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| Our Camp Site in Gorge Base Camp RV Park |
Woke up to great weather today and no wind. Gotta love that! Today is our last day at the Gorge.
We visited the Bonneville Dam Power Generator #2 on the Washington side. There is no visitor center, but there is a store where you can get passport stamps and stickers. That always makes me happy. We were able to join one of the turbine tours at 1:30 PM, so we had a few hours to walk around. We also had lunch outside and we enjoyed the sunshine. The turbine area was also featured as the evil laboratory in the 1980s film Short Circuit.
We started the tour on the top level. Our Ranger was very informative and fun. Six of the eight turbines were shut down, and we learned that during fish migration times, they do not run them. Shad and Lamprey are working their way up the ladders this time of year. We did get to observe the crane moving above the turbines, which was cool. Our group then moved down to the level where the turbines are. As we did, we walked down 60 feet and past a 30-foot wall that kept the water out. Very intimidating when you know there is a 30-foot wall of water on the other side. We got to walk up and around a turbine to view it. There is a maintenance schedule that is followed, so a turbine is always offline. Once our tour was complete, the ranger led us back to the ladder windows and talked to us about the fish, their migrations, and the volunteers who count them. We hung around watching the fish again for a while longer. Such a fascinating thing to observe. I would highly recommend this activity; so much to learn and see.
Back to the RV for a bit, then over to Murphy’s Family Watering Hole in Bingen, Washington, for dinner. Bingen has an Amtrak train station. What a great train ride it would be. Murphy’s is a local pub and serves local beer and cider. The BBQ was tasty and worth it. The rest of the town was closed, so we didn’t get to explore much. Back home to prep for our journey tomorrow and watch the eagle family one last time. What an enjoyable time.
Bonneville Dam WA Side
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| Life Stages of Fish |
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| If you zoom in, you can see all the people fishing along the shore. |
Inside the turbine area
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| Bottom Level Staging Area |
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Inside Detail Look of a Turbine
Murphy's Family Watering Hole |
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| Friends to keep you company in case you're alone |
Back at our Campground
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| Beautiful sunset and a great way to end our stay |
Copyright © 2026 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.
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