The Pacific Northwest Rendezvous was off to a great start on Thursday with yummy lasagna and the best corn salad that Charles & I have ever tasted.  This was followed by a presentation by Jerry Dow on their trip to Alaska.  It was very informative for those folks who plan to do this trip and for the rest of us, the pictures were breathtaking.  The weather was a bit like home in Southern Louisiana in the dead of winter, cold and stormy with lightning and thunder.

Friday did not bring the promised sunny skies but no rain and cool—it didn’t matter much because we were treated to a cruise to Blake Island and lunch onboard with the chairmen/chefs/every conceivable job one can perform at a rendezvous (whew!) Debbie and Mike Fedak on their lovely boat Slomocean.  This place, Port Orchard and the Puget Sound, are incredibly beautiful, words (and ya’ll know how many words I usually use) can not describe the sheer grandeur.  Our PAC Turtles are a very lucky bale indeed to have such a place to cruise and so much water!  The evening followed the Rendezvous theme of ‘South of the Border ‘( isn’t that funny considering how north we were from Mexico, and that the closest border is Canada?)  Debbie and Mike again donned their chef’s hats and made a fabulous taco salad and lots of appetizers and turtles for dessert.  Don’t freak anyone and don’t call PETA, the turtles were chocolate (my favorite kind).  The only sad thing was all the wailing and moaning of where’s Bob (Smith) . We were sorry to learn that he had emergency dental surgery, hope all is well.  George and Mary Kay arrived on Friday and everyone was happy to see them again.  Friday’s presentation by EMT/Fireman, Bill Bailey, formerly of Her Majesty’s Royal Navy, was that darn safety thing.  BUT he was really great!  He had an adorable accent and I’m a sucker for an accent, (not that Charles has one).  Anyway, he had a great sense of humor and everyone learned new things.  He actually ran through a list of medical emergencies and how to respond to each one. He was so good that he got to stay for dinner. 

Saturday dawned as I slept a bit late.  By the time we arrived, the Farmers Market was in full swing (hope I didn’t miss any cute stuff) and a couple of Chubbies (CHB owners)  had arrived to say hello to fellow Chubbie, Charles. He really enjoyed getting to meet E-buds for the first time.  Charles was a Chubbie before he became a turtle.

No takers for the dink races, perhaps water temp had something to do with the lack of enthusiasm. George and the group had fun splicing lines.  Question: How many turtles does it take to splice braided line? Apparently at least 5 turtles, 5 hours.  Most of the ladies helped Debbie make appetizers and it was fun visiting and pretending to cook (I’m only referring to my contribution here).  Dinner was exceptional, Mike (again) and George Kay grilled steaks.  Remember it takes a village to run a MTOA Rendezvous…

I was the photographer for this event and apologies to everyone but I am no Don Walterick.  I’m hoping for the best but even with digital……. One more thing, as always, the decorations were fun and cute but the CAKE was really gorgeous. I love cake, this one was so good and darn well should win the prize for best Rendezvous cake ever—it had chocolate icing, which is always a good thing, but it was a turtle with a sombrero and jalepenos in keeping with the theme, how cute is that? Hope the picture does it justice.

We missed the Obrien’s brunch of Heuvos Rancheros on Sunday and I am sure that our hosts have a list of folks they wish I would mention here but time and memory are elusive.  You know I just spit these literary pearls out, this one on the plane home, and I hate to go back and do any research or fact checking (it’s so tedious).

Thanks to Barb and Bill for being our mentors.  It was wonderful meeting the nice folks of the Northwest.  Congratulations to Debbie and Mike Fedak for a really great Rendezvous.  Lots of people say this at Rendezvous’ but in this case it’s really true, it couldn’t happen without you guys.
As we were leaving on Sunday on the ferry we saw Sherry and Leo on C’est La Vie cruising along and for just a moment I was a bit envious. The weather was perfect on an August day, sunny and 70. WOW…


By: Pat Culotta
#1056