Last week (July 30th) we returned from a really nice vacation that we spent on the coast of Washington with Ed and Michele Hubbard and Rod and Becky Nichols. It was a great trip-- no tickets, no break downs and very nice weather. Had the hood down for all but 30 miles after we crossed the Cascades when it “misted.” The cooler temps were a RELIEF, we had 100 F here in Idaho and the 65-75 F on the coast was wonderful!  We left Boise on Sunday morning the 22nd and drove to John Day. As we were stopping for lunch in John Day who did we run into but a couple of wayward travelers returning from an MG gathering in California, Bob and Kim Doc! What a surprise that was! After we said goodbye and ate our lunch, we headed on up to Pendleton on some very nice back-country roads, staying in the mountains until we got close to Pendleton.  

 Monday morning we stopped at the Starbucks for a spot of coffee, and saw a beautiful ‘69 Camaro in the drive-thru. Rod stepped out and said, “Nice Camaro!” and the young lady driving asked if we were driving the nice-looking Fiats. So, we jumped in our “Fiats” and hit the freeway to Yakima where we took off for White Pass, a beautiful drive that cuts across the Cascades and then over to the coast. We got to see a fairly nice-sized rockslide coming down the mountain RIGHT AT US-- thank the State of Washington for the barriers that kept the rocks off us and the cars! 

We stayed in Ocean Shores and rented a house on the beach, with beautiful sunsets, good food, and great company! We stayed 4 days on the coast, walking the beaches, stuffing ourselves with fresh seafood and driving on up into the Olympic Peninsula in our LBC’s. The rain forests were lush and beautiful-it had rained 6 inches on Saturday before we got there. 

On Friday we cut up to the Hood Canal and caught a ferry at Kingston to Edmonds, then fought the traffic to our hotel in Bellevue. We washed the cars and then headed off to the ABFM reception at Park Place Ltd, an upper end car dealer that sells Aston Martins, Lotus, (Loti?) Superformance GT40’s, Daytona Coupes, Cobras, those Italian & German cars and of course JAGUARS! Very nice reception, I might add, with beer and hors d’oeuvres.

Saturday we headed off to the show at Bellevue CC. Nice place for a car show with plenty of shade and plenty of room for all the different British cars. They had a very nice selection of British cars here and you would have been hard pressed to not have found one of your favorite marques. Rod’s car stood out among the TR6’s and looked really sharp on that field; Ed’s also looked very nice on the asphalt. There was another car from southern Idaho at the meet, IBCC member Stan Murray’s vintage 1956 Lotus 11 racer from Horseshoe Bend. Some of you may remember seeing a picture of his Coventry Climax engine in last September’s Spoke & Word. Nice car, finished in black with a very nice patina of age and racing. The car that took best of show was a 1926 Bentley. A magnificent car, and the owner delighted in sharing its history with us. Like many cars from this era, it is a combination of different chassis and bodies--this car had many parts from the famous Blue Train Bentley, as it had the Blue train Bentley’s body prior to the current roadster body it now has. The owner of this car would make us all proud as he DRIVES it!  Runs it in rallies and occasionally leaves an E Type in its wake(?) Neat car and owners.  A very nice group of E types were there; the car next to me had JUST been purchased, and the person who restored it had put $190,000 into it and was afraid to drive it! The current owner was a very nice “bloke,” and his windscreen wipers died as he pulled up next to me so I showed him where the fuses were located. Like a lot of E’s the radio fascia interfered with the drop down panel and I was very hesitant to go any further with it; sadly, he persisted and broke the plastic strip underneath.  :-( (The jumbles had a replacement for $10 so it didn’t hurt him too badly but I was glad I didn’t do it!). This was a very nice ‘66 that was in my mind a concourse level car and, needless to say, he took first in the E Type Class. I didn’t see which car took 2nd place but--drum roll please-- Miss Emmy took third :-). Not bad for a car that had been washed in a hotel parking lot after it had been driven 800 miles to the show. Rod returned a favor for me; last year in Portland he was off watching the vintage racing during the awards ceremony and I picked up his trophy, and this year I was off gabbing with another E type enthusiast and missed the whole thing..... As the day started warming up Jan began to fade away under the shade trees; Beck and Michele, being the good samaritans that they are, recognized that they needed to make an intervention! They got Jan up and moving, took a bus down into Bellevue and took in the sights and sounds of downtown Bellevue. When we all got back together we headed back down town for a great dinner at McCormick’s. A very nice wrap up to a great day. 

Sunday we headed back and took the scenic route 26 across the State. We spent the  night in Clarkston, and tried to work out a deal with an absentee owner of a ’70 TR6 that would have qualified as a barn find except it was in a parking lot next to the restaurant where we ate that evening (never heard back from him ). Monday we headed back to Boise and aside from overheating in my car while following some very slow semi’s between New Meadows and McCall the trip was completely uneventful. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to Rod and Beck for all the time and energy they put into planning this trip, again thanks!