Day 4 - Thursday

A second successive morning with clear skies when we awoke at the Sun Mountain Lodge near Winthrop.

Sun rise over E-Types

Deer wandering around the property and grazing on the grass....

....oblivious to what happened to their friends on display inside

Unfortunately the day got off to a bad start (or failure to start) as soon as we left the hotel. Less than a mile down the road we came upon Glen and Sharon stalled in the middle of the road. The new fuel pump installed yesterday had decided that pumping gas was too much work...

Greg emptying the trunk again to access the malevolent fuel pump

A smack with a hammer got the pump ticking again, which as far as I know, kept going for the rest of the day.

Our route today took us into the North Cascades National Park on the north cascades highway (US-20). Rather than attempt to convoy as a single group, we set off in small groups in recognition that each of us would want to stop at different points along the road and enjoy the views or hike the trails. The road took us through spectacular mountain terrain with a series of lakes with amazing blue-green waters.

One group of 6 E-Types climbing US-20 into the mountains

Driving photos are now easier thanks to a dash cam

View of Lake Diablo from alongside US-20

According to the Ranger we spoke with, the color of the water is due to reflections from suspended mica

As we approached the Visitor's Center mid-way through the park we came upon members of our group with an open bonnet. Oh no.... Lynn and Jan's V12 has been having hesitation problems at low revs for a few days, and he and Greg were working on the carb adjustment as we drew up.

Lynn and Greg adjusting the needles

One of the fuel filters was also found to contain a lot of debris and replaced, and the damper oil was exchanged for oil with a lower viscosity. The last I heard, the engine seemed somewhat better, though still not right. Watch this space...

While work on the V12 continued we took the opportunity for a picnic lunch in the beautiful setting. Very relaxing for those not working on the car! After lunch we drove the small distance to Visitor's Center and each decided what activities we'd like to do. Debbie and I took a short hike on the trail of the cedars. By the time we completed it, we had missed the 2:00pm get together back at the Visitor's Center, so we drove the remainder of the route to La Conner on our own. The route to La Conner took us through the village of Concrete, so named in 1909 after the Portland Cement Company built a plant there in 1908. It is famous for it's concrete bridge, built in 1916-18 named the Henry Thomson Bridge. At the time, its graceful arch was the reputedly the longest single-span reinforced concrete bridge in the world.

Henry Thomson Bridge, Concrete

Rick and Christines S1.5, and Greg and Dianne's S3 on the Concrete bridge

As we left the park there were a few showers of light rain, but not enough to cause us to raise the top. This evening everyone has the opportunity to select their own dinner experience. I expect we'll see a few of the party as we explore the small town of La Conner this evening.