Day 22 - The Final Day

Today marks the last day of the Convention and although some great activities were schedule during the day, many people could be seen heading for home. Our plan for the day though included a trip to Grouse Mountain, in North Vancouver. Before leaving a few of us had signed up for the horn seminar, where valuable information was presented on restoring your Model A horn or the MAFFI Museum Overview where we learned of the plans for the new museum in Michigan.








We, the Lindens, Tallones and Jack & Jo, arrived at Grouse Mountain and got our tickets, which included a ride to the top of the mountain, the Lumber Jack show, the Birds in Motion show and the Grizzly Bears. The tram ride whisked us to the top of the mountain in no time. We were just in time to watch the Lumber Jack show, which was a combination of shtick and actual skill. The show was entertaining.








The views from the top were great, with the mountains looking so majestic off in the distance. We were even treated by being able to watch two Bald Eagles soaring near the giant wind turbine at the top of the mountain. We could see some excitement ahead and found out the Grizzly Bears were roaming around. We scurried over and sure enough there were the two bears. Boy, they were impressive. We had the opportunity to spend some time talking with the bear’s wildlife biologist who filled us in on the operation of the Grouse Mtn bear preserve. It was very informative. We left the bears for the Birds in Motion Show. This show was geared to explaining the differences between the various birds of prey, starting with owls and ending up with the bald eagle. Wow was he big, but we learned that in the birds of prey family it was the females who were the biggest. The crowd was amazed at how graceful these birds were.


Back at the hotel we had some chores to do, which was to find a laundromat to get our clothes washed before the cruise tomorrow. Let me say that this experience was something that would have been right at home in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo‘s Nest. In spite of our high jinks, we managed to get our laundry done. We raced back to the hotel and got changed so we could attend the Awards Banquet. Unfortunately we missed the presentation to the Minuteman club for initiating the MAFFI Museum Challenge.



We were on hand however to see Dick O’Brien receive his 3rd Place award for his 1929 Woody. We also were there when Dick received the Longest Distance Award for driving to the meet (he beat me by 12 miles). I received the Hard Luck trophy. I guess they figured it was hard to beat using 3 engines to make it to the meet.



It has been a good convention and a big thank you goes out to the Lionsgate club for hosting this event. Tomorrow we will board the ship for our cruise to Alaska. It may be difficult for me to get WiFi, but I will store my posts to the blog and download them when access is available. Nan will also have to say good bye to all her "Lobby Buddies" who have been meeting in the lobby in the morning as they get coffee, read the paper or log on to their computers. I guess it's been quite a group.