Trip Report

The leader of this trip was Ben Jeffries, with co-leaders Ewart Baldwin and Liz Reanier. September 2 through September 6, the Bus group conducted their most extensive trip for 2008. Forty-three of us visited Central and North Central Washington. Some of this trip was near the locations of past Summer Camps and combined natural and man-made features. We were fortunate to have three family groups as riders: five Baldwins, four Hacks and three Beards. Again, this year the Hack contingency garnered recognition for the greatest travel distance from home to trip start. Two joining us from New York City, and one from the San Diego area. Two Baldwins are from the San Francisco area.

Day one was a longer travel day, Eugene to Wenatchee, WA, with stops at Multnomah Falls and Toppenish, a town of 9,000 and 70 colorful murals.

Day two began with a tour of the candy production factory of Liberty Orchards, maker of Applets and Cotlets. Next was a visit to Cashmere's Pioneer Village, a collection of Twenty late 1800s original buildings and a very good County Museum. We had two excellent guides, one a Native American, covering the area's tribal history. We moved east to the Bavarian town of Leavenworth for lunch. Later, we stopped at the Washington Apple Commission's Visitor Center for a film and talk emphasizing the importance of the regions apple and other crops. The area is the largest apple region in the world and produces 50% of all commercially grown U.S. apples. Our last stop was at Rocky Reach Dam. We were fortunate, to again, have an excellent guide who shared facility features and gave a presentation on electricity generation and distribution.

Day three was highlighted by a seven hour boat trip on dramatic Lake Chelan and a two hour layover in the small town of Stehekin, with 72 year round residents. The Lake, 50 miles long and 1½ miles at its widest point, has almost vertical walls, ranging up to 8,000 ft. The lake has a water depth of 1,486 ft. and surrounding mountains allows a claim of North America's deepest gorge. Most of our group took the tour of Stehekin and 312 foot Rainbow Falls.

Day four began with a stop at Winthrop, population 350, a theme town of old west mining, with false-front buildings, wooden sidewalks and old-fashioned street lamps. During our stop, it was also visited by a fairly large contingency of motorcycle riders. Many Obsidians recognize Winthrop from stops during Summer Camps. After Winthrop, we entered the North Cascade National Park, with its jagged peaks, deep and narrow valleys, water falls and over 300 glaciers. A number of stops were made to enjoy the spectacular views. After lunch, we visited Newhalem Ranger Visitor Center, where we heard a presentation concerning the area's wildlife and saw an excellent new film. The Visitor Center has been recently greatly improved.

Day five, we visited the Port of Tacoma and had a very good tour with a step-on guide. The day's activities were concluded by a stop at Brown and Healy's outlet store. The riders had insisted on the opportunity to buy Almond Roca and other candies. We were back in Eugene at 6pm.

Riders were members: Don Baldwin, Ewart Baldwin, Mari Baldwin, Neal Baldwin, Barbara Beard, Paul Beard, Paula Beard, Pat Bitner, Mary Cougill, Sharon Cutsforth, Rachele Fiszman, Barbara Flanders, Dennis Flanders, Jeannette Forsman, Virginia Gilbreath, Bette Hack, Maryann Holser, Marjorie Jackson, Ben Jeffries, Pat Jeffries, Verna Kocken, Dot Leland, Kathy Madden, Ron Madden, Amy Maxwell, John McManigal, Lenore McManigal, Barbara Payne, Don Payne, Virginia Prouty, Elizabeth Reanier, Nan Smith, Julie Snell, Janet Speelman, Richard Speelman, Grace Swanson, Bonnie Ward and Christy White; and nonmembers: Ron Baur, Sharon Clark, Fern Jacobson, Mary Reynoldson and Emil Smith.