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Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA - August 27, 2024  Our group from ICMC included Jim Adams, Janet and Dan Klopp, Jessie, Stephanie and Kyle Yates, David Clem and Liz and Brandon Daniel. The trip to the Keystone ferry was uneventful and, to our surprise, we found that Nick Lofgen had beaten us there. Our group now had seven cars. After a light breakfast at the café across from the ferry terminal, we were getting ready to board the boat when Jerry and Genevieve Davison came through the ferry gates. Unfortunately, they missed the boat by just a few cars. The Sound was smooth and the ferry trip was a very pleasant 22 minutes. Many people on the ferry stopped to admire the cars and Dave and Liz's basset hound, Abigail. For those who might be unfamiliar with Port Townsend, it is a quaint, turn-of-the-century town registered as a National Historic District. It's main street is famous for it's small shops and restaurants and the houses in town include some beautiful Victorian mansions. Fort Worden is north of town. It is a World War One vintage fort designed, along with Forts Eby and Casey to defend the entrance of Puget Sound from naval invasion. No gun was ever fired in anger from any of these installations and they have since all come to be part of the Washington State Parks system. The original plan had been to hold the picnic on the parade grounds of the fort proper. However, when our group rolled in, the parade ground was undergoing a makeover and was in the process of being excavated. After some discussion it was determined that the beach area was the best second choice. Jess took it upon himself to contact the park Rangers and secured signage to direct any latecomers to our party. The rest of us proceeded to pick out a spot with plenty of parking, several tables and a nice location. As the food was laid out it was noted that we had a distinct lack of certain beverages which prompted an immediate run to the local Safeway. Dan, Jess and Dave all piled into Dave's convertible and tooled off across town. On the way, they ran into Gen and Jerry (figuratively speaking of course) and directed them to our party. Upon arrival at the store, they noticed a familiar looking 1966 coupe in the parking lot. It was Ernie and Carol! They too were given directions to the party, the threesome secured their beverages and Jessie took the wheel of the 1993 'vert for the trip back to the park. It was his first time behind the wheel of a "modern" Mustang and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely. By the time the beverages were on ice at the park, Al and his group had arrived. All tolled 21 people and 3 dogs in 12 vehicles attended the first annual All Mustang Family Picnic. Frisbees were tossed. Baseballs were thrown and caught. Gun emplacements were explored. The beach was walked upon. Hot dogs, bratwurst and other goodies were consumed in large quantities. The two most popular activities however were "The Washer Game", built and brought by Dan Klopp, and just sitting around visiting with fellow 'Stangers, comparing cars and sharing stories. The Washer Game kept several of the group occupied for the better part of three hours. As sort of a combination of miniature golf and horse shoes, it requires an equal amount of skill and luck. The younger folks seemed to find it almost addictive. Finally, at about 5:00, the party broke up. We pulled our vehicles into a line and took group pictures of the nine vehicles still there. Then we packed up our chairs and coolers and headed back to the ferry for the return trip. All in all, the first annual All Mustang Family Picnic was a rousing success. The only sad thing was the total lack of participation by anybody outside of the Island Classic Mustang Club and Mustangs West. The two clubs distributed almost a thousand flyers at the Mustang Round-up in July and the word was out on the internet. Yet not one other Mustang owner in the state of Washington showed up. If nothing else, this will become an annual outing for most of those that attended this year and we will hope that more folks will attend next year. Not every outing with your Mustang has to involve a trophy. Copyright © 2002 Island Classic Mustang Club. Last modified Saturday, 02-Sep-2000 10:58:04 PDT. |
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