Trip Report
Forty-two Obsidians and guests traveled 1,155 miles round trip to Harrison Hot Springs, a resort 120 miles east of Vancouver, B.C. It was a return visit for some, but most of us had just heard about it, and were anxious to try it out. A special thanks goes to John Bunker, bus driver for Oregon Coachways, who provided invaluable help to me in planning and during the trip.
Day 1 was a long travel day, but we did have a special stop in Olympia, WA, for our lunch stop and a visit with Frances and Keith Newsom. It was great to see Frances. I kept thinking she was traveling with me, as she did for many years. We lucked out on the Seattle traffic and made it to Tulalip for our night stay early. Here, we picked up our last rider. Most were shuttled over to the casino for dinner.
Day 2 started with finding the bus garage to replace a malfunctioning part (only taking 10 minutes before we were back on the road). The historic Dutch town of Lynden was our morning break. Everyone scattered for a looksee, shopping or finding food. John Bunker became the tour guide for our border crossing, since he is the expert. The beautiful Minter Gardens (laid out in a thematic way) was our big stop for the day, and our lunch stop. Now, it was time to head for Harrison Hot Springs and a three night stay. Aside from getting together for group activities, everyone enjoyed the amenities of the resort, hiked around town, shopped and congregated in hot pools by evening. It took a little creativity to find supplies and restaurants and, unfortunately, shopkeepers kept short hours, so our shoppers came home richer. The excitement many watched from their decks was a windsurfer vs. boat collision and a helicopter airlifting him to medical attention.
Day 4 was a gorgeous day for our boat ride on the lake. Stewart Hoeg was very busy taking pictures I am anxious to see. Even Mt. Breckenridge was in view. The boat had limited seating so a few went on the afternoon trip and went over to the Kilby farm first. The boat riders went to Kilby in the afternoon. The surprise today was in the afternoon when we came in and found our room keys didn't work. Oooops! I had it fixed in no time. The border crossing was easy, thanks to John Bunker. We stopped in Fife and we all scrambled to our choice of fast food. Then it was rest stops and no bad traffic to Eugene. It was a fun trip, lots to do and I didn't hear grumbles…just, “when can we go back?” Special thanks to Ben Jeffries for all his work planning our time at Harrison Hot Springs and taking care of all the finances.
Traveling on the trip: Ewart Baldwin, Helen Barnard, Rick and Mary Bentsen, Pat Bitner, Mary Lee Cheadle, Kent Christoferson, Mary Ann Cougill, Marjory Creuger, Rosemary Etter, Margaret Fea, Rachel Fiszman, Bea Fontana, Jeannette Forsman, Bette Hack, Dora Harris, Evelyn Hile, Kathy and Stewart Hoeg, Mary Ann Holser, Marjory Jackson, Ben and Pat Jeffries, Rosella Jones, Verna Kocken, Dot Leland, Kathy Madden, Cleora Mersdorf, Maude Nilsen, Barbara and Don Payne, Virginia Prouty, Liz Reanier, Julie Reifel, Dorothy Sistrom, Nan Smith, Julia Snell, Gene Thaxton, Millard Thomas, Bonnie Ward, Cristy White, Vera Woolley and Ellen Zigler.
