Summer Classes in the State of Washington

For seniors who enjoy continuing education programs linked with travel, a dash of adventure and companionship of mentally and physically active mature travelers, Central Washington University in Ellensburg has an excellent program.

Similar in concept to the popular offerings of Elderhostel, those at Central Washington go a bit further with two monthlong sessions (June 26 to July 23 and July 31 to Aug. 27).

The programs couple a wide choice of learning opportunities with extensive recreation and travel. Among the features: comfortable housing in campus apartments with cooking facilities or university residential halls, a wide variety of no-stress academic classes, plus optional recreation and travel features. Attendance at classes is not required, and there are no exams.

Seniors have a choice of 500 program activities. Subjects range from mind-stretchers such as anthropology, archeology, Russian history and gerontology to more leisurely pursuits such as painting, pottery and weaving, a variety of musical programs from classical to jazz to big band, plus drama and acting (there’s even a part in an old melodrama), creative writing and fly tying.

Maybe you just want an update on world affairs, consumer fraud, what’s up in computers or improving your life style. It seems that whatever your interest, the university has a class to match and the experienced faculty to teach it.

Optional Trips

When students are not in classes (usually afternoons and weekends), there are optional sightseeing tours, fossil hunts, nature hikes, picnics, slide shows, river float trips and personal pursuits such as golf, fishing and tennis.

The university is on a 350-acre campus in the geographic center of the state, not far from the dramatic Cascades, Lake Chelan, the apple-growing country around Wenatchee and the wine country of Yakima. In addition to the many academic buildings, there are seven apartment complexes, 17 residence halls, two dining halls, two theaters, an art gallery, museums, an arboretum and extensive recreational facilities.

Basic tuition fee for a four-week session is $450 per person, not including housing and meals. Housing options range from $215 per person, double, sharing a one- or two-bedroom apartment with kitchen, to from $195 per person, sharing a residence hall suite with private bath and no kitchen.

There are several dining options, depending on how much cooking you want to do. At tops, it’s $305 per person for all meals during the four-week session. Participants also have the choice of weekday meals, dinners only, or just some special dinners and field trip lunches, all at rates lower than $305.

For more information and a complete brochure and registration form, write to Senior Programs Coordinator, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Wash. 98926, (509) 963-1504.

Two diverse seaside accommodations are offering special rates for mature travelers who can take advantage of midweek travel dates.

The Old Yacht Club Inn, Santa Barbara’s first bed-and-breakfast and now in its seventh year, is offering a special Monday-through-Thursday rate through May for travelers age 50 and over.

Called the “Country Idyll,” the program starts at $50 a night for one or two persons for a “European-style” room (quaint expression for a bathroom down the hall) or $75 for a room with private bath. A two-night minimum stay is required.

Both rates include full breakfast, evening hospitality hour, use of bicycles and picnic basket for touring the area. The Old Yacht Club Inn is just half a block from the beach and conveniently near shopping, dining, theaters, historic attractions and other points of interest.

Built in 1912, the Old Yacht Club Inn has nine rooms for guests; it is at 431 Corona del Mar Drive, Santa Barbara 93103. For reservations or more information, call (805) 962-1277.

South of Los Angeles, the considerably larger and spiffier Dana Point Resort, an elegant resort hotel overlooking the ocean, offers a Seniority Plus discount of 40% off the published rates (which range from $130 to $190 a night) for mature travelers 55 and older. The offer is expected to be good through this year.

The senior discount is available only Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights and only by reservation, as some dates may be restricted or sold out. For information, write to Dana Point Resort, 25135 Park Lantern, Dana Point 92629, or phone (714) 661-5000 or toll-free (800) 533-9748.

Only a handful of cabins are still available for the special Alaska cruise on the Daphne out of Los Angeles on May 16. The 17,000-ton liner was chartered by Bill Taylor, a Los Feliz tours and cruise operator who books entire ships for his mature traveler clientele.

Rates for the 11-day cruise, which includes air fare back from Vancouver, Canada, begin at $1,310 per person, based on double occupancy. Because Taylor chartered the liner for the trip from Los Angeles north to Vancouver, where it will be based for the season, the rate amounts “to getting four free cruising days” before the regular seven-day, six-port Alaska cruise, says Taylor.

In addition to the Inside Passage cruise and visits to glacier bays, ports include Victoria, Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway, Wrangell and Vancouver. Taylor also plans special mature traveler rates on regular seven-day sailings of the Daphne to Alaska out of Vancouver during May and June. For information, call (213) 664-4815 or toll-free (800) 233-2904 in the Los Angeles area, or (800) 282-4998 elsewhere in California.

The San Diego Chapter of the Friendship Force, the international nonprofit organization fostering good will through people-to-people exchange visits, plans a two-week visit to Herne in northern West Germany, leaving Los Angeles on Nov. 2. Price is $720 per person, which includes round-trip air to Amsterdam, motor coach in Europe and a choice of a one- or two-week home stay with a German family in Herne, or an optional one-week tour.

For more information, call Bob Spellman at (619) 942-0143 or Peggy Benninghoven, (619) 561-9659.