Like
last
year, I decided to ride to the convention. My Triumph Tiger is
tough enough for the job. However this time, the journey would be
half as far, only 5.5 hrs on the Tiger if I hustle. I set the alarm
for 2:30am (wow!) in order to arrive at the parking lot at something like
9:30. I ended up getting at 5:00am (but I needed the sleep!) and
therefore I didn't roll into the lot until 11:00am. Seemed like Jon
Upton saved me a spot, so I rolled up right beside him and unpacked my
stuff. I looked around, then picked up the only two Japanese plates
that I would end up adding to my collection from this convention.
If I had to judge a convention by the number of plates I found to add to my collection, this one would easily come out on top. Don Merrill, who usually only brings a few priceless items for trade only, on his red cloth, brought a vast amount of assorted rare plates he decided to sell off. It wasn't long before I realized I would need my checkbook to buy what I really wanted from him, so I limited my purchase to a few modest items.
