The following is part 2 of a multipart series recapping my adventures during MTTS 2010 as I motored from Los Angeles, California to Denver, Colorado from August 7th through August 15th. Check back Wednesday for part 3. You can read part 1 here
Day 4: Las Vegas to Salt Lake City
No foolin’. We were given a map during bagel/coffee hour that included over 450 miles to drive, a Flickr photo stop (more on this later) and a car wash being given by a local high school. It’s been a while since I’ve driven that long in a single day, but I was ready! So were the other 200 MINIs that we had collected so far. All leaving from the past/hopefully future home of A MINI Vacation in Vegas; Palace Station.
One thing most of us learned on this day. There is a reason why there is still a lot of road work going on in Nevada, Arizon, Utah and Colorado. These states have troopers. Lots of them. And they aren’t afraid of giving out ‘motoring awards’ to those drivers travelling at speeds more than 4mph over the limit. I’m proud to say that I was not one of the award receivers because I had a feeling. That, and I was driving a MINI that kinda drew attention to itself.
4 hours in, we come to our first stop, and that is of a lighthouse. Picture grabbed, we also decided it was a good time for lunch before heading over to the local high school for a charity car wash.
Once that was done, north was the direction and we drove on! The views were amazing, made even more amazing by the fact that every time I looked into the rear view mirror there were about a dozen MINIs following me. It was this day that something else happened too. With every mile I drove closer to Denver, I became more and more enamored with this little car I was driving and the roads we were on and the company I was lucky enough to keep. It’s hard to put into words, but it was during the drive to Salt Lake City this event became life changing.
The following is part 1 of a multipart series recapping my adventures during MTTS 2010 as I motored from Los Angeles, California to Denver, Colorado from August 7th through August 15th. You can read part 1 here
From Saturday, August 7th 2010 until Sunday, August 15th 2010, I drove on a little road rally called MINI Takes the States. If you look at the map above, you can see that we didn’t quite take the shortest route from San Diego to Denver. No sir! All told, We covered over 1,600 miles in those 9 days and it went a little something like this.
Day 1: SoCal MINI Dealer Poker Run, San Diego to Santa Anita
This day started bright and early at the newest MINI dealer in Southern California, MINI of San Diego. In fact, they are so new they weren’t even open when we started gathering. From there, we were led by members of West Coast MINIs on a twisty route to MINI of Escondido. From there, most of the pack did what we lovingly call the De Luz run to MINI of Ontario. After burgers and dogs, it was a very quick stop at MINI of Monrovia before ending at the start point for tomorrow, Santa Anita Raceway. Like all runs during this event, we collected MINIs as we motored. Starting with about 40 and ending with well over 100!
Sure I posted a ton of photos from MTTS like I do. Trying something different this time by taking only the good shots and making those the recap set if you will. Which you can view below.
Mobile users can grab the photos directly from Flickr stream.
What a wild and crazy week I’ve had!
For those of you that were following along on Twitter, you already knew that I spent the morning at MINI of Ontario yesterday getting the cooling system sorted out after the body shop installed a new radiator. Here is how it went down.
The Friday before MTTS I left my MINI at MoO to get it into the body shop for repairs after my accident. They had the inspection list and paper work and told me it would be about 7-10 days. During MTTS, I got a phone call saying that my radiator was leaking. I knew this already and it’s been this way for longer than I care to admit. They told me I could have them install a new one on the insurace company’s dime since the old unit was removed. I agreed, ordered a replacement from MoO and they sent it over. (Read on…)
Just for you guys.
MTTS write-up is still on the go, but since I **finally** installed the trim piece sent to me by Chad at Detroit Tuned, I wanted to show all y’all.
**update** Turns out NOT fixed. The cooling system is leaking like a sieve. Back to the drawing board. Didn’t we already talk about this?
**update 2**. Looks like to me that the coolant reservoir wasn’t properly connected. It leaks as soon as coolant is added. Currently at MINI of Ontario to have them check it out.
Comments are open. Go nuts!
Older Articles »
