Homeschool track season begins! It started with blowing snow and a crazy-cold wind chill on the first day. We were so glad when the days began to warm up!
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Lovin' those homeschool field trips. We had the amazing opportunity to tour the CDOT facility located within the heart of the Hanging Lake Tunnels in the Glenwood Canyon. It was an amazing tour packed with a lot of good information and led by some great CDOT workers. The guys in the tunnel facility do just about everything- plow, fight fires, repair guard rails, set up cone zones and so much more!
Entering the tunnel and parking along a closed off section. Note the red X signs hanging down from the ceiling. There are approximately fourteen of those. A red X is the equivalent of a stop sign, and so a person who drives under a lighted X is running a stop sign. I'm not sure what the cost of a stop sign violation is, but the total would be rather astronomical for an inconsiderate driver!
Entering the main vehicle bay for the tunnel facility.
Glenwood Springs fire department responds up to the west portal of the tunnels, and the Eagle/Gypsum fire department responds up to the east portals. CDOT is responsible for fire/emergency response within the tunnels and works with the emergency response services from the two towns to respond to other events within the Glenwood Canyon. Our tour guide said they have even had motorists who have become claustrophobic in the canyon and simply stop driving; CDOT has had to send a worker out each time to escort the "paralyzed" drivers out to open space!
The bay doors run something like $5,000 per panel, so great care is taken not to "injure" these massive panels!
The kids had the opportunity to climb in the fire truck and try on bunker gear. It's heavy stuff!
These ventilation fans would be turned on in case of a fire in the tunnels. They must be tested at least one to two times per year, and cost thousands of dollars just to power up each time.
Here is our group in the tunnel above the driving lanes. The central portion is part of the facility between the two tunnel bores, however, we were able to walk out on grating that is actually above the driving lanes of the tunnel bores.
Here the kids look down through one of the ventilation ducts at the traffic driving through below. Hot temperatures from a fire would cause these ceilings (currently the floor under the kids) to drop out for effective air flow.
At the same time, the doors in this wall would open and the fans would turn on to start ventilating smoke to the outside. The ventilation fans for the Johnson-Eisenhower Tunnel (Loveland Pass) run continuously due to the longer length of the tunnels. I can't even fathom how many hundreds of thousands of dollars it costs just to run that ventilation system every year!
Top view of the ventilation ducts.
Originally there was actually an open area between the two portals of the tunnels, however, the facility is built in between, and then there is a lot of fill. If I'm remember correctly, some of the fill above the facility (below the dirt fill) is some sort of foam to act as a cushion, since the facility is continuously at risk from rock fall from the cliffs above it.
This large rock came off from the face of one of the cliffs.
Here is a section of the facility roof; much of it is underground, however.
The main control room is has a full screen of monitors, as well as all of the main office space related to the tunnel facility functions.
The Glenwood Canyon is under continuous surveillance for safety purposes. Cameras can be zoomed and manipulated from here. When not manually controlled, they continuously follow certain patterns of observation so CDOT can immediately be of assistance in the case of rock fall, stalled cars, and other issues on I-70 within the canyon.
Here we are getting ready to leave. The $15,000-paneled door is being raised.
Walking on I-70 back to the cars to drive out and turn around at the next canyon rest area.
(It seems crazy to say that we parked and walked on I-70! The eastbound bore was completely closed to traffic during these brief times, obviously!)
That afternoon part of our group enjoyed a group discount (it's not much!) to the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. This is a photo of the actual hot spring that feeds the three swimming pools.
It was definitely a very memorable field trip day!
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Here's the littlest cook in the house. He's raided one of the kitchen drawers and has loaded his laundry basket full of fun stuff!
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-Mom and Pop's Diner-
The kids get to order off from a menu and eat "restaurant style."
I have to say it--- I think I have the most handsome short-order cook in town. :-)
We have some pretty cute customers, too.
We're all about customer satisfaction!
The smiles say it all.
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Jaguars Homeschool Track Team Photos
Silas was in on the older team (sixth from the right in the first standing row).
The younger team...
Amelie (sixth from the left in the back standing row)
Josiah (fourth from the right in the second sitting row)
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Our homeschool graduate... one of those super-smart early graduates off to college at a young age.
Just kidding!!! That's actually a pillow, a hair-cutting cape, and a book shelf end.
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Amelie dug up an ant colony and found something we've never seen before- an almost developed ant! In the past we've only found the larva being hurried away by the worker ants when the nursery is disturbed. This one must be an almost-complete pupa. Fascinating!
(No ants were intentionally harmed in the making of this post.)
So- that was April: full of adventure!!!
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