2000 Z3 Homecoming

Southern Cinderella has a unique passenger, no? Anyway, we had spent enough time resting, so we skedaddled out of there, with John B leading us at a speed approaching Warp 8. At one point, we had to raise our tops because of the rain. It only rained for a few moments, and we got up to a point where the roads were wet, but the ground didn't appear to be the slightest bit damp. Strange.

Our pace was rather demanding. I was mid-pack, and I could barely keep up with the front half. Whoever was behind me fell back, but we ended up reconnecting at a stop sign after the rain had ceased - we had pulled over to lower our tops again. This region of roadways in North Carolina is called the Great Smoky Mountains, and the scenery was fantastic. We pressed on, and arrived at the Marriott within an hour or two. It was really fun, seeing a few of the Z3s that had already arrived. The rain kept threatening to ruin the day, but as luck would have it, it didn't rain when we needed it not to. Just before Homecoming, Robert Leidy was having problems with a leaky rear window, and as a stopgap measure, his dealer duct-taped the window and surrounding top to keep it from leaking into the cockpit. Once we were at the hotel, he parked, threw his tonneau cover on, and entered the hotel to check in. Then, some rain came, and he went back out to his car to finish unloading. He and John B removed the tonneau (which kept the water out!) and then he pulled under the entrance roof to continue unloading while there was a slight drizzle.

While this was going on, I was having problems checking in. I had reserved a room for three nights on a non-smoking floor. Everything was screwed up, they mentioned that I was put in a smoking room, and they only had me down for two nights. Quel Disastre! I mulled over my options, and settled in to the room, resolving to get it taken care of in the morning.

However, the fun was just beginning. More Z3ers were showing up right and left. Fred Kern and the rest of the Northeast Direct Route convoy showed up, and told of driving through extremely heavy rains. This is Fred's car, which everyone likes to examine because he's done so much to it.

Also, the hotel had put out a spread in one of the conference/reception rooms, and people were congregating there. Amy Lester, who was the key Homecoming organizer, was there greeting everyone. Downing Atlanta was there with Dinan brochures, and answered a lot of product-related questions. Also, that night there was a drawing for some spots in the front of the Homecoming Panoramic Photo. For each $5 check you made out to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, you got a chance to win a spot. I wrote out a handful of checks, and hoped for the best. Amy was still accepting checks for the raffle. At the drawing later on that evening, Rachel won a spot. I know it would've been great to get one, but I don't mind losing out - the money goes to an extremely worthy cause

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