It had been a long time since our last meet. The Seattle 7s met again on March 1, 2003.

I woke up and looked out the front window. I couldn't believe my eyes. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun was just breaking the horizon. Just yesterday it was raining cat's and dog's. What a lucky break I thought. The Seattle7s will once again be blessed with good weather. If memory recalls correctly the S7's have not had a single day of rain at any of our meets.

The drive to Issaquah seemed to take forever this bright sunny morning. I think it was the anticipation of meeting all the new members expected to arrive. As I took the Front street exit I came up behind another E38. The car still had the paper plate in the back window so I wasn't sure if we shared the final destination or not. I could only cross my fingers and hope. As luck would have it I followed the E38 all the way into the lot where we were to meet.

We both pulled up to the line of BMW's already there and parked along side of them. I jumped out and waited for the other driver. He got out and we introduced ourselves. It was Joe Trenkamp, one of the new members.

We caught up with Mike Mahoney who was waiting for us at the front door to Starbucks. All three of us walked in together to find a crowd of S7 members with coffee in their hands and conversations flowing as freely as the aroma of Verona being freshly brewed.

We jumped into the comfy chairs and introductions were made. We were blessed not only with the presence of the new members Yarom, David, Steve, Joe, Grant and Tim but with Tim's beautiful wife Sarah as well. We also had special guests Kevin Chang and Doug Haussler. Dozens of side conversations broke out with members sharing tips, ideas and dreams but one question kept coming up. Where was Tania with the European Delivery 540?

It wasn't long before Don showed up with Hien driving the E38 and Don in tow with his new M5.

At this point we all went outside to look at our objects of desire and as if on queue Taina, Marks wife rolls in with their new 540. In all we had 17 cars lined up in a row. Our largest turn out to date! It was quite a sight and many a heads were turning our way. At one point we even had to move our cars back to an open row to make room so that everyone could park together.

Don showed us the custom modification of air ducts to his front brakes and Grant pulled out some beautiful custom wood inserts he made by hand to fit his arm rest. It even had a "secret" hidden compartment in the bottom! I called Dave Clement who for the first time in history was missing a meet but this was no fault of his own. He was sent to New York for work. A few of us took turns talking to him to tell him how much he was missed or was it to rub it into his face a little bit?

We showed our modifications, talked about our future modifications and before we knew it, it was time to depart. We didn't go on a drive this particular time. It was more for the new members to meet us and find out what we were really all about.

Steve Larimer and I were the last to hang out and decided to grab something to eat when a beautiful dark blue 2001 DINAN 740il pulled up. I looked at Steve, handed him some money for my food and split out the door. Kermitt Escribano was the proud owner of this awesome car. Lowered, 20" rims, exhaust, front and rear spoilers along with all the Dinan goodies under the hood! A spectacular machine! Welcome Kermitt to the Seattle7s!!!

It was 1:30 PM before Steve Larimer and I said our final good byes. On the way home I couldn't help but smile with glee as I came to the realization of just how much our club has grown since we started less than a year ago. This was our largest meet to date and some of the other regulars couldn't make it. My mind raced as I conjured up plans for our next meet. Until then, drive safe,

Matthew Mar