Okay, it's been a pretty busy week; the first half was on the road and since then been playing catch-up with work. I finally found some time to sort through the photos and reflect back on my trip and 5erWest.
Well, what is there to say other than another extremely successful and enjoyable event in the PNW in the host city of Portland, Oregon.
First and foremost: the
BIGGEST and
LOUDEST shout out, appreciative and whole-hearted THANK YOU to Jake Dunkin (Jake D) and his loyal, hard-working voluntary crew in the home city. This event could not possibly work , let alone be the successful and fun time it is without the tireless efforts of Jake and the volunteers from the nwBMW club.com forum and locals in Portland. It is a testament to their efforts that this has become one of the premiere car events in the West (at least in IMHO). I am for one thankful that Jake pulled through earlier this year and got some support to help him put this show on.
I guess this is sort of a run-down of the event from mine and some others’ perspectives which includes the travels to and from Portland.
Day 1: Thursday 7/17
We got kind of a late start leaving LA with me and Eric (Kenny Blankenship) getting to the first rendezvous an hour late. Kohler ended up getting there a whole two hours before us having left Phoenix somewhere around 3:30 that morning. After having lunch, and topping off the tanks, we headed north on the 5 bound for Sacramento, CA, our first overnight stop. Our initial caravan was:
vinceg101: 1985 E28 M535i
wkohler: 1985 E28 Alpina B7 Turbo (sporting the BlueTape Bra by Phyver Industries)
Kenny Blankenship: 1979 E12 528i
We made pretty good time up the 5 through the Central Valley only needing to make some required stops for fuel, iced tea, and a bathroom.
We arrived at Jay3’s (elguappo) house in North Sacramento about 6:00pm that night. We all had dinner there with Jay and his family (good Tri-tip, BTW) and just crashed. We had an early morning to meet up with the rest of the caravan out the Bay Area in Williams, CA about an hour north so there really wasn’t any partying that night.
Day 2: Friday 7/18
Due to collective exhaustion, my cell phone alarm not being loud enough and a clock that was never re-set after DST, we overslept Friday morning; by at least an hour. What was supposed to be a peaceful breakfast of bagels and espresso before we got on the road by 6:00am, turned into the Keystone cops of breaking camp, packing cars and wolfing down a bagel while trying to leave before 7:00. Eric was staying in Woodland about 20 minutes north, so he in theory was supposed to be waiting for us already (turned out he too was late getting to Williams). We got a call from Johnny (johnnyE23) seeing if he could stop by with his family to see us off on his way south to Beers, Brats ‘n’ BMW’s at Cost Motor Works in SoCal the next day. They were continuing south to Mexico after that. Their arrival in turn woke Jay up, so they were all were standing around Jay’s driveway talking about what? BMW’s naturally. We eventually got out by 7:30.
In Williams we met up with the (slim) Bay Area contingent:
Yar: 1985 E28 M535i (Kohler’s former Alpine car)
Ldsbreaker: 1985(?) E28 525i
Adam and Logan worked all day and night until about 3am that morning to get his car on the road to be able to meet up with us.
We made decent time from there to the lunch stop in Weed, CA. We chose Silva’s BBQ this year: good choice with Pulled Pork sandwiches and the Kohler approved iced tea. They are the new stop on this route from now on. We dined in the shadow of Mt. Shasta which had an alarmingly paltry amount of snow on it (like none). Usually it has snow all year round above the tree line. Shasta Lake was equally shocking in the almost total lack of water.
We made two more stops along the way north: one in Roseburg and the other at our scheduled afternoon Pit Stop in Springfield, OR. We were here about 4:30 and realized we were in serious jeopardy of not making the kick-off Meet & Eat event in Portland which was at 7:00. So we hustled and fought our way through the thickening traffic north to Portland.
We finally made Portland in time for rush hour wherein Adam’s 525 overheated. Yar stayed behind and waited with Adam until the motor cooled down. The rest of us lit out there and got to the restaurant parking lot just before 7:00. We ate pizza, drank some good local beer, and reconnected with Jake, Tyler, AJ and the rest of locals as well as meeting some new faces. (Sorry I was too fried to think about taking any photos; it was long drive). Finished up, and everyone who was staying at the host hotel (The Clackamas Inn) headed back there for the night.
Kohler got the notion to clean and detail his car that night at around 10 or 11 after we got back from dinner versus doing it in the morning. Not sure what happened, but a bunch of us joined him (and we weren’t even drinking anything either; totally inexcusable behavior if you ask me). Eventually we called it a night.
