As you might remember from the last 
quarterly newsletter, JoAnn and I went to Munich, Germany to pick up our new 435i convertible. Returning to the BMW Welt to pick up our car was again spectacular. BMW has a VIP lounge filled with food and drink to take up the time while you wait for your designated time to pick up the car. A BMW representative escorts you down a spiral ramp to your car which is on a moving circle to show off all the angles. The rep spends over an hour going over all features of the car and then plugs in a flash drive that has all the European maps for your GPS. Off we drove to Prague for a few days of sightseeing. We then went on to Berlin for a 3-day of tour the city. Our next stop was Leipzig for the night before heading to Frankfurt. We did another two days of sightseeing and then on to Stuttgart where we visited the Porsche and Mercedes museums. Finally we drove back to Munich to drop off our car and head home. We drove about 1,100 miles in two weeks and most of the driving was on the Autobahn. The 435i was very stable and quiet at speeds of up to 120mph and that was with the top down. I think we will return in three years to try it again. What a thrill!
On July 13th, we had our first annual BMWCCA Summer Picnic at the Arrowcreek Recreation Center with over 30 members attending. The facility has swimming pools, tennis courts, spa, indoor and outdoor cooking facilities along with a large lounge and big screen TV for watching the World Cup soccer match. Andy and Sharon Goodrich were our hosts and a big thanks goes out to both of them for all their hard work. We especially thank Andy who slaved over the grill making hotdogs and hamburgers for everyone. We will continue this event next year since it had such a great turnout. We did have a new member, Charlie Pan, attend the event with his family. It’s wonderful to see new faces at these events!
Andy and Sharon Goodrich led another very successful tour of the Sierra Buttes on July 26th. The weather was perfect for the 16 cars that participated. We had a great lunch at the Plumas Pines Golf Course. Ron Rachow was the winner of the Poker Run this year. Looks like another repeat for next year.
The August Potluck meeting was held at our home again this year. We tied the record of 44 members attending. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone. John English brought his popular lasagna which was gone in a heartbeat. Mike Deitel shared some wonderful cheeses and crackers with the group. New members attending were Fred and Karen Watson, Mark Boe, and Corey Hjelmeir.
Our next monthly meeting is September 11th at 6:00 PM. If you haven’t attended a meeting lately, come down to Bill Pearce BMW and join us. The meeting normally lasts about 30-45 minutes and then we head out to dinner. This month we are going back to LaVecchia for some great Italian cuisine.
Happy motoring,
Pat McGoff
