Monday; September 22, 2008

A lazy day for RTM, spent the morning catching up on tele calls and emails. GDM left early with Carol in the Ford Escape for Kelowna which is in the heart of the Okanagan Valley. They stopped at fruit stands and wineries along the way. Highway 97 runs north through the Valley and parallel to Lake Okanagan which is 69 mi long. It is the agriculture capital of British Columbia and the vineyard capital of Canada. This evening we had our first Woodie Whoopee (happy hour and dinner for the uninitiated) while we watched Mon Nite Football on BJ’s outside TV.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Today we awoke to a cold front and a rain storm for our drive to Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada. The five of us broke off into a couple of groups for the trip. RTMGDM chose the flatland route taking us through the Colville Indian Reservation and Gran Coulee, WA where we saw The Grand Coulee Dam. See photos attached. We spent the night at the NKMIP RV Park in Osooyoos which is just across the Washington border on US Highway 97. A side note. US 97 runs from New Mexico to Canada and is a very scenic route to travel. Tomorrow we will travel to Kelowna BC which is in the heart of Canada's wine country.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday; Sept 18,19, 20, 2008

Thursday. RTM was in an all day ACBS Board Meeting. GDM went to Spokane, WA on a bus tour of the historic district. The first photo is of the Cathedral of St John, second photo is a rose garden they visited. Bern, Don and Jim played golf on the Coeur d'Alane Resort course that has a floating island green.
Friday and Saturday were boat show days. There were 132 vintege boats here from areas all over the country. I've included photos of a 1929 Chris Craft cruiser, the boat we brought, a 1929 Chris Craft triple cockpit with the orginal 823 cu in engine and a 1948 Chris Craft Custom Runabout that was restored by one of our friends. On Saturday I also toured the sales and service facility of Hagedone Marine and the 70' Marquis they have on brokerage. We closed out the week with a ACBS dinner banquet on Saturday night.

Wednesday; September 17, 2008

Again, a number of friends and vintage boats gathered to tour the south end of Coeur d'Alene Lake and have lunch at a cute little town there, Harrison, ID. A large portion of the middle and upper part of this lake is developed with lake homes of all descriptions. That's a 70' Marquis sitting in front of a building site for a home that will measure 480' from one end to the other. The south end has had very little development and borders the mountains where many mineral mines were in the eighteen hundreds. Logging was and contiues to be a major industry here. The attached photo looking from the stern of Oh Danny Boy and the other one showing the entrance to the harbor at the hotel will give you a feel for the beatuy of this area we are enjoying.

Tuesday; September 16, 2008

Tuesday was break camp day. We slept in a little later than usual, did some laundry and prepared to leave out by noon to move our rigs and the boat to Coeur d'Alene which was an hour and half south of Priest Lake. Yours truly hauled the boat down and took it to the launch ramp on Lake Coeur d'Alene. The launch was at the "Yacht Club", a sales and service center and marina representing Carver, Marquis, Cobalt and Malibu boats. This web address www.hagadonemarine.com will take you to their website. After launching Oh Danny Boy, we proceeded to the Coeur d'Alene Resort Hotel www.cdaresort.com which will be our home through Saturday the 20th. Our purpose here is to attend the Annual Meeting and Boat Show of The International Antique and Classic Boat Society of which I am a Board Member.

Sunday, Monday; September 14, 15, 2008

Sunday we cruised the south end of Priest Lake and Monday we cruised the north end. A great deal of the shore line is undeveloped. The lake sits in a valley surrounded by mountains and is immediately south of the Canadian Border. We gathered with a number of friends, photo 1, and twenty boats or so. Yours truly was the Captain on Oh Danny Boy. Our host for this portion of the trip is shown driving his Century Triple Cockpit in photo 3. We had a catered lunch on the beach at the north end of the lake. This was a wonderful couple of days!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday; September 11, 12, 13, 2008

Thursday; This was a driving day. Go from Clarkston, WA to Coolin, Id on the shores of Priest lake in north Idaho. We got a late start because we watched the 9/11 Anniversery events on TV. We also stopped in Coeur d' Alene to visit with Tom Addis the local Ford and Dodge dealer. Tom will let us store our Motor Homes at his dealership when we return to Coeur d' Alene to attend tha National ACBS Meeting and stay at the Hotel there for a few days. We arrived in Coolin early evening and joined up with two more of our friends there. A photo is attached. Friday; Bernie (PB1) and I (PB5) drove over to the Spokane, WA airport to pick up a car PB1 had left there earlier in the month. We then went back to Coeur d' Alene to pick up BP1's boat and trailer which was stored at Tom Addis's dealership. We returned back to Coolin for the evening. All of that doesn't sound very exciting does it? Tommorrow would be a happening day. Saturday; We had breakfast at Grandview Lodge on Priest Lake and launched Dannie Boy there. We then went for a boat ride on the southern half of Priest Lake stopping in at Hills Resort to have fresh oysters and Huckleberry martinis. This Huckleberry country and you can get them with everything edible and drinkable! The next stop was at our friends cabin on Priest Lake were we partied until the moon came up. This spot will be Dannie Boy's home until Tuesday the 16th when we pull him out and head for Lake Couer d' Alene. Internet strenght here is weak and I'm having a tough time posting photos. I'll catch up as soon as I can.