BimmerFest 2006

So, this last weekend I went to BimmerFest. This year over 1200 cars registered. It was my first, and I'm not certain I would do it again, but it was worth doing. Some stats:

Days spent driving: 3
Total miles driven: 2282.1
Total gallons fuel burned: 87.447
Average mileage: 26.1
Total fuel cost: $258.50
Miles on my E30 M3 (Original engine) at end of trip: 201,401

Day 1 (Friday):
I left the house right about on time (6 am) and hit the gas station at the bottom of the hill I live on to fill up and zero out the miles. So, total miles might be of by about 3... From there I took Hwy 509 south to Hwy 518 east, and then followed that to I-5 south. I cruised quickly all the way to Vancouver where I ended up in the morning rush. Not to bad, slow over the bridge and then a little sluggish through most of Portland, but what else can you expect in Friday morning rush hour? South of Portland I stopped breifly at the rest stop, then headed to Pete's (a friend of my Dad's) house in Albany.
Time: 9:45 am.

We ate a quick bowl of oatmeal cereal, loaded Dad's things in the car, and fueled up before we climbed back on I-5. The next stop was in southern Oregon, at one of the Ashland exits where we had A&W burgers and rootbeer at a combo Kentucky Fried Chicken and A&W place. Filled up again before getting back on the freeway.
Time: 1:36 pm

Cruising through the passes was fun. The pavement was bare and dry, the air was cool, and traffic was fairly light. The M3 really loves to corner, so I didn't waste any time slowing down. We just ripped right through, for a while following a local driving an old beat up 4x4 mini pickup that you could tell was being pushed as hard as it could go. For us it was easy, and you could tell he knew what he and his truck were capable of. After a great many fast sweeping turns, he pulled over, slowed up (probably to rest a bit, that would have been work!) and waved as we went by. Great fun!

Into California we drove, and drove... and drove... There was one other stop for fuel, but I don't remember the town or time, and the receipt wasn't all it was cracked up to be. That and a rest stop or two was all we needed. We followed a few different highways with a pretty big slowdown in San Jose, then slow going from there over Hwy 17 in heavy rain. We came to the end of 17 at Santa Cruz, and stopped at the Santa Cruz Diner for dinner. After dinner, we followed Hwy 1 south to Aptos, and arrived at my uncle Don's place.
Time: just after 10 pm

Day 2 (Saturday):
Driving to BimmerFest! Don and I back-tracked up to Santa Cruz where he has a storage unit and keeps his 1995 850CSi out of the rain. Since it was such a beautiful day and didn't look like it was going to rain, he decided it could come out from under it's blanket and go have some fun. From there we followed Hwy 1, stopping in Watsonville for gas.
Time: 9 am

Down to Castroville and Hwy 156 to cross over and get onto US 1o1. From there we really made some good time, as he knows the area well and the roads were clear. We had a lot of fun coming down out of the hills above Pismo Beach, and stopped at the rest area right before the bottom of that strech of nice curves. From there we cruised down the coast to Santa Barabara. We found the fairgrounds after stopping to ask for directions, and arrive to find a huge number of cars...
Time: 12:30(ish... I forgot to note.)
Here's a photo where you can make out my car on the edge of the group. It's just to the left of center, back towards the camera, above the blue 1990's M3 sedan and left of a red 1980's 3-series....

Here's a panoramic of the grounds, although this really does not do justice to the scale of the event:

The car I found most interesting of the gathering was an Alpina 2002 Touring car:

I'd never seen a 2002 Touring model before, and it being an Alpina was just really cool.

We stuck around to see all the prizes given away, and then sat and watched the exodus of vehicles from the lot getting onto 101 North. It was pretty entertaining to see all the cars rip out of the lot and onto the freeway as fast as they could. The light was pretty short, so only 12-20 cars (two lines) were able to get out at a time. After most of those wanting out fast were gone, Don & I headed up the highway to the next exit for gas, and then headed for Pismo Beach for dinner.
Time: 4:40 pm

Along the way we passed a few Bimmers, who fell in behind us and followed up to a second main gathering point where people were exiting to go on a country road drive. The offramp an a parking area justoff the highway was full of BMW's all getting ready to run down a canyon road.

In Pismo Beach, we walked out to the pier, and watched a biplane give a paying passenger a thrill. Big sweeping slow turns, and skimming just above the waves. It was a really nice looking old plane.

We ate at a nice, authentic Italian place called Giuseppe's, the service and Pizza were wonderful and reminded me of Wendy & my trip to italy. The first authentic Pizza I've had since our trip. After dinner we reversed the drive, and cruised back up to Don's in Aptos, getting back shortly after midnite.

Day 3 (Sunday):
Dad & I got up around 7:30, washed our faces, and got all paked up. Don & his friend came out to say goodbye just as we were finishing up. We stood and chatted for a few more minutes, then headed into Aptos for coffee and gas. From there, we got back on the road and started the trip home.
Time: 8:20 am

We backtracked the instructions as best we could, but ended up taking a slightly different route back to I-5. Somehow we missed one highway, but just kept following the signs first for Sacramento, and then Redding. We ended up going through Vacaville and ate at the Black Oak restaurant at the junction of I-80 and I-505. Continuing up 505, we intesected with I-5, and then headed straight north, stopping in Corning for fuel.
Time: 12:34 pm

Up into the passes, Dad checked the telelphone reports. These were reporting that you were required to carry chains - which we had (but not in the right size...) although I didn't relish the idea of having to actually see snow in this car. We hope for the best, and it turned out to be mostly dry on our whole run through the mountains. There was one freak thunder and hail storm. As we approached it we could feel the air pressure change, and when it came it came very very hard. Within a few seconds there was about 1/2 of hail covering the road, and at least one car spun off into the median. This only covered about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile stretch before it cleared up and was sunny again, and a few minutes later an aid car and state trooper were headed the other way. I hope everyone was OK.

At the next rest stop we took a short break, and then continued on into Oregon. There was heavy rain at times, and at one point someone lost a wheelbarrow in the middle of the left lane two or three cars ahead (Can you say BRAKE!!!!!? Whew...) In Glendale we pulled off for fuel.
Time: 4:35 pm

I dropped Dad back off at Pete's place, fueled up, and hopped back on the freeway bound for Portland.
Time: 7:10 pm

I had hoped to be able to get together with Mom for a cup of coffee or short chat passing through Portland, but that didn't work out. Next time, though, and I'll plan it a little better. I pulled off again at Centralia, and went through the drive through. I wanted to get home before it got to be too late, you know? And so, with no other stops, I filled up for a final mileage point at the same station I started from. Paid at 10:51 pm, and home right about 11:00 pm.

It was a fun but tiring trip.