Here was an opportunity. A new Maserati/Ferrari dealership opened up in our backyard, Redwood City. This dealership, as with all of them, is very beautiful and filled with wonderful cars, but there is a difference. This is the only Ferrari dealership in the world that has a Bistro tucked away in a corner of their showroom. You can sit down and enjoy some Italian food, including sandwiches, served by a full time chef, David Peatrowsky, or just relax enjoying a Latte, Cappiccino, Hot Chocolate or simple coffee from their overly exotic coffee maker... just press the desired button. Well, what a place for a bunch of Maseratistas to join for a dinner and movie. On Saturday night, July 22 at 6 p.m., 16 lucky folks met at Silicon Valley Maserati/Ferrari for an Italian Dinner. The menu – Antipasto Platter, Florentine Steak with Salsa Verde, Four Cheese Ravioli with Spicy Marinara Sauce, Caesar Salad with Foccacia Croutons, Sautéed Italian Squashes, assorted petite desserts with coffee and soft drinks. And everyone brought wines to share. This does not list the hors d’oeuvres supplied prior to dinner... WOW, were they great!! The reason for the 16 seats you ask... Well, until this year there were only 16 Grand Prix Races each year. So, there are four tables with four chairs each, with the names of the 16 races stitched into the chair backs. And did I mention the BIG Screen TV? We ran the movie, “Grand Prix,” with James Garner, during dinner. You all remember that one right? Hardly anyone paid any attention to the movie, which says good things for the food, wine and good friends that attended. I kept asking Jules Moritz and his wife Judy, was that an old Ferrari or BRM… Lotus? He is a vintage racer and they recognize the differences immediately.

Attending were George and Bobbi Andreini in their new spotless Coupe, Gene O’Gorman with Vicki in their famous 3500 Spyder, Gene and Sandy Boyer in a wonderful red Mistral, James and Mavis Caruso in their gorgeous Maser Spyder and Alexander von Wolff, with a buddy, in a very nice 3500 Coupe. Jules and Judy Moritz, along with Richard and Caroline Gray, drove very nice Etceterinis, while we brought our Maser Coupe.

Then to our surprise, the half owner of the place, Art Zafiropoulo stopped by, driving his wife’s Maserati Spyder, a very nice guy and lots of fun. His son is one of the sales guys, so stop in and talk with Jason. Then buy a car... Great people!!

Dinner ended about 9:30 (our hosts were extremely accommodating). We were getting ready to pack up, but one of the guests, I believe Alexander, remembered seeing our “Rendezvous” DVD on the table and asked “aren’t we going to see that one??” I had assumed everyone had seen it, was tired of it, and I would not push it. Well, I was mistaken. Most had seen it, and everyone wanted to see it NOW!!! For the last 10 minutes of the evening we ran “Rendezvous” and everyone was laughing, ooooohhing, leaning and ducking to that great film.

The evening was a blast and we have been invited back. A very successful evening.

By Don Treadwell

Sept. 20, 2006. Left home (Pleasanton, California) at “O” dark thirty a.m. (5:00 a.m.), drove to Albany, Oregon – 630 miles. Spent the night with some friends. The 2005 Coupe was running great.

Sept. 21, 2006. Left Albany at 7:30 a.m. Met John and Carol Asmus – also in a Maserati 2005 Coupe, and Larry and Patti Ruben in Portland, Oregon. Larry and Patti were in a recently acquired 2004 Corvette. Drove through the Columbia River Gorge, and stopped to see several waterfalls along the way, as well as the Stonehenge Memorial and a scenic overlook of the Columbia River. Stopped for lunch in Hood River, Oregon, drove up Highway 97 to Leavenworth, Washington, and stayed the night. Met Frank and Janet Mandarano in their Ferrari 360 Spyder for dinner in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is a “German Town” set in the mountains on the Wenatchee River.

