Homecoming diary: Friday, the not-so-long day. (archive)

The day after arrival. We get up far too early and go to the gym - the only time for the whole trip. Never believe anyone who tells you there are no lulls at Homecoming. That may be true for people who talk on the phone with BMW techs until 2am, but for us normal folk there are lulls. Time to wash cars... and to wash cars again. And again. And again. Maybe later, wash cars. And see things like this.

We attempted to find a good latte. This was to be a long and fruitless quest all weekend. Our first strikeout was a doozy - a coffee shop near the Mariott. I was delighted to find out they had soy. I was much less delighted to find out what they did with it. I don't believe I've ever had a lousier latte. I got a diet coke to wash the taste out of my mouth (that should indicate how bad it was) and decided to wait until Seattle for my coffee fix. That resolution lasted all of a day (note to self: next year, bring the espresso machine).
At at decent hour, after working on pages for a little while, was the factory tour at the Zentrum. We arrived a little early to get some pictures and to tour the museum, which features James Bond's Z3 (1995, with a VIN ending in 007), the 250,000th Z3roadster (with a truly unusual red wood paneled interior), a Z1, a Dixi, several bikes, F1 and F2 cars, and several other objects of BMW memoribila.
The factory tour afterwards did not allow photographs. Blast. Well, we got to see the areas where the body-in-white was assembled, the painting rooms, the mechanical secretary that put the cars (pained in color batches) back in the order in which they were ordered by the customer, engines dropped in, trannies bolted, glass inserted, and the final tests. We also saw a pistacho green Z coupe on the line - a very interesting car, prettier than I would have thought.
Not much after that; lunch and a frantic search for an internet connection from which to post the last two days. Thanks so very much to Tahoe Tom for his help and immense patience with my networking desires (note to self: next year, stay at the Wingate). Just before the big dinner at the Peace Center, though, a huge storm front blew thorugh. The sky went dark, rain came down in torrents, and hail threatened. I have never seen so many Zs attempt to hide under a hotel canopy.

However, it let up just enough for the Sea of Zs to occur. All of the Zs lined up on Main Street outside of where the dinner was held.

The dinner was good, the company was fabulous. It was delightfully social and friendly. A band and dancing kept things going past dusk (ask Dave for his picture of Carlin dancing on stage).

JTP and Carol seemed to find something interesting in Jeff4now's crotch..	and the night ended with a bang.

In honor of the 5th anniversary of Homecoming, BMW set up a fireworks display at dinner after dusk. Plenty of ooohing and aaahing, and a beautiful grand finale.
Denise...Zoom's brand spankin' new M was very much in evidence, but	she'll have to change the vanity plate.

We had to run to the cars to get them off of Main Street before 10:30, and drove back to the hotel with the top down and the air still fresh from the storm.
Back at the hotel, folk congregated for a pool party and the beginning of the CD Swap.

I snuck out before too long to catch a few hours of sleep before Saturday, the long day. I remembered to set the alarm for 4:30am.

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