Where: Cruise to Bellingham from Lynnwood via Chuckanut Drive
When: May 8, 2010 at 10:00 am
Why: To enjoy a cruise with fellow European car enthusiasts and to support Northwest Harvest.
Who: All European car enthusiasts
This is the 2nd Annual Chuckanut Cruise brought to you by BPCDubs and sponsoring Northwest Harvest. If you’ve never made this drive before, it is absolutely fantastic. Forests and trees on one side of the road, and the sound on the other side. It’s a very scenic drive with amazing photo opportunities through twisties.
In 2009, the first year of this cruise we had over 55 cars in attendance and collected almost 400 pounds of food for Northwest Harvest.
Where to meet:
Lynnwood Park & Ride
164th St SW & Ash Way, Lynnwood, WA
Map:
View Larger Map
We will be meeting at this park and ride because it is convenient for people coming from either 405 or I5. We will have people available to help guide vehicles to the appropriate section of the Park & Ride, this is the same meeting spot as the Tuesday Lynnwood GTG. :thumbup:
**IMPORTANT INFORMATION**
1. Have a full tank of gas upon arriving at the Lynnwood P&R
2. Make sure you have used the restroom, we won’t stop until we get to the The Weblocker Restaurant in Bellingham
3. Make sure you have printed out a copy of the map and directions so that you are familiar with the route in case you are separated.
When:
We will be meeting at 10am at the Park and Ride and will be leaving promptly at 10:30am. This will give people some time to hang out, chit chat, ogle other people’s cars, and hit the road.
Donations:
We will be taking donations for Northwest Harvest as a part of this cruise, every vehicle in attendance should bring 4 cans of food to donate to Northwest Harvest.
Northwest Harvest is a local non-profit organization that collects food and provides it for free to local food banks and meal programs throughout the state.
You can find out more about the organization here.
Suggested donation items:
General food items:
Oatmeal
Whole grain pastas
Brown rice
Tomato products
Canned peas
Canned pears and peaches, especially with low sugar (but not artificial sweeteners)
Canned tuna
Canned chicken and turkey
Shelf-stable milk
Beef stew, chili and similar meals with low sugar and saturated fats
Infant and baby foods:
Baby formula
Canned milk
Infant cereal
Jars of baby food
Powdered or canned milk
We also accept baby diapers
Route from the Lynnwood Park & Ride to Bellingham, leaving at 10:30am:
View Larger Map
There are no planned group stops along the way, there are very few stopping points once you get off I5 and on to Chuckanut Drive.
12:30 – 1:00pm:** 1st Stopping Point: Lunch at The Weblocker Restaurant **
Arrive in downtown Bellingham via N. Forest St.
Meet at:
The Weblocker Restaurant
734 Coho Way
Bellingham, WA 98225
They have delicious burgers and sandwiches, fish and chips. Etc. This is tstmstr’s restaurant. :thumbup:
People are welcome to have lunch wherever they please, but this will be our first stopping point. If you would like to eat somewhere else, just meet the group at our final destination at Larrabee State Park.
3:00pm: ** 2nd Stopping Point: Larrabee State Park **
Address:
245 Chuckanut Drive
Bellingham, WA 98229
Map:
Once we arrive at Larrabee Park we will have the opportunity to take pictures, hang out, and enjoy the awesome PNW European car enthusiast community! There is a beach just a short walk away, so grab a frisbee to throw around. At this point in the day, people can hang out as long as they want and depart when they wish. You can either take Chuckanut Road back to the Seattle area, or hop on I5 for a quicker drive home.
The route that we currently have planned is 80 miles each way from Lynnwood to Bellingham.
Now that all of the fun informational stuff has been addressed, the serious stuff needs to be discussed.
**SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!**
This is without a doubt our #1 concern.
We all will be driving as a group, and as a group, we all represent the European car enthusiast community. No one is to do any burn-outs, illegal lane changes, or passing on the shoulder. Everyone needs to keep their speed under control and make sure that they are not following cars in front of them too closely, whether they are with our group or not. SAFETY is paramount; do not drive like an idiot! We will not hesitate to call the police on any vehicles who are not driving in a safe manner.
Please make sure that you are allowing other vehicles that are not part of our cruise to merge onto the highway. You don’t need to worry about being separated from the rest of the group. It is extremely unsafe to do this and we are not in a race to get to our destination, it’s called a cruise for a reason. Drive respectfully, safely, and courteously to everyone around you.
This thread will be modified as we make updates or clarifications.
Stay tuned for more BPCDubs cruises and events in the future. :thumbup:
POST EVENT UPDATE:
We carried out our Second Annual Chuckanut Cruise for the Benefit of Northwest Harvest this past May 8th and we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.
We counted around 50 cars at the Lynnwood Park & Ride at 10:30 a.m., right before we were set to depart towards Bellingham via I-5 through Chuckanut Drive. We had already collected around 250lbs of food at that point.
The cruise was held in a very organized manner and departing the location was done in an orderly fashion with no delays. We are also happy to report that we did not see any instances of speeding or other inappropriate driving and the convoy made it to Bellingham without incident. We really want to commend everyone on their good behavior on the road.
Once there, we stormed the Weblocker for some badly needed refreshments and food. Thanks again to the staff at the Weblocker for being so accommodating and friendly to us. Their service is bar none and they were able to pump out delicious food for our massive group of drivers without delay and with a friendly smile.
Weather-wise, we couldn’t have been more pleased. It was sunny and in the 70s all day long, which allowed us to really make a day out of it and hit the beach at Larrabee State Park for some mingling with our attendees and a bit of R&R before hitting the road back towards the Seattle Metro area. Many of our attendees took the time to snap some photos throughout the day as well, feel free to check out this thread on VWVortex for some nice examples of what the day was like.
Overall, we consider this cruise a great success. Everyone had a great time and we were able to collect a very respectable amount of food donations for Northwest Harvest, which was the ultimate goal of the cruise. Everyone involved should be pleased knowing that not only was it an amazing drive through gorgeous weather and scenic roads with good friends, but it was all for a great cause – which in the end is what BPC is all about.
Thanks to everyone for coming along for the ride and keep an eye on our events section for our next charity drive coming soon!