Day 3: Saturday 7/19: Show Time
This year’s event was relocated at the 11th hour due to some “issues” with the City of Gladstone. Jake prevailed and landed us a spot at the Elks Lodge in nearby Milwaukee. Not as nice as being in Meldrum Park by the confluence of the Willamette & Clackamas rivers, but at least the Elks had indoor plumbing, a restaurant AND full bar. Which was good, because it was pretty hot out there on the asphalt (it hit 90 in Portland that day) so we all were ducking for cover.
What can I say about the event other than it’s 5erWest, so lots of 5’s from all generations plus a bunch more strays of other models. We even pulled a new Euro delivered Porsche; but it belonged to Craig and wife Katherine (clangpap) who drove it down from Calgary, so it was okay. The variety of cars this year was outstanding, especially the E28’s: two M535i’s, one Euro M5, Kohler’s B7, and some other outstanding preserved examples.
We did have some other cars besides 5's:
Congrats to Chris Kohler for winning both Best E28 and the newly minted Best In Show awards for the B7.
Jake wanted to get a group photo of the Best E28’s:
Missing from this were the first two winners: Simon(Dinan E28) in 2010 and Jay2 in 2011. But the rest of us were there:
2012: My M535i
2013: Joel’s S54 power 528e
2014: Chris Kohler’s Alpina B7 Turbo
Afterwards, Tyler and his wife invited a bunch of us over to chill and have (more) Pulled Pork, salads and other tasty treats at their house. It was really just the perfect way to wind out the day and event. Of course being car folks, we all ended up on the street; even doing an impromptu timing adjustment to AJ’s E21.
The crowd slowly dispersed and headed back to our respective homes and hotels for the night. Most all to reconvene for the drive the next day.
Day 4: Sunday 7/20: Drive
Sunday’s drive was re-mapped the night before to instead head south and east out around Mt. Hood, through the fruit orchards and ending in Hood River, OR. A bunch of us got up and went off in search of breakfast before-hand and found some great food (with plenty of server attitude) at Dean’s Homestyle Café in Clackamas to fortify us for a busy morning of driving (see Charlie’s breakfast pic in previous post).
The weather was decidedly different than the day before: it was overcast, cool and even misted a bit down in Portland. We all took off south towards Mt. Hood around 10am. The weather up on the mountain was pretty socked in with rain, but still a nice drive.
We ended the drive around lunch time in Hood River and our favorite destination: Full Sail Brewing Company. For me, this event would not be complete without two things: the pilgrimage to Full Sail and the stop at the Bonneville Locks.
Good food and the best beer imbibed, we headed south down the river towards Bonneville on the Oregon side. Crossing at the Bridge of The Gods just below Cascade Locks, OR over to Washington.
The photo op spot of the trip is posing in front the Bonneville Locks hydroelectric facility; always a stunning backdrop.
From there the event was pretty much over. The Seattle guys (cek & Mike in Seattle) peeled off to head north back home, the locals headed back to Portland, Eric (Kenny Blankenship) and Craig & Katherine peeled off before Full Sail. We all said our goodbyes at the river and promised to be there next year.
But my trip back was just beginning.
In the past, I stay over until first light Monday and head back south the same route as north, but this year I had business in Mammoth Lakes, CA on the way back. This meant leaving Portland Sunday afternoon and getting as far south as I could that night before stopping. It also meant not getting into the city to my second pilgrimage: Powell’s Books. Oh well, next year I guess.
After getting back from Hood River and into Portland, it was now 5pm; a full two hours later than I wanted to leave. My hotel reservation was in Grants Pass, OR for that night so I had to get moving. Four hours later at 9pm I arrived; it was a very long day with most of it behind the wheel. The next day was going to be equally as long.
Day 5: Monday 7/21
Woke up, checked out, found some espresso and a Danish then on the road by 7am streaking south on I-5 towards the CA border. The plan was to make Mammoth Lakes, CA by the end of the day; that’s roughly about 500 miles from Grants Pass so it wasn’t too bad. Besides it was taking me through some really pretty scenery through the Sierra Nevada Range.
The route was I-5 south to Mt. Shasta, CA then turning southeast onto the 89. This took me around the base of Mt. Shasta itself through the Shasta National Forest. From there it was a turn to the east on 44 and up around the north side of Lassen Peak through the Lassen National Forest. A quick stop to look across at Lassen Peak and the weather they were having:
The 89 and 44 are really great driving roads: long sweepers through wooded forests with 65mph speed limits that could be <ahem> pushed a bit. Only the occasional RV, logging truck and retiree in a Buick to make you break stride. From there I dropped into Susanville for a pit stop and lunch.
