heading on down the river

Yesterday during our bike ride we decided to ride down to the dam near our home.

Once we got there we saw a boat, The ValleyGem, heading to the lock area of the dam.  It was going to pass through and we have never seen this happen before.

I have always been curious about how this works, so it was a great learning experience for all three of us!

We got to see the boat enter the lock area.

Then we saw the gates close and the water raising the boat up to exit the locking area.

This is the front of the boat as the water is rising to help the boat pass through to the other side of the dam.

Now the gate is opening to let the boat pass.

Bye Bye ValleyGem! 

Layla was excited to see the ValleyGem because she got to tour the boat during a 3rd grade field trip.  She got to drive the boat!

I was excited because I've always been curious about the whole, locking dam idea.  I never really understood how it worked.  It was really cool!

What a fun afternoon adventure here in Ohio!