Boots, Underground & Wool & Dams

July 11, 2015

Coulee City Community Park Campground
Coulee City, Washington

Yesterday we spent the day in Pendleton, Oregon, a very interesting town with much of the historic architecture preserved. 

Around town are several large cowboy
boots, each decorated in a different theme.

Our first stop (after those delicious cinnamon rolls) was the Pendleton Underground Tours.  Many years after the original town was built an extensive tunnel system (8 miles) was dug under the town by local Chinese laborers.

Since law enforcement was absent, the tunnels originally functioned as a means to transport goods from the railroad depot to the merchants without going on the streets where bandits frequently took possession of the items.







 


In  later years functions varied from bars, ice cream making, storage, opium dens, Chinese living quarters, meat storage, etc.

Originally large skylights were cut into the sidewalk to allow light into the tunnels.  The town government later declared the skylights a hazard and had them replaced with a wood grained concrete sidewalk intended to resemble a boardwalk.  Don't you love progress?

After the underground tour was finished, we were taken to the "Cozy Rooms" in the upper floor of the hotel.  This was the site of a very progressive brothel.

Next we toured the Pendleton Woolen Mill.

  This is where the wool is spun into yarn and the blankets are woven.

  

 

It is hard to believe how rough these beautiful blankets are before the numerous finishing processes the fabric eventfully goes through.  At this stage the fabric feels like burlap.


Today we drove up to Coulee City, Washington and then on to see the Grand Coulee Dam.

This was a stop along the way, Dry Falls.  During the Ice Age this was the largest waterfall in the world.  Not much water left today, but still a spectacular site.

I never realized that Grand Coulee Dam is largest dam in the U.S. This is a view of the reservoir.

This is one of three generating stations.

View looking down the spillway from the top of the dam.

Downstream on the Columbia River.

 The Hoover Dam would fit into the middle section of the dam with room to spare.

 This is a view from a bluff overlooking the town showing the dam and the bridge.  Every night there is a music and laser light show on the dam.  Since it didn't start until after 10:00 we decided to skip the show.  That's past our bedtime.