureau of Reclamation notice
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam

Grand Coulee Dam was built from 1933 to 1975. Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest concrete structures in the world. It contains nearly 12 million cubic yards of concrete, and dwarfs the Great Pyramids of Egypt. Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower producer in the United States, generating more than 21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each. year. That's enough power to supply 2.3 million households with electricity for one year. Power from Grand Coulee Dam is supplied to eleven western states; Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona, plus Canada.

panorama of Grand Coulee Dam

Grand Coulee Dam is 550 feet high and 5,223 feet in length. Including the third power house, Grand Coulee Dam is almost 1 mile long. In comparison, Hoover Dam is 726 feet high, but only 1,244 feet long.

part of Grand Coulee Dam
water flowing down Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam

The water flowing down the dam made the backdrop for the laser show. The laser show was all about the making of the dam and was presented in voice as if the Columbia River was doing the talking. The show was about 35 minutes and length. There was no admission fee on this date.

the beginning of the laser show
part of the laser show
part of the laser show

Altogether, a total of 11 dams have been built on the Columbia River in the United States as it winds its way from the Canadian border toward the Pacific Ocean. Grand Coulee Dam is the keystone of the Columbia River system dams. Grand Coulee Dam's blocking of the Columbia River has created Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, which extends 151 miles upstream to the Canadian border. The reservoir has a shoreline of 660 miles, a surface area of 82,000 acres and a total storage capacity of 9,562,000 acre-feet of water.

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