September 16th - Day 1 - Coeur d'Alene to Whitefish
The group of eight Jaguars (Rick and Patrick would join us in Whitefish) consisting of 5 E-Types, 2 F-Types and one XK8 left Coeur d'Alene at 8:30am. The route was to head north on Rte-95. Unfortunately, very early on the group got split up and all but the first two cars missed the turn onto Rte-95. The rest of the cars eventually discovered the mistake, but some took longer than others. Some of us were halfway to Spokane before determining that something was wrong. It was a good lesson for everyone not to assume that the person they are following knows where they are going - sometimes it's just the blind leading the blind! As a result of the delay in getting back on track some participants decided to skip the first stop at the Ross Creek Cedars. They also missed an unusual spectacle along the route near Clark Fork on ID-200. Enjoy the video by clicking on it - what a collection!
An interesting roadside spectacle along the way on ID-200
Tom, Michael, Denise and Phil at Ross Creek Cedars awaiting the arrival of the stragglers
Pathways through the cedar trees
Eventually most of the group arrived and enjoyed the scenic area which extends to 100 acres and is the home of cedar trees up to 1,000 years old.
Meanwhile Debbie and I were trying to catch up... We received a reminder of one of the hazards of driving through countryside such as this. Fortunately we were already slowing down for upcoming road works....
The next scheduled stop was at the Kootenai Falls swinging bridge. Not too many folks ventured down to the bridge given that we were behind schedule, but for those that missed it, here it is:
Kootenai Falls Swinging Bridge
By then it was lunch time, so some of the group headed for Libby and the Cabinet Mountain Brewing Company brewpub.
Cabinet Mountain Brewing Company brewpub
While Debbie and myself took a separate route to visit some friends in Kalispell, the Oil Leak took a scenic drive north on Rte-37 and then south into Whitefish on Rte-93. Some of the highlights along the way:
Deidre at the Libby dam with the outflow to the left
The Libby Dam and Lake Koocanusa built 1966-74
By Lake Koocanusa
The obligatory wait on road works that we encounter every Oil Leak!
By the time everyone met up at the Firebrand Hotel in Whitefish we had been joined by Rick and Patrick and the Oil Leak was up to full strength. It was the traditional pizza night in a great setting on top of the roof of the hotel, and wine and beer flowed freely into the night as stories were told and plans made for the next day. Meanwhile the cars rested in the parking lot below:
No comments:
Post a Comment