Sept. 22, 2006. Left Leavenworth at 8:45 a.m. and drove along the Columbia River for about 100 miles and then along the Okanogan River to Osoyoos, Canada. Crossing the border we clicked off 1000 miles from home. Continued on to meet up with Colin Craig in Hedley, Canada, where there was an old gold mine and museum. Colin, Joan, Caroline and Andrew Craig arrived from Vancouver at about 2:00 p.m. with three Maseratis, including a 1968 Q-Porte, a Merak and a Biturbo 430. Also arriving with the Craigs, were Dave and Debbie Couling from Vancouver. After lunch we drove back to Osoyoos, Canada to have dinner and spend the night. Colin had set up a really outstanding itinerary. The Hotel in Osoyoos was a Holiday Inn located on a small strip of land between two lakes. Every room had a spectacular view of the lake as well as the surrounding mountains. The rooms were all suites. Dinner was at the Burrowing Owl winery about 10 miles from the hotel, even though it took about 20 miles to get there. The winery was set high on a hill overlooking the lake and surrounding valley. Burrowing Owl is one of the best wineries in the area and certainly the restaurant was as good as any we have sampled in Napa.

Sept. 23, 2006. Left Osoyoos at about 9:30 a.m. for the wine tasting of the Canadian Okanogan Valley. Went back to Burrowing Owl for the first wine tasting. The wine was as good as advertised, maybe even better, then on to Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and Hawthorn Mountain where we had lunch on the terrace overlooking Skaha Lake, with great expansive views of the valley. After lunch we continued on to Blue Mountain and Hillside Estate Winery. It seemed each winery had better view than the last. We then continued back to Osoyoos to the hotel and dinner at Campo Marina Restaurant.

Sept. 24, 2006. Left Osoyoos for a great drive through the Mountains, then through Rock Creek to Kelowna. Frank, Janet, Larry and Patti left us at this point to drive back to Seattle. Too bad, as the best was yet to come. The climb up to Rock Creek was about 4000 feet over the pass, and again, spectacular views of the lake and valley. The drive was about 100 miles to Kelowna before we got to our first winery – Grey Monk Estate. Great wines and another great view of the valley and lake from the open terrace. We had a light snack of cheese to wash down the wines. Another short drive, 20 miles, to the next winery – Quail’s Gate Estate, and lunch. Of course it had a great view of the lake and valley. I am beginning to think you cannot have a winery and or restaurant up here unless it has a spectacular setting. Our last winery was the Mission Hill Estate winery in Westbank. It too had an outstanding restaurant and views of the lake and valley. Modeled after a Benedictine Monastery, it was the largest and most spectacular winery of the trip. We said our goodbyes here and the Craigs went back to Vancouver. We traveled on to Merritt with the Asmus and spent the night.

Sept. 25, 2006. Left Merritt at about 9:00 a.m. for a great drive down the Thompson and Frazer river canyons to Vancouver and the Ferry ride over to Victoria on Vancouver Island. The ferry ride is about 1 hour and 40 minutes and travels through the islands from Tsawwasssen, California to Victoria. Since we had good timing with the ferry, we saw the Butchart Gardens that afternoon before arriving at the hotel. Certainly, this was one of the highlights of the trip. This lady had great foresight to take a old limestone quarry and turn it into one of the greatest gardens of the world. By this time we were a little saddle sore and had great fish and chips at a local pub for dinner.

Sept. 26, 2006. Visited the Royal British Columbia Museum and walked a good part of the city.

Sept. 27, 2006. Visited the Oak Bay district and had an impressive drive around the lower portion of the island. Dinner was at the Empress hotel. This certainly is one of the great hotels of the world. A magnificent old building with a great setting, overlooking the harbor.

Sept. 28, 2006. Caught the Ferry from Victoria to Port Angles, Washington at 10:30 a.m. – about 1 hour 30 minutes across the Straight of San Juan De Fuca. Started our drive down the west coast of Washington and visited the Hoh rain forests of the Olympic National Park. This part of Washington is like a step back in time; very few people live in this area. Drove on to Long Beach on the coast and spent the night.

Sept. 29, 2006. Drove down the coast of Washington to Astoria, then on to Tillamook to visit the cheese factory and the air museum. The air museum contained about 30 WWII aircraft, all in excellent flying condition. At this point John and Carol Asmus left to see their kids in Portland. We continued down the Oregon coast to Newport, and then over to Roseburg to spent the night.

Sept. 30, 2006. The last leg back to Pleasanton, California – 3080 miles total. About 1200 miles on freeways, the rest on a lot of great twisty roads. The Maserati ran great all the way and got properly exercised.

Colin and Joan do this every year and have trouble getting people to attend. I have to say this was one of the best trips we have taken any where and certainly want to again thank them for setting up the outstanding itinerary and drives through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. For anyone interested I would highly recommend this trip.