Miles the Mini

Video from the salt flats

2010-08-20T14:12:00.001-07:00

just in case you didn't see, the local news station sent a helicopter to shoot the crazy little european cars.

video from ksl.com

Home again, home again

2010-08-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

More photos and fun stuff to follow, but in the meantime, some statistics:

Total miles: 3735

Highest elevation: something around 12,000 feet

Highest speed: withheld

Highest temp: 105

Lowest temp: 52 and foggy along PCH

Most MINIs in a single photo shoot: around 300

Number of times across the Continental Divide: 6 (well, we only saw 5 signs, but since we're here, I'm assuming we missed one. Elevations ranged from 6000 to 14,000 something.)

Wildlife spotted: the seals at Ano Nuevo, two kinds of deer, elk, and one tame rabbit. Didn't see moose or bighorn sheep, but I'm sure they were there.

Strangest moment: descending on the wrong "big red barn" for our MINI-sponsored peach stop. The wrong farmer Bob kindly gave us a tour of his peach farm and packing plant, while his field hands took pictures of all the funny little cars parked in front. The right big red barn was about a half-mile down the road.

heading home

2010-08-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

we're all done - approx 2,400 miles down, and 1250 to go before we get back to Sonoma...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Group Photo Charlie-Foxtrot

2010-08-13T13:18:00.001-07:00

what happens when you get too many MINI owners in too small a space?

this is the lower of two parking lots:

an the upper parking lot:

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More pictures?

2010-08-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

check out my flickr stream at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidrperry

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Location:Winter Park, CO

While we're gone...

2010-08-12T20:39:00.001-07:00

We have a trusted friend taking care of the kitties. We also have a webcam that watches them... (this is my favourite shot so far)

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10603

2010-08-12T13:11:00.002-07:00

I think this is the highest point of our road rally. my terrible math tells me we were about 2 miles above sea level.

we stopped in Frisco, CO (elevation 9,042) for lunch.

Miles is enjoying the view, but he is breathing much harder in the thin mountain air :(

Tonight we stop in Winter Park, CO and meet up with folks from MINIs in the Mountains for a cruise through downtown.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:the rockies

tragedy strikes Miles!

2010-08-12T13:11:00.001-07:00

as we're washing the salt off of Miles, his passenger side vent grill suddenly detaches...

it's a grill just below the windshield wipers and back from the bonnet:

so, I call MINI of Murray, the local dealer, to see if they have a spare. They do, so we grab a bite to eat, at Noodles & more and we encounter our first Coke Freestyle machine (but it was out of Coke!).

at the dealer I also pickup a RUBBISH bag from the MINI accessories catalog, fit the replacement piece and head out.

by now, we're convinced that we're at the back of the pack, only to see the support van barreling down the Interstate behind us!

high point for today: 7,477'

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Location:the car wash

car wash time

2010-08-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

so, after racing across a dry salt lake (which is actually moist-ish) - we had to get all the salt off of Miles. MINI had provided us with directions to a car wash in SLC, so we wandered to S 2100 E & N 1300 E (or something like that) in Salt Lake City.

see that white cakey stuff? Salt. Salt is bad for cars, and the amount of salt we picked up was amazing (will post more salty pictures later).

Then it was off to Grand Junction, CO
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Location:Salt Lake City

Wednesday

2010-08-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

today has been a long day... up and out of our kitschy hotel by 7am. headed west (homeward bound) on I-80 for about 120 miles until we got to Bonneville Speedway.

Then we headed back to Salt Lake City, and the car wash (salt is not good for Miles)

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Day 4(?): Las Vegas, NV to Salt Lake City, UT

2010-08-10T20:16:00.001-07:00

Let's start with some statistics for today:

High of 95° in Southern Utah desert
Low of 61° in Cedar City, UT
Current miles Miles is from home: 1243
Highest altitude attained on trip so far: 6600 feet
Number of gas station attendants that have asked "how do you like your MINI convertible.": 1

And now for the pretty pictures...

MINI assigned us a task of visiting the landlocked lighthouse in Cedar City, UT and taking a picture. Must remember to upload to flickr, too!