After that it was back into civilization on the 395 south towards Nevada, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. The 395 takes you directly through Reno and Carson City, NV before returning you to California. Seeing that I was kind of on a clock, I skipped the Lake Tahoe loop this go around and stuck with main road; maybe next time. After leaving all that western Nevada has to offer, the high desert country becomes pretty sparsely populated after crossing back into California. The drive south from Topaz Lake through the Topaz River gorge is well worth the drive: sharper up and down hill switches, but not crazy enough so you can’t stay in 4th.
After dropping out of the high plateaus, I had to stop in Bridgeport and get some of the most expensive gas I found: $5.29/ga. I was on fumes at this point, so in went 25l and off I went south to Mammoth Lakes. To get there I had to thread my way between Mono Lake and the area that is Yosemite National Park.
(I didn’t really have time to stop nor the vantage point to photograph the backside of Yosemite that afternoon, so the above photo will have to stand in. This is Mammoth Mountain just south of the backside of Yosemite. It still shows you the majestic and awesomeness that are the Sierras.)
By the end of the day, I pulled into Mammoth Lakes, CA and the “cabin” (read 4 bedroom, 2 story, 2,000 s.f.) I was here to see and stay in overnight. Mammoth is a small little hamlet which seems to exist solely to serve Mammoth Mountain Resort and Devil’s Postpile National Monument. Mammoth is a skiers paradise and a near-Mecca for any Californian on skis.
(If you're wondering, those orange stakes are there to mark the street when it snows. Usually the snow pack in Mammoth is huge; 2 years ago it was 25' on the mountain. So it's not inconceivable to see only the tops of those posts and the only the 2nd floors/roofs of the houses
).
Day 6: Tuesday 7/22
After getting up and doing some photo reconnaissance of other cabins in the area to aid in my clients’ remodel, I found some coffee and more gas and got under way again. The plan was to be back home in West LA by 3pm that afternoon. It is only about 350 miles so this was all very doable; it even allowed me to stop in Santa Clarita to see my folks on the way over the 14 through Santa Clarita Valley (although that didn't end up happening; see below).
I had some time to stop for some photo ops with the car:
This the road up to Convict Lake just south of Mammoth Lakes.Between Convict Lake and Bishop, the 395 swings out from the higher country and the mountain range turns south. From here on down it's the backside of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks:
The 395 south out of Mammoth takes you through Bishop, Lone Pine, the west entrance to Death Valley and around the back side of Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. The scenery throughout the day was pretty awe-inspiring with all the severe contrasts of wilderness eastern California can offer. One point of interest along the way is Manzanar just north of Lone Pine, CA. I didn’t get a chance to stop and see it, but now that I know where it is and how easy it is to get there, it’s on my list for the return trip.
At Ridgecrest, CA the 395 splits with the 14 south which takes you down into the Antelope Valley. This is bounded by California City, Mojave and Tehachapi at the north end and Palmdale to the south. This takes you past Edwards AFB and through Lancaster before you climb out the valley up through Acton and down into the Santa Clarita Valley and back the I-5.
The M535i performed almost flawlessly and the recent rear-end replacement with new AKG adjustable rear camber bushings proved to be one of the best repairs/mods I’ve done to this car to date. They match up with the Dinan suspension components brilliantly; it made all the mountain roads a real blast. There one was only one major issue and one minor one: the Alternator is going (not sure which component yet) and killed my battery only 51 miles from home. I luckily got to a Pep Boys in Lancaster, CA and picked up a replacement (Bosch) in a pinch. All that driving with the lights on, audio system in full tilt, cruise control and A/C with a failing Alternator didn’t give the old battery a chance. The minor issue was/is a slowly failing Clutch Slave Cylinder. This shows up when the car gets hot and I’m traffic (pedal won’t come back up entirely off the floor, I have to flip it up with my toe sometimes). This has been slowly happening since April, so I was aware of the issue.
Well that was pretty much it: 6 days, 4 volcanoes, 2,130.1 miles, 101.56 gallons of fuel (384.6 liters), 1 quart of oil, countless laughs, some new friends, and many M30 induced smiles.
Again, many thanks to Jake D, Tyler & his wife, AJ, and all their countless volunteers for organizing, hosting, and continuing to do this year in and out. I can’t wait to go next year knowing it will be in Clackamette Park and we can park on the lawn with nice shade trees overlooking the rivers once again. ANYBODY on the west coast should try to go to this event, at least once; you don’t even have to show up with a BMW or even a car. All are made very welcome. Thanks to all my caravan partners: Chris, Eric, Yar, and Adam. It was great meeting Charlie (cek) and sharing a room with him; hope to do it next year.
More and all photos here:
http://s499.photobucket.com/user/vinceg ... est%202014
