Going on a Dam Trip

Had a chance to go on a fun little road trip this weekend. With an off weekend before the arenacross series kicks off next weekend, my friend Jackie suggested that we go check out the Grand Coulee Dam, in eastern Washington State. I looked at the map and figured that we could make a pretty cool loop trip out of it through the North Cascade mountains and there'd be no shortage of spots to take photos from. Plus, there's two cool little theme towns along the route, as we'd be passing the restored western town of Winthrop and be coming back through the Bavarian town of Leavenworth in the south.

So with that, we loaded up her Tacoma and hit the road early on Saturday morning, heading for the scenic North Cascades Highway. It closes for the winter once the snow hits so we knew that this was probably our last chance of the season to check it out. Here's a few shots from the trip.....

First town on the North Cascades Highway was the old town of Concrete

Concrete has the craziest school I've ever seen. It's built over top of the road and there's classrooms up above there. Wonder what gave them that idea?

 Mini church on the side of the road

The first powerhouse up on our trip was the Gorge Lake powerhouse, near Newhalem.

 The next dam on our trip, the Diablo Dam, you can actually drive across.

 The Diablo Dam from the side.

 It was snowing at the top of Washington Pass. There's actually a really nice view of Liberty Bell mountain from here but you'll have to take my word for it.

 After hitting the back side of the North Cascades, the first town up was the old restored Western town of Winthrop.

 Jackie got dressed up in her Sunday best.

 The most important sign in town.

 The wall shows where we just came from.

 Though I had been there when I was a little kid, I forgot how truly massive the Grand Coulee dam is in person. The largest concrete structure in the United States, it's also the biggest Hydroelectric producer in North America. We just missed out on the tour but it's still pretty cool to check out.

 After we left the Grand Coulee Dam, we were driving along Banks lake and a storm blew in, making for a cool sky. I stopped and shot this island, and even though the sun had gone down I left my white balance for daylight. I thought the cool, blue tones really enhanced how it felt when I took it.

 After spending the night in Wenatchee, we got up early and hit the Bavarian town of Leavenworth. With it's location, nestled in the foothills of the Cascade mountains and the Bavarian theme it really does have a European feel to it...but with lots of cheesy tourist stores.

 Fall is definitely here.

 Now that's gangster.

 Custom parking sign modification.

 Bavarian themes abound everywhere.

 Leaving Leavenworth, we made one more trip through the Cascade mountains.

 Here's a trend that hasn't caught on in Canada yet. Every town you pass through has these little drive up coffee bars, about the size of a lawn shed. Naturally we had to pull in and get an Egg Nog latte.

 I'm not even sure these guys realized it was halloween.