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Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 30 Jul 2017 12:07
by McShagger510
I slept in til 9 - it was great! :lol:

James

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 30 Jul 2017 12:29
by bertvorgon
Next time I will phone you at 4:30!

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 31 Jul 2017 08:15
by bertvorgon
Story and pictures to be posted up tonight when I get home, Lots of pics for Mike!

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 01 Aug 2017 06:36
by bertvorgon
Morning World,

Got sidetracked last night by going to see DUNKIRK.....

FORT CASEY DRIVE 2017


As my left eyeball processed the incoming corner, velocity x radius x hand input, my right eyeball registered the bright red edge of my passenger side fender, contrasted against the dark grey of the 1930’s concrete retaining wall, maybe one to one and a half feet away. What popped into my mind in that micro blink was NASCAR! Richard Petty to be exact. I remembered he was asked why he drove up so close to the WALL, he was famous for that. He said, basically, “If you are far away, when it all goes wrong, it is like stepping into a punch thrown by Mike Tyson!”

If anyone thinks it is easy to get up at 3:00 AM, it is not, even I find it tough at times and I’m not getting any younger. Yet, the final reward is worth every minute of that.

Matt met me at the plant at 4:30, where I had the car already to go, it had cranked and started just fine. We rolled out right on time at 4:45, heading out towards the east in the early morning dawn, a fiery red glow just starting over the Cascades.

We were the first to roll into Campbell Valley store, where we did find a group on Hot Rod guys ready to head off on their days adventure. We gave mutual nods as they drove out into the dawn.

Norm, Greg and Dean were to be our other fellow compatriots for the day, crossing the border at 5:30 sharp. Other than the U.S.Border guy looked like someone killed his Gramma, we were through in a blink.
I-5 had very little traffic, with the warming sun just cracking the Cascade ridge as we got down to Bellingham, making our right turn down to the start of the Chuckanut Drive, where we were treated with a continuous stream of deer. A very nice three or four point buck was calmly walking down the sidewalk, his rack in beautiful velvet.

We had no sooner got on the Chuckanut and started to wick it up when I had to climb on the brakes as momma deer and her fawn decided to leisurely cross the road in front of us. YIKES!

There is absolutely no room for error on the Chuckanut, you are either into the concrete, armaco, or the rocks..PERIOD. We just carried a very nice but rapid pace, with ZERO traffic, unbelievable again. There are two very good hairpins on there and it was fun to use some boost when coming out of those. Norm was on my bumper the whole time. Fun to watch the train behind me, as we swooped and dipped, with accelerations in between. I don’t know how Matt can be a passenger in my car, but, I only saw him flinch twice as I went late into the corners and just rotated the car without using the brakes...STICK is GOOD!

Greg had come up with a different route which turned out to be both very scenic and just a bit disconcerting, as my GPS did not seem to have the road names on it. I trusted my sense of direction and soon we hit the road we had been looking for. The downside on that stretch was some loose aggregate on the road surface, where our sticky tires were throwing up bullets. Greg unfortunately got a rock into his windshield, but, it was already cracked.

Once onto Highway 20, the morning sun flaming behind us, we stopped at the Deception Pass Bridge, to take some pictures. What a truly spectacular place, we were the only ones there, where later in the day on the way back, the bridge and parking area was just jammed with people!

After a nice morning walk we headed on to Oak Harbour, where we stopped for a breakfast at Frank’s Place, which is a tribute to the American Military, the naval station at Widbey Island to be specific. For us Canadians, it is that snap shot of Americana, that we do not have the same way in Canada. Breakfast was very good and filled Matt and I up till we got home at 3:00.

Traffic was flowing at that time now, but it all cruised along very much at the speed limit, having us arriving at Fort Casey around 9:00 I think it was. We spent about two hours there, taking pictures, exploring the gun sites, enjoying the morning heat from the sun. At one point Greg thought he was getting a ticket for not having a Park pass, something we ALL bought. He went blazing back across the dry grass field and soon we could hear them laughing. Turns out he mistakenly bought a YEARLY pass. He did get a refund before we left!

Upon leaving we headed back a different route to get to Oak Harbour, just a great little stretch through some rolling farms lands, very pretty. The sun was high now, as we headed to #20 and Sedro Woolly. As we passed back over the Deception Pass Bridge, traffic was at a crawl and just littered with tourists, an amazing contrast to when we blazed over it.

After a half hour or so we got to Sedro Woolley, where I managed to get us turned around and not heading in the right direction..or so I thought. The resolution on my GPS setting was not good enough and thanks to Norm’s “smart” phone, we got back on track to head up #9 Highway back to the Border. That is a great route and even though there was some traffic, it did flow along at the speed limit. Hero award goes out to the Semi driver, who was in front of me, with a 40 foot trailer on the back, who hardly slowed for the corners! Matt and I both felt there sure was a difference in drivers, as most kept at the speed limit, whereas in Vancouver and on our highways, we have such a speed difference with people.

The run from Deming up to the Aldergrove Border crossing was not bad, it flowed along just fine. The Border was a tad busy, maybe taking us 20 minutes to get through, then we hooked 16Th out to #99 and back to the plant for Matt and I.

Another great day, 404 Kms (251 miles) under our belts, a great run down with no traffic on the best parts, and as Dean said, just great company! Everyone’s car ran flawlessly the whole trip. I finally did run out of fuel on Highway #99, at 374KM (233 Miles), and with the 10 Full gallons my tank takes, that’s 23.3 MPG average, right where I usually am. I quickly switched to my auxiliary tank and made it to the plant with maybe three litres to spare.

Thanks Gang, great day!

Keith Law
July 31, 2017

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 01 Aug 2017 06:38
by bertvorgon
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Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 01 Aug 2017 06:40
by bertvorgon
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Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 02 Aug 2017 17:53
by funwithmonkeys
That was a great drive. Chuckanut all to ourselves is a dream come true. Every road should be like that. When we hit the loose road surface I was staying just behind the 2 luge rooster tails of rocks flying off of Keith's car. Greg was on my bumper and promptly backed off when he was showered with the rocks being flung up my my car. It is totally worth getting up a 4am for a drive like that.

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 02 Aug 2017 19:56
by butters68
sounds like you guys had a great time, sunny and no smoke in the sky yet.

Re: Fort Casey drive 2017

Posted: 03 Aug 2017 07:23
by bertvorgon
Did we ever luck out with the weather.

When I got home yesterday afternoon, the smoke was so bad, I could hardly see across the Bay. I have never, ever seen anything like this, looks like we have at least a few more days before we MIGHT get a wind shift.

I'm heading into the mountains north of Vancouver, to the 6,500 ft level and sure am hoping it is not too bad there. In looking at the Gun Lake cam, it sure is smoky in the valley.

Stay tuned for the Drive to Winthrop thread, in September.