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Sunday I woke up with the alarm at 7am- hit the off button by accident and woke up again at 8am. Maybe it's not too late to catch up with Tim at the meet point for a drive down the Delaware...
Saw his post on the MB- cant find it now... had to get out of the house... weather was forecast to be in the 80s- and "uncomfortably humid". Yeah well in the Z3 I don't care- let's GO.
Out I78...no problem leaving the city (maybe I should make drives on Sundays) I picked up a road buddy- a yellow "Daytona" motorcycle. We took the long ride together. He followed me mostly, sometimes jumping ahead with a loud roar through traffic, then waiting for me. It wasn't a race, we weren't trying to prove anything, he had a compatible driving style is all. We crossed the state of NJ together. I planned to invite him to the drive at the toll booth. He pulled up beside me, waved good bye and was gone before I could figure out how to tell him.
We met up at the meet point- a bunch of BMW cars (I'm sorry I am just not familiar with the other models, no slight intended), 2 M Coupes and soon a Dakar Yellow Special Edition 2.8. Emmy was still covered in bugs from the Midwest. I made my usual beg for a place to wash my car...
I had been in touch with the Dakar folks, Al and Diana, by email, we trying to figure out the meet point and contact info. We actually were helped by a fellow in Cali named John, who was answering email for Tim- the leader. Tim had sold him his BMW 5 series and it was on the way, John was in touch with Tim and relayed messages.
I knew both the ///M Coupe drivers, JohmM and MZoom- actually Brenda drives ///M Zoom...
Lots of nice folks, 11 cars in all. We waited until 11 for the last folks to arrive. Crazy. Sitting in a parking lot from 10 to 11am on a Sunday. Having fun. Tim had a lot of experience driving on various tracks, this was his first time leading a drive. The Z3s naturally came with Talkabouts :) We also had spares. :) JohnM took up his role of sweeper.
It was a biiiig change in attitude from the way I remember things starting Z3ing. The other models used to give us a hard time, tell us we were not allowed to play with them. (Kinda reminded me of that old song about "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer"... something about not letting Rudolf play in their reindeer games.) This was different. Things have changed. We all had something in common. We just love driving these cars. That's a BMW thing I think. I have had other makes of cars, and I have driven with other "marques"- BMW makes "the Ultimate Driving Machine". This is for people who have an unabashed love of driving. We think it's reasonable to spend a day just... driving.
As we started down 611 we passed a shop and guess who is sitting in the driveway? The yellow Daytona! I waved at him and he fell into our line. Everyone laughed over the radios. He cruised with us as roads were alternately crowded or sparse. As we pulled into the winery, again he pulled up to my car, waved goodbye and took off.
Who was that masked man?
Now I was thinking that everyone was nuts to be taking 611 and 32 into New Hope on a Sunday in June- and that a winery stop was a bad idea since we all had empty stomachs and more driving to do. I was just so happy that someone else was leading, I figured, what the heck.
The sandcastlewinery (.com) was a good idea- we had fun. Learned more about wine too. Picked up a nice Cabernet and a Spiced Wine that should come in handy this fall. The owner also gave me a huge vine for my garden. So we're all tasting wine and eating chocolates and throwing the excess out the door. Nice.
Down and down the Delaware. Been there a zillion times before, this felt much more exciting.
The weather was perfect. It was the BEST day to be outside.
We kept trying to find a place to eat, no place would have us. Either there was unsatisfactory parking or no room at the inn. No one whined. A couple stomachs growled and we did pull a massive 11 car BMW u turn in the middle of traffic in New Hope- but who cares?
It was 2pm before we found food and most of the folks said goodbye in the parking lot. The hungrier among us just went inside and started ordering.
Good food good people and goodbye- which way are you going? Heh heh heh. I was taking my new favorite backroads to get back to I78, Al and Diana were headed that way to get back to Fishkill and Tim and Lori wanted to see my roads so off we went.
The roads were generous, not a soul in sight and we all just took them as we pleased.
I met up with them at a gas station at I 78, took back my Talkabout from Tim and thanked him for the great ride. He was laughing because my backroads are his usual route to work. He pointed to his office from the lot.
I called JonT to see if he was up for a movie, since I would have to drive by where he lives to get home. Sho' nuff he was.
I rode with Al and Diana East until my exit, Al revved by me to say goodbye with a wide grin on his face. His hair stands stands higher than his windsheild like Don King, while Diana's head is neatly wrapped in a matching scarf... damn I shoulda had the camera out, but they were gone...:::poof:::
I called JonT again and asked if he could think of a place for me to at least rinse off my bug-and-feathermobile. "I dunno" he said. It looked doubtful.
Pulled into Jon's apartment complex driveway, it's around 4pm and what do I see? I man washing his car in the shade of a tree. I called Jon. HEY! THERE IS SOMEONE OUT HERE WASHING HIS CAR!!!! "I'll be right down".
Waiting for Jon, I took a chance. The guy had Florida license plates, he'd have to understand my need to wash my car.
Hey! Can I do that too?
The guy looked at me twice and then said "if you do it RIGHT NOW".
No problem.
I was in his face with a bucket of soap so fast he hadn't stopped laughing till he finished filling it up.
Turns out there is a spigot that tenants can use... you just have to bring your own hose. OOooOOOOoooOOOoooooo. This was special though, this was the pool hose... Jon, do you have a hose? "No." Jon, go buy a hose.
An hour and 20 minutes later my car was washed and also had a coat of Zaino on it. So did my new Charles David patent leather mules. I was dripping with dirty car sweat, my hair was one big knot from the driving and washing. Hey Jon, can I borrow a shirt?
So off we go to buy a hose. We spent a long time deciding with sprayer attachement to get (and ended up buying 2).
We don't have much in the way of Home Depot in Manhattan, I was running around buying everything I thought could fit in my car. With the huge grape vine. And the two bottles of Wine.
Snagging the end spots each time in these massive malls, Jon always lets me get the good spot with no one else next to me... I am reaaal lucky.
We ended up at Evoluion- parking at the end- good spots! and our cars chirping alarms, Clifford and UNGO.
I sailed into the city around midnight, emptied my loot from the car, ran into the shower and stayed there for full decontamination. Layers of sunscreen, mosquito repellent, bug parts, car wash, zaino and popcorn and candy residue and thought.
Man, what a great day, and it's all because of that car!
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