The following is part 3 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 and part 2 here
Today’s journey took us east on I-70 into the rockies toward Winter Park Colorado. I was leading about 15 MINIs on this day, and with an iron fist! Our first hour out we had to make a stop for bathrooms. That was the last one until we reached Frisco, CO, our Flickr photo stop for the day and a good spot to stop for lunch.
Lunch at a place called The Moosejaw. How could we not eat here, right?
We continued on, getting the chance to drive through the Eisenhower tunnel as we climbed higher and higher into the rockies before arriving in Winter Park just in time to check in to our hotels and head out for the evenings festivities. It was at about this time that a couple of realizations kicked in. First was one of the hotels in Winter Park was, we’ll say, scary. Second, I found out that high altitude and I really don’t get along too well. Sure, I had a hard time breathing, but not so bad I noticed. It was more like something didn’t feel right. Hard to explain. So, I took it easy for the rest of the day, called it an early night in preparation for tomorrow’s hour long trip to MTTS after a walk around MiTM. (Read on…)
1 commentThe 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 and part 3 here
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.
1 commentThe 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, part 2 here and part 3 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.
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.
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