Was worth a try, hope your trip is a good one, and look forward to meeting you at Exotics!

Anyone else? Just copy the list below, and paste it with your name added!

St Helen's Drive
1.) Clevername
2.) Rockyracoun
3.) Marko
4.) Swimref - tentative
5.) Growler05 - tentative
6.)
7.)

 

Well -- I'm also double booked for family items for the St Helen's drive, so unfortunately I have to bow out. I will, however, be fully in for the drive the week after.

 

Sorry to hear you'll miss this one... We all would have enjoyed havin your Cat in the group.

So far the weekend weather is looking good! Tad early to trust, but the 5 day is showing a nice warm Saturday!

Still lookin for others to make that last minute call! Come on, you know you want to come out and play!
How 'bout our neighbors to the south? Anyone want to head north from the Portland area?

I'm leaning towards a 9am departure form Tacoma (11:30 arrival in Toledo for you southern folk) to ease the trip for Swimref and I. I'm about 45 minutes from Krispy Kreme, and I think Swimref is just over an hour?

If Swimref cant make it or would prefer an earlier start, I'm willing.


Add yourself to the list! Just copy the list below, and paste a new post with your name added!
St Helen's Drive
1.) Clevername
2.) Rockyracoun
3.) Marko
4.) Swimref
5.) Growler05 - tentative
6.)
7.)

Vince

 

Vince, remove the "tentative," unless an emergency comes up I'll be there. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the 9AM start, since Tacoma Mall is 1.5 hours on a weekend morning (2.25-2.5 on a weekday). Please PM me your cell number so I can let you know if I run into problems or delays.

Kevin

 

Just a few preliminaries for those attending the drive this weekend.
Weather is showing a few morning clouds and temps between 70-74,so things should be a go!

Items to remember?
1.) FRS Radios, charged and spare batteries! We will run channel 4 if possibe.
2.) Brown bag lunch.
3.) Camera (Fresh batteries and memory card!)
4.) Binoculars
5.) Full tank of Gas
6.) Smile

We are aiming for a 9am "DEPARTURE" from Krispy Kreme, so get there early enough for a cup of Joe and chat time. (I'll try for 8:30ish myself)

The return route will be discussed at the mountain. The time we have already invested in the day may dictate one over another.

Anyone else have suggestions?

Vince

 

Well, we are down to the wire on this one. So far 4 or maybe 5 cars total and still not too late for others to join in!

Seattle and Portland weather say we have a sunny day ahead! (sunscreen for you vert owners?)

Starting point will be Krispy Kreme in Tacoma, next to the Tacoma Mall.
4302 Tacoma Mall Boulevard, Tacoma, WA 98409 - Google Maps
Arrive before 9:00

Also note you will need a Northwest Forest pass ($8) for parking inside the monument.

I have not researched cafe's on the mountain. We will be swinging by three large facilities on the way up, perhaps one or more would have food and snacks, but I'm not going to count on it myself. (Clean mountain air and a peanut butter and honey sandwich has always been one of life's little pleasures for me.)

Gonna be a great day!
Any last minute takers, feel free to speak up or PM me!


Add yourself to the list! Just copy the list below, and paste a new post with your name added!
St Helen's Drive
1.) Clevername
2.) Rockyracoun
3.) Marko
4.) Swimref
5.) Growler05 - tentative
6.)
7.)

Vince

 

Once again, Mount Saint Helen's staff admits excitement over repeated sightings of a possible group of Jaguars roaming the nearby slopes and sweepers.
“These big Cats are not common to our area,” proclaims Ranger Rick, “To see so many here is certainly a spectacular sight!”
The general public is warned to exercise caution when observing Jaguars. The big Cats are known to be quite protective of their parking spaces, and slow cars on the roadway have been known to be taken down as easy prey.

Needless to say, the day was amazing. Lots of fine back roads along the way, great company, and a glorious trip up the mountain with majestic views and well paved sweepers that certainly put a smile on our faces!

The only fear I encountered was while eating dinner at Anthonys. Now beat red from sunburn, had a patron ordered lobster, I could possibly find myself in hot water!

 

Great stuff Vince.........I'm not sure the rogue S Type new what hit them when we asked them to join the pride......
Anyhow, another great day. Great roads and good company. I even was able to get back to the great white north without having to make a contribution to Washington's finest this time.
Safety in numbers I guess!

