Cougars proudly displayed on the waterfront at Port Angeles

Scott Ferguson's 68XR7G

On the last weekend of April (or first weekend of May, depending on your point of view) we braved the rain to visit Mustangs and Cougars in Port Angeles, Washington. On Saturday, Scott Ferguson and I headed south to catch the ferry at Keystone while the Bingamans and Mike Warner fled west to the coast from Federal Way and Spokane, respectively. The decision had been made earlier in the year to travel at our leisure on Saturday rather than having to hit the road before daybreak on show day, and a good decision that was as we had time to detail the cars in the afternoon sunshine before enjoying a leisurely dinner and getting a good night’s sleep. Sunday dawned bright and sunny as we were joined by Mike Shea, Bridgett Schoolfield and Dave Emmett who faced the challenge of dodging the local seagulls’ strafing runs. Throughout the day there were plenty of prize draws, good food and good music to wile away the hours until awards time. As is generally the case with Mustang shows, there were dozens of classes for our Ford brethren while a mere four for our cats, but it really wasn’t an issue as only eight Cougars attended, six of which were Cascade members. When it came time for awards, five cashed in on the trophies, again made by the 14-year-olds in the woodworking class at Sequim High School. Mike Warner took 1st in his class with his Caspian Blue 67 standard, Bridgett took 3rd for her black 70 XR7, Dave 2nd for his modified white 69 and Jeff took 1st with his Competition Green 70 sunroof car in 69-70 Coupe while Scott took 1st in Specialty Cougar with his Madras Blue G car. Congratulations cat owners! Mike Shea unfortunately got skunked this time around, despite getting lots of attention for his gold 70 standard with houndstooth vinyl top. Mike Warner even received the long-distance award for his 450-mile trip but had it taken away when a 2006 Mustang outdid him by 150 miles. Somehow that didn’t sit right with us owners of 40-year-old vehicles, but there’s no distinction between older and newer vehicles, though maybe there should be.