Shoot the Pass 2007

It’s early Friday morning June 8^th. Folks are arriving in Tukwila to load bikes and bodies and figure out who is riding where and who the bike is going to ride with. Lot’s of folks from WIHSKI, Sno Joke, SSYC and Ski Hawks. Must have been 30 people and an assortment of cars, trucks, trailers, hearse and motorcycles. We are drinking coffee and telling stories and meeting new people and visiting with friends. We are pretty well organized when 8 AM rolls around, so I go to the house to unplug the coffee pot and make sure no one is left in the bathroom. Just as I was about to lock the house, I noticed a purse on the counter. So before locking up I went out to the herd of people to see if someone would claim it. Diane Dodd claimed it, and she and I walked back to the kitchen, she picked up her purse and I locked the house. At this point I should mention that my door locks require a key on both sides and the windows have bars over them.

We are now ready to hit the road. People are getting in their vehicles, engines are starting and car doors are slamming shut. We are ready to roll. That’s when some one casually mentioned, “ why is there someone in your house flailing their arms about and banging on the window?” Oh oh. I had locked Nancy Ried in the house! And she was really worried. So we let her out.

Out on the road our convoy stretched out for a mile or so. We took inventory to make sure we didn’t leave any one behind. Opps! Two people were unaccounted for. There was a rumor that Bill was in the trailer with the bikes. With some frantic phone work we eventually figured out that Bill Rowlands and Patricia Hall, had secured a ride with Lee and Leslie and the bags were in some other car and the bikes in someone else’s trailer and etc. etc. etc.

We moved our convoy down the highway headed for the “Truly Scrumptious Bakery” in Eatonville. We usually stop there and have donuts with the 3 policemen that hang out there. But this year the policemen had already left by the time we got there and as you will see in following paragraph it was probably a good thing.

Jan Snook and Carol Wilson were coming from Puyallup and were going to join the caravan at the bakery. But Carol has a really hard time getting up before noon and so they were running late. Our caravan had finished the donuts and cycled through the rest room and we were ready to leave, but Carol and Jan had not arrived. A cell phone connection reveled that they were about 12 miles out of town. Bill decided to wait at the bakery for Jan and Carol and the rest of us moved on. Bill stood on the sidewalk looking like a forlorn puppy and waved good by to our caravan, one vehicle at a time. After we left, Bill went back in the bakery to wait. But there on a table was a black purse! Bill quickly called the hearse, only to find that no one in that group lost anything. We suggested he look for identification and we might have the persons cell number and let them know. Bill is wrist deep in the purse with both hands when a local woman walks out of the bathroom and screams “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY PURSE"! Fast talking Bill had to use his talents to avoid jail time in Eatonville.

There were 58 people on the trip this year and most of them were at the top of the pass by noon for the ride. Even Carol, Jan and Bill. Carol unloaded her bike and some how got the bungee wrapped through the spokes of the front wheel. Carol helped Jan unload her bike and somehow got a bungee wrapped around Jan’s rear wheel. Those 2 got off to a slow start. I wondered if Larry, Curly and Mo had any daughters. It was great entertainment!

We stopped at Trout Lodge for lunch and went on to the Country Rock Café in Naches. From there we went to the Grapevine Inn in Sunnyside, and the welcoming party. At the welcoming party we found out that Joy Nelson had the oldest bike and B. J. Courtney had the most siblings, and some other really good information.

Maps were distributed at breakfast on Saturday morning for the day’s winery tour. The route took us to Prosser and wineries along the way. It began to sprinkle as we were at the farthest point from the hotel. Lot’s of people wanted a ride back. We loaded 15 people in the hearse and all their wine and bikes on the trailer. It was cozy.

In the evening we went to a barrel tasting and dinner at Apex. Some folks discovered wine at $4.17 per bottle. I witnessed many cases being carried out. After dinner we went dancing and whooping it up!

Next morning we were given more maps for Sunday’s ride. By this time some folks had enough biking and resorted to other methods of getting around. We had lunch at Bonair and looked in to see their new tasting room. They wouldn’t let us taste in there though – something about rowdy was mentioned. I don’t know what that means. They had a mead wine this year with a Chili in each bottle. Interesting stuff.

Joy Nelson was seen dumpster diving along the way. She collected a big assortment of colorful wine bottles to bottle her own wine. I hope her motorcycle didn’t tip over on the way. What a mess that would make.

The day wrapped up at Claar winery and almost everyone picked up their wine. The organizational talents of our Ski Hawks trip leaders, Mary Lloyd and Jean Graves, was apparent throughout the weekend. The details were all covered and done well. It was a great trip!

Jim Gayther (º¿º)

Photos Courtesy of Dean Wilson, Jim Gayther, Joel Carlson, Sandy Blondino