[AT] Re: Trip to Portland

[Bo]

 I know this is slightly off topic so hit the delete key before going any 
further if you don`t want to read about my trip to Portland , Ind .
 I have always dreamed of making the Portland show and every year , 
something stands in the way of it . This year I began making plans in april 
and it seemed as though something was always coming up to change my plans . 
In early august , I scraped the idea of driving as Sulphur Louisiana is a 
Longgg way for a few short days of going , seeing , and returning . A dear 
close friend of mine lives in Napolen Michigan and agreed to pick me up in 
Detroit and furnish a vechicle to make the Portland trip . I arrived in 
Detroit on Aug . 23rd , rested up on the 24th and got up at 5 am on the 25th 
to head south . The weather was perfect ( high 70`s and low 80`s ) with very 
little humidity ( about 30 % ) . Arrived in Portland about 8:30 am , 
followed the traffic to parking area and before we ( my lady friend and I ) 
could get  out of the car , a shuttle bus pulls up to pick us up and brought 
us to the gate where I paid the entrance fee , walked about a hundred feet 
inside , made a phone call to another friend who lives about a hours drive 
south of Portland to let him know I had made it . He says , where are you , 
I said at the show in Portland , he says where are you standing right now , 
I looked around for a referance point and told him , he says , don`t move , 
I see you and will be there shortly . Sure enough , in two minutes , he 
pulls up on a golfcart , gets off of it , I introduce him to my friend and 
he says , I have a cooler full of soft drinks and water , you take the cart 
and when your finished , call me and we will meet up . This was all hard to 
believe as I and my friend are very limited in walking distance . We rode 
for a couple of hours before coming upon the ATIS group ( and this is when 
it got better ) . I spotted J.B. , walked up to him and I think he was kind 
shocked to see me there , then I spotted a pair of red suspenders ( Dave ) , 
walked over to meet him which was a real pleasure ( no, he doesn`t bite as 
some may suspect ) then spotted Reggie Ingold and he made me feel like we 
were long lost friends of 50 years ago . After the bear hugging from him , I 
introduced my friend to him and I thought I was going to have to pull them 
apart . When I introduced my friend to J.B. and the rest of the guys from 
south Louisiana , they each took off there hats when shaking her hand ( she 
cried about that on the way home that evening as no one had ever showed her 
that kind of respect ) , and as for Regg , he didn`t need to take off his 
hat as it fell on the ground while doing the bear hugg .
 Needless to say , that is a trip I will never forget and probably the 
highlight of my life . Everyone was so friendly and outgoing from the bus 
driver to all the vendors . I can`t ever remember having so much fun in such 
a short amount of time as I did on my 4 1/2 days away from the shop and the 
stress of life . Oh yea , my mechanic quit while I was gone but you know 
what , that didn`t / hasn`t bothered me the least as Nothing was going to 
spoil my first time off in 11 years .
 Thanks to J.B. , Dave , Reggie and all the other folks that made me feel so 
special that day . If you ain`t never been to the Portland show , you are 
missing out on the third wonder of the world .
 Sorry for this long drawn out email , but that is the way it is .

               Bo Hinch
                               Sulphur, Louisiana ( AKA hurricane alley )
P.S took many pictures with my camera but can`t post them as I was so 
excited , I forgot to turn the damn thing on . I know , I`m a real dummy .