PNWBMWM

Bad role-model parent day.

Adin found a post from a BMW (M) club doing a drive to the Maryhill Stonehenge. He was excited to participate and see the other cars, so I agreed to drive so he could take photos of the rally. I drove my de-badged 2014, 428i xdrive that Adin had helped me upgrade with a Dinan exhaust and rear spoiler. Mine was the blandest car in the group.

Most of them had modified exhausts, so the cars were all loud. Mine rumbles assertively, but with reserve. Their exhaust systems announced the arrival of true track-ready cars.

Risking the very unhealthy air quality caused by the forest-fires, about 15 drivers gathered at the South East DMV parking lot for a 9:30am departure. This was not to be a leisurely drive.

The drive along highway 84 was fast. Once past Troutdale, the speed limit jumps to 70 mph, but to stay with the pack, I had to average speeds closer to 95+ for much of the run. At any given section of road, two of the cars would slow only to do a burst micro-race where the drivers got well over the 120+ mark and one reportedly hit 163 mph.

We were not witness – no way for us to even get close to those speeds – but given the after-market tunes these M-series cars had, I am inclined to believe them.

Stonehenge is just over 100 miles east from Portland – a drive through the scenic Columbia River Gorge along highway 84 on the Oregon side and a river crossing over to Washington at Biggs. Set on the top of a cliff, the views from Maryhill are normally spectacular.

With the smoke from the unprecedented forest fires, the view was apocalyptic

We lined the cars upon arrival for the requisite instagram photo:

Bad role-modeling to be sure, but Adin was ecstatic, “This is the most fun I have had in a long time!” With the pandemic, social unrest, online school, wildfires, I justify to myself that the risk was well-worth the improvements for his long-term mental health.

We made an early exit, I didn’t want to risk another high-speed run, and drove the speed of traffic back to Portland. Adin slept most of the way back.

I smiled contentedly.

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Sam Hill built the Stonehenge replica as a memorial and tribute to the soldiers who died in WW1. As a Quaker, Sam Hill viewed his Stonehenge as an alter – the blood of young men sacrificed to the gods of war. A tribute to the men and an indictment of human nature.