There are a lot of things to do in and around the town of San Luis. This year like the past couple of years, my wife Lisbit and I went down to SLO a day early so we could check out the Farmer's market and generally get some R&R. Every Thursday evening the city of San Luis Obispo closes down Higuera St. in the downtown district allowing only foot traffic. There are food vendors, produce vendors, booths for local groups and musicians. It's a nice prelude to the weekend.

For me, this year's trip to San Luis was a nice relief from the events of the last month as well as the opressive foggy weather that San Francisco experienced all summer long and into September. This year, I invited my parents who live in Southern California to come up and meet us half way. For those who don't know California, San Luis Obispo is half way between LA and San Francisco. That's what makes it such a great location for this event.

I found that as I walked with my family through the show I was stopping every so often to chat with friends who were near their cars. I started thinking that I had to move along faster and almost got impatient with myself for not picking up the pace. It was then that it hit me. 2002 Fest West is the one time when I can just hang out, look at cars and talk to my friends. No one's going anywhere, we don't have to continue on a drive and we have practically all day. That's when I allowed myself to get into it and relax.

I've been informed that the show hosted 159 cars on the lawn at Santa Rosa park. As in other years a good number of 2002s stayed off the grass and remained in the parking lot. It was good to see all my friends who I only see at this show as well as all the Bay Area 02 regulars.

Curt Ingraham had a covered booth to display his improved BMW radiators. Most of the day you would find someone from the Bay Area hanging out there. It was a bit of the Bay in San Luis.

Later, I checked out the swap meet talked to some of the vendors I know and looked at the other BMW cars that were parked near by. Of course I didn't win anything in the raffel drawing but my luck never seems to run that way. Instead I realized that I was lucky to be back at '02 Fest another year. Thanks to Rob Torres and the whole crew who help put this together.

I all hope those who attended had a great time too. If you have your own '02 Fest West story or '02 Fest West photos, share them with us at: ba02_mail@yahoo.com Thanks and I'll see you next year.