Dam Good Day

I went on a field trip to day with my son's 4th grade class. We vistited the local dam, which is pretty wonderful, considering it's a tad smaller than the Grand Cooley Dam that we'll also be visiting soon. Still the water is rushing right now (only for a couple of more weeks though, then they shut it off).

We got to see the giant transformer, the generators that create the electricity, the control room, and we also got to peep out doors and windows, for a birds-eye view of the powerful water moving through the dam. As son said, "Awesome!"

Afterward, one of the moms, who is also a local park ranger, told us about the very quaint brick cottages near the dam that used to house the dam workers, and now house park rangers. One of them is supposedly haunted by an 11-year old boy who fell off the bridge and drowned in the river. The woman told us a hundred interesting facts about the area and the houses, and then took questions. It went like this:

Q: How did the boy drown?
A: Er, he fell in. Any questions about the houses? (hands go up)
Q: Did the boys parents know he was at the bridge?
A: I don't know, it happened about 80 years ago. Any questions about the animals in the area? (hands up)
Q: Did the boy know how to swim?

You get the picture. LOL. Not one question in 20 minutes about anything but the drowned boy. The poor park ranger - she tried to keep a straight face through it all, but it wasn't easy. The rest of us parents were hiding smiles behind our hands. So you see, an awesome dam, powerfall water, interesting history, incredible wildlife, and all they care about is the ghost. :)

What is your favorite place to visit?