Saturday mornings are moments of reprieve for students, a rest from the five-day onslaught of school and afterschool obligations.

It is, therefore, often spent by high school students, myself included, for sleeping in to catch up on a week’s worth of sleep deprivation. So when I was offered an invitation to Cars and Coffee in Irvine, an event hosted every Saturday morning from 6AM, I was undoubtedly hesitant.

I am known for my unusual interest in automobiles-stereotypically a boy’s interest rather than a girl’s. I go online and check new releases of cars, read up on the design elements, and soak in the sound bites of the revving engines-my favorite would always be the naturally aspirated V-8. I check clips online for car reviews and judiciously watch the acclaimed BBC’s Top Gear car show to see some of the more expensive, out-of-reach cars put to the ultimate driving test. Yet, I always yearned to see these cars in person, to see them in their steel flesh. Enter Cars and Coffee. What is it? I quote my friend’s summary: “Well, it’s a big parking lot where people like us go for free to share and drool over each other’s cars. But, it’s not just any cars. We’re talking supercars, million-dollar Bugatti Veryons and just-released Porsche Spyder 918’s.” If I could see a 918 in the flesh, I reasoned, it might just be worth the early morning get-up…When I went for the first time and saw the line of exotic supercars all lined up with onlookers allowed up-close to touch, my groggy eyes suddenly opened wide. The heavenly lines of cars ranged in all styles and locomotives, from motorcycles to custom-made off-road vehicles, offering something for every grease monkey out there. Of course, there were exotic and very expensive foreign sports cars. I was snapping away my DSLR, taking pictures of cars I never imagined I would ever be lucky enough to encounter.

For once, I was glad I woke up early on a Saturday morning.

Nowadays, I cannot wait for Saturday mornings to come. Each meet is like an exciting pot luck of cars; you never know what rare unicorn of an automobile will show up next. If you are awake on a Saturday morning, you will know where to find me.