What a great event this year. It was a long trip and it's not over yet, but the weekend was over in a flash, it seemed. Jake, Tyler and their team did a great job this year as always and despite complications coming late in the game, they pulled it together quickly and we had a great time. The Milwaukie Elks Lodge were great hosts and we certainly enjoyed their offerings for food and drink and their indoor facilities with copious amounts of seating brought a welcome respite from the hot tarmac outside. It was also great to make use of their multiple hole restrooms with their antique Standard urinals. Quite impressive.
Every year, we drive out to Hood River and have lunch or dinner at the Full Sail Brew House and while it was the official drive the first two years, it remained a tradition for us. This year, it was back as the Sunday Drive and we got to take a different route out there which was phenomenal. Unfortunately, old Highway 30 was under much construction, so we did the return on WA-14, but it allowed us to do our usual photos with Bonneville Dam in the background.
I drove a considerable distance this years as always and it is always worth it to come. This year was different than years past for me. I was honored with the Best in Class award for E28, then the first recipient of the excellent Best in Show award created by Joel Daniels. He worked hard on it and created a piece of art using his talents. I'm very pleased and excited that the B7 Turbo received so much recognition and many compliments. So far, I've been really pleased with the car on the trip and I think it's given me a bit of a chance to really connect with it. It really is a fabulous machine and was a good partner in my journey being the furthest traveled to come to the event.
I'm glad I got to spend time with people I enjoy seeing and get to know at least a couple of folks that I didn't really know and am glad I got to take the time to do so. This event always has great cars, but the people are why I keep coming back year after year.
I want to thank Moosehead Engineering for being such a great sponsor for this event year after year and I will definitely put your rear shock mounts to use on my 528i. Fortuitous for sure.
Here's some of the photos I took during the weekend.
Fred Larimer's E34 M5 - a beautiful example
Charlie's very nice 535is. It really is a great example of a 535is and still is during to my working brakes.
Vince's M535i (2012 E28 Best of Chassis winner)
Eric Q's lovely '79 528i
Yar's M535i (I really, really miss this car - especially hearing that exhaust)
Adam's slicktop 525i (It's come a long way since BimmerBrothers sold it)
The other E34 that tied for first
Last year's gorgeous Avusblau E34 M5 (best E34 winner 2013)
BCM5's slick Euro M5. Quite a bit of power under the hood of that machine.
Here's some photos from the drive on Sunday. We went out Highway 26 which was spectacular, then took Hwy 35. Some of us had to stop for some relief, so we found a fruit stand with a three-holer outhouse and when we exited the cars, we had a pretty slick backdrop of Mt. Hood.
Here's Joel's 528e (S52-powered)
Charlie's 535
Yar's M535i
My B7 Turbo which looks like a small, highly inefficient helicopter in this shot
Another shot of the 528e
More B7 Turbo
We had a great lunch at Full Sail. Once we were finished with that, we took I-84 to Cascade Locks, then crossed the Bridge of the Gods to Stevenson, WA, where we then drove several miles of beautiful WA-14 with amazing views of the Columbia River Gorge. We then stopped at the Bonneville Dam.
We had some non-E28s with us, but we were eventually able to get all of the E28s together for some photos.
I know Charlie already posted this, but here's another one of someone that seems quite content with his new motor.
I took a few photos of my own car, too.
A couple of M535s is never a bad thing.