Thanks for the bug wash, the Black Cat was looking a little speckled on the nose with 800 miles of mosquitoes imported freshly from Alberta and was looking pretty sad compared to the fine, well detailed shadow of Jaguars I was running with.

Here are a few more pix.

 

Nice shots Growler!

 

Thanks for the pics, guys. So bummed I couldn't make it. Nice Car Marko.

 

Awesome day! Thanks all.

I put a few impressions here:

 

That was a fine looking pride of Jaguars that went to St Helens gentlemen.

My jag's nose is covered in bugs ... and he looks like he is grinning from ear to ear. While in Spokane, I drove the wife to Cd'A for lunch then into Montana for dinner ... Nice mountain passes with a 75 limit on the straightaways! We also took your advice and drove the Vantage Highway back to Ellensburg, and climbed up to Wild Horse Wind Facility. Great view of Adams, Rainier, Stewart, and most of eastern WA.

I fear I will miss E@RTC also. A while back some idget turned into my Jag in the parking lot and creased the front left fender (and drivers door) ... and I got the message Friday that insurance just approved my claim, so the car will be in the body shop for 9 days.

 

Great pics guys! Looks like it was a lot of fun. Who's planning on being at E@RTC for Brit day this weekend?

 

I just had a really great time, thanks to all who participated. The weather was perfect and the volcano was very impressive. I do think that Marko's magnificent new XK-R is more of an Emil than an Emily, but he can name it as he wishes. Vince proved again that he was born to lead us on these events, and I'm very glad to have met Allan and heard some of his fascinating stories. It was fun running into Eddie and his family in an S Type and briefly including them in our group. I got a kick out of the VW Passat trying to park with our group and bask in our grandeur.

I enjoyed taking the old highways for a change as I usually take the freeway. In fact this is the first time I can remember driving through Chehalis and Centralia rather than bypassing them. I confess that I just love taking the high speed sweepers in a small pack of cats. And Vince's little trick of slowing way down to leave a big gap and then punching it to get up to speed before catching up to traffic was brilliant. Such a fun day topped off with a very good sunset dinner overlooking Commencement Bay and Puget Sound. I hit my garage at exactly 11PM, so it was a very long (16 hours and 425 miles) day mostly behind the wheel. I'm curious where poor Allan crashed to spend the night before heading home.

Vince, I checked and my radios can run on alkaline AA's, so I'm retiring the NiCd's and shouldn't have the problem in the future. I can't wait for next Saturday's drive!

Kevin

 

I made it to Mt Vernon and slept over. Hit the border by 9:30 and home just after noon.
A spectacular ferry ride home capped it all off nicely.

E@rtc is out I‘m afraid. My daughter has Grad the day before and a beach Vball tournament and she was my ace in the hole.

I guess I can‘t complain. I logged well over 2000 miles in the Cat in the previous week, both ways though the Rockies and north and south through Alberta so St Helens was the the "cream on the cats whiskers" so to speak. (Although they looked like bugs to me)
I‘m glad that I was able to make time for it on the way home.
The road from Kamloops BC through Vernon, Osoyoos to Wanatchee and into Seattle is a drive I can highly recommend. Put it on the list.

Next time.....send pix, I will be thinking of you all on the drive.

Happy Trails

Allan

 

Gentlemen,
Several of you have referred to a "pride" of Jaguars. I cannot let this pass without comment. "Pride" is the term for a group of mere lions, who sleep all the time and are afraid of a little water. Our magnificent felines are the apex predators of their entire range and groups of them are known as "a shadow of jaguars" or less commonly as "an ambush of jaguars." Either way, look out little Porsches!

Kevin

 

So far, I'm in...
Still not certain about where we are driving afterwards, as we have not really set a route in stone yet....
Maybe leg one is to the falls, and work out leg two when there?

V

 

Why dont we combine the two proposed routes. I think the loop up north is too long for me. We're already at the show and lunch from 8:30-noon. Plus if any other non-forum drivers from the show wish to go, a shorter drive may be more appealing. I say lunch at BJ's, followed by a short loop down south, after which I, and any others, can pull off at novelty hill road and head back to Redmond while the die-hards trek on up to Monroe and points beyond.

 

I'd vote for the falls. And... I am planning to be there. The weather looks to be cooperating at this point in time for Saturday.

 

I think the falls are a good start... We can protect our cars by parking next to each other in the upper lot. Not a lot to be found down close to the fall that I would trust my car in...

I take it BJ's is open now?