This year it was Portland's turn to host the VCCA Northwest Meet.  They picked a great little city about an hour east of Portland along the Columbia River.  The town is called Hood River.  We toured to many nearby locations which varied from cherry farm fields to some high plains desert areas.  The temperature the first day reached 101 degrees.  Later in the Meet it cooled to a comfortable 80+ degrees. 

Some other tours included an inside look at the Luhr-Jensen Fishing Tackle Plant, the Maryhill Museum of Art, an exact replica of Stonehenge Monument, and a beautiful stop at the Columbia Gorge Hotel.  Naturally this area is a mecca for sailboard surfers and is world renowned simply as "the Gorge".

More info at the bottom of this page.  In the meantime, double click on any of the following photos to make them enlarge to full size.

1933	1929	1931
	The old ones in the shade.	Cars in the shade too!
	A cherry bldg filled with cars
Columbia Gorge Hotel	Jim finds a friend	Outside the Hotel
Other side of Hotel	Junior at it again	Very, very rare.
		Is this a winner?
Breathtaking		Scenic Overlook
	Kassis & Barquist	Barges on the Columbia
Stonehenge Replica		What time is it?

The very first day of the meet started with a bad omen.  One block from the hotel, Dave Whiteley's 1962 Impala (in Excellent Original condition with approx 36,000 miles) was hit broadside by a truck which ran the stop sign at the freeway off-ramp.  The car had massive damage to it's front and rear quarter panels, but the doors were untouched (!).   I don't have a picture of it but needless to say he won the Hard-Luck Trophy hands-down.

Bill Barker, Bellevue, Washington, USA
Revised 02/27/05