Back from the Mountain, Home to a new lamp!

Oh dear readers, what a weekend! Saturday morning, The Colonel and I dusted off the land yacht and headed for the mountains. To the Skagit Hydroelectric Project, to be exact, high in the North Cascades, where The Major Concern operates not one, not two, but THREE dams. Being a dam freak, I was in Dam heaven.

We were dogless this time, which was truly fortunate, as our "camping" site, Clark's Skagit River Resort is a bunny haven, and I'm sure that things would have ended badly, had we had the livestock along. Clark's is a mix of tourist cabins and RV spots, and the RV spots are quite nice: Nestled in the woods, with plenty of privacy. They also have a lovely pink-and-white mobile home ("The Flamingo") available for rental.



After a lovely evening - again, no dogs - we headed up to the company town of Newhalem, where we immersed ourselves in everything Major Concern-ish and Dam-ish until we were sated.

Here are some highlights.

This is "Old Number Six" ("New" Number Six was conspicuously absent), which used to be a locomotive when they used to have a railroad, which they haven't had for quite some time now. The whole place used to be accessible only by train, and now it's accessible to everyone, including millions of annoying motorcyclists. I think I'd prefer the train. But then again, I always do, don't I?




This is the suspension bridge that leads to something called "The Trail of Cedars", which is very forest-y and rustic-y, and ends at a powerhouse, which is very interesting if you like powerhouses. Otherwise, it's just another trail.


Back on the other side of the river, we approached lunch, which was provided as part of Our Tour Experience, and was really quite tasty: So tasty, that I was well into it before I thought I really should take a picture. The menu was cold fried chicken, potato salad, orange slices, roll and butter, water, and Apple Crisp. All served in a nice box with a red kerchief. Really quite a nice repast.

After lunch, we boarded a bus with a bunch of other tourists, and proceeded uphill, past the Gorge Dam (the original dam in this bunch of dams) past the little town of Diablo (another company town, named for the Diablo Dam, the second dam in our dam odyssey) Across the top of Diablo, and onto a boat for a trip up Diablo Lake to see Ross Dam, the third and largest of the Dams.



At this point, I should say something about JD Ross: The father of The Major Concern. Besides being just a peach of an engineer and politician, he was a master showman, and it is because of him that they have these tours in the first place (no one at The Major Concern would have thought of it on their own) Back in the 30's (Ross died in 1939), it was quite the excursion, complete with colored lights, monkeys, loudspeakers and banana cream pies. Today's tour is tame in comparison, but still quite an event. The boat we went up to Ross Dam (his namesake!) in was named after his wife Alice.

Ross Dam is a very mod looking dam, which tickles me to no end, as The Major Concern - which has tried hard to shake off its mod past - is stuck with it. There's no way they can change it, like they did their ultra-mod headquarters building in downtown Seattle, which they sold off a few years back in favor of the banal and embarrassingly phallic Seattle Municipal Tower. Ross will be Ross as long as there is a Major Concern. The only consolation they have is that it's stuck way up there in the mountains.

On the way back down the mountain, they let us walk across Diablo Dam, where I took some more dandy photos. Diablo is positively dowdy compared to its younger (and bigger) sister Ross. Very 30's Industrial Glam, like a late 90's Madonna Video. Those light fixtures and arches are adorable, and the way it sits on those rocks is positively brutal. I enjoyed the walk immensely. The Colonel, who gets a tense and nervous around heights, not so much. He mostly stayed on the lake side of Diablo.






Back down at Newhalem, We very much enjoyed The Gorge Power House, which is positively Deco Camp.

Here it is from the outside...



Here is the view from the visitor's galley....



As an employee of The Major Concern, I feel my first role is always that of a teacher. Here I am demonstrating the principles of Hydroelctric Generation..



From there it was a quick jaunt through the famed Ladder Creek Falls, which are positioned directly behind the Gorge Powerhouse. This picture does not do the falls justice. The gardens surrounding it, however, were pretty run-down and tacky. The Major Concern ought to be ashamed of itself. Apparently, it was quite the site up until the 70's...



Finally, it was time to bid adieu to Newhalem, and head back down the mountain. But not without a stop at the grave of JD and Alice, who are entombed just off the highway. Here you can see Yours Truly paying my respects.....



And hence we returned to our little Land Yacht, where dinner was in order...




Then, the next morning, back to Seattle. Where, to our delight, we found that the long anticipated, new (to us) Imperial lamp had arrived. With trembling hands, we placed it just so in the Sala Grande, and gave it its first taste of that good old-fashioned Skagit Hydroelectric Project power....




Talk about an perfect end to a perfect weekend. I'm still giddy.....