Ride Rails Of History On Excursion Train

Sun., June 21, 1998

By Susan English susane@spokesman.com

The North Pend Oreille Lions Excursion Train runs today and riders can catch the historic train at Ione or Metaline Falls, Wash. The round-trip tour lasts two hours and is $5.

The train will also run July 25-26, Sept. 5-6, Sept. 26-27, Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 17-18.

Reservations are recommended. Call (509) 442-3397 between noon and 5 p.m., or contact the Spokane Visitor Bureau, (800) 248-3230 for more information.

Sports, music in the Gorge

The annual Timberland Gorge Games sports and music festival is planned for July 11-18 in Bingen, Wash., across the Columbia River from Hood River, Ore.

Headliners at the musical events include Spearhead on July 11 ($15 advance, $18 at the gate), and Zion with Boka marimba and Callaloo’s on July 18 ($12 advance, $15 at the gate).

For a complete schedule of events, check out the Web page at www.gorgegames.com. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster in Portland, (503) 224-4400.

BC Ferries schedule

BC Ferries serves 46 ports of call along the coast of British Columbia and now the summer schedule is available on the Web. Click to www.bcferries.bc.ca to see the schedule, fares and some highlights at each port of call.

The same information is also available in a free pamphlet; write BC Ferries at 1112 Fort St., Department L&L, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8V 4V2; or call (250) 386-3431.

Mixed bag of music

Whether it’s swing, jazz, bluegrass, cajun or cowboy tunes you take a liking to, there’ll be music for you at the Columbia Gorge Mixed Bag Music Festival, Sept. 25-27 at the Skamania County Fairgrounds in Stevenson, Wash.

The lineup is thick with regional musicians. In addition to the entertainment, there will also be workshops for musicians and food and other activities.

Weekend passes are $55, tickets for Friday or Sunday are $25, $35 for Saturday; camping spots are $10 a night ($15 for one with an electric hook-up). For information call (509) 427-8928 or e-mail skaargrs@gorge.net.

New on the bookshelf

A new series of guidebooks from Fodor’s debuts this month called Cityguide. The books target not only travelers but also longtime residents of the cities included.

The first books in the series cover New York, San Francisco and Boston. Each guide includes maps with major neighborhoods marked, parks and transportation maps, chapters on night life and the arts, parks, gardens and sporting events, as well as the typical food and lodging information that are the staple of most guidebooks.

The Fodor’s Cityguides are $18.

Another new guidebook has divided San Francisco in an unusual way. Author Bonnie Wach created 20 tours of the Bay Area city for culture vultures, shopaholics, neoBohemians, fitness freaks, savvy natives and others. “San Francisco As You Like It” ($12.95) also includes the usual food and lodging information; in fact, there’s a whole tour for foodies.

“Active Woman Vacation Guide” ($21.95) by Evelyn Kaye is actually a hybrid between a book of travel stories and a guidebook - part inspiration, part how-to. The first half of the book is the true stories of women travelers; the remainder offers information on more than 1,000 adventure trips by 50 selected adventure travel companies.

Hiking parents who plan to explore the Olympic Peninsula this summer can turn to a new book, “Best Easy Day Hikes: Olympics” ($6.95) for some reasonable trail ideas. Some hikes cover less than a mile, and there’s a mixture of loop trails and out-and-back routes. Information including trail length, time it takes to walk, elevation gain, how to find the trailhead and key points of interest along the trail accompany each hike.

Oldtime fiddlers

The 46th annual National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest opens Monday and runs throughout the week in Weiser, Idaho, 70 miles north of Boise.

The event draws hundreds of fiddlers and fans for the competition as well as jam sessions, arts and crafts, carnival and parade.

The activities continue daily through Saturday. Tickets are $2 for watching daytime competition (8 a.m.-5 p.m.), $6 to $12 evenings, which includes entertainment from a wide range of musical groups.

For tickets or information, call (800) 437-1280.

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