This is Miles' first trip to a real TacoTime (in that it has the classic sign) - also in Cedar City

The Utah desert, from an off-ramp during a change in drivers.

Clouds on Miles

A route map for the rally (we skipped Phoenix to hang out with the cool kids in Los Angeles)

Salt Lake City not only has great BBQ (Sugarhouse Barbeque), but it also has an incredible wealth of roadside attractions...

Tomorrow were up at dark o'clock to go drive on the salt flats...

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Location:Martin Luther King Jr Blvd,Salt Lake City,United States

The real road trip begins

2010-08-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

Today the real road begins - because, after all, driving to Vegas isn't really a road trip from LA. But today, there will be new roads and new places.

And hopefully it will cool off. Drive-off temp: 86.

Vegas, baby!

2010-08-09T22:35:00.001-07:00

A selection of photos from today's travels...

The Prospectors in Jean, Nevada

MINI-only parking

...and the view from the front door of our hotel.

Numbers for today: low of 70°, high of 102°
Miles traveled with Miles: 280
Best thing Amanda ate: glass made of frozen spring water imported from New Zealand (at minus5°)

Desert MINI of Las Vegas do throw quite a lovely party, btw.

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Location:Las Vegas Blvd S,Las Vegas,United States

Coop at the San Francisco Kick Off party

2010-08-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Coop took us to Day 0 of the West Coast leg of MINI Takes The States 2010.

Here are a couple more pictures of the MINI Cooper Countryman S (say that 3 times quickly...)

... and here's Coop outside with the support vehicle:

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Location:Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay

Day 2 (ish)

2010-08-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Since the MTTS route is a little, umm, convoluted (I mean, we drove to LA to get to Colorado?), we're skipping the side trip to Phoenix and taking a day to play in LA.

But, we still did the drive-off, so that Joe could see what the excitement was about.

Weather: Perfect 70 degrees or so, with just a hint of fog.

Miles covered: Under a hundred, but not by much.

Best thing eaten: cake donut with sprinkles. (total guilty pleasure)

Starting elevation:

MINIs as far as the eye can see.

Tomorrow: Vegas.

Brrr! It's foggy on the coast...

2010-08-08T10:59:00.001-07:00

Day 1 was uneventful, in part because we've covered these roads before. But Highway 1 is always a fun ride, with fantastic photos ops.

Review:
Miles covered: 500ish
Temperature range: 54 around Big Sur, 83 around Calabasas. Much more 55 than anything over 70 - the fog was so thick on the coast, that there were points where we couldn't see the ocean from the cliffs.
Best thing eaten: asparagus quiche from Big Sur Bakery.
Starting elevation: 52 feet (so sez the MINIvan)

Day 1

2010-08-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Today's drive off is cold! 55 degrees... See you in LA.

I got me some bling, yo.

2010-08-06T23:40:00.001-07:00

MTTS2010 - Day 0

2010-08-06T22:34:00.001-07:00

Wait, how can a road trip have a day 0? Well, in this case, our road trip starts tomorrow, but Mini Takes the States kicked off tonight with a launch party on Treasure Island. A MINI Countryman launch party, that is. That doesn't sound terribly interesting to you, but to us ridiculous fanboys, it was the first chance to see the big MINI.

A whole new world

2010-08-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

As we finish getting ready to hit the road tomorrow morning, I'm realizing how different it is to travel than it was just a few years ago when we last took a long road trip. Last trip, we relied on a book (the heavy kind made from dead trees!) for restaurant recommendations, I had to use a wireless card in my laptop to find a hotel, and I was emailing photos from my Sony phone to the blog to keep people updated. I remember parking outside of hotels with free Wi-Fi to get internet access on my laptop. Oh, and we used an atlas (more dead trees) as our road map.

This trip, I'm pretty sure that the only thing I need for the travel part, is my iPhone. Maps, distances, restaurant information - it's all right there. I've checked out places to eat, but instead of transcribing the information, I just need a list of names - Google will do the rest. We're bringing a laptop for work, and to store excess data (photos and music), but that's pretty much just an extra.

Much like the laptop, we'll also bring an atlas, but that's just because I like to have a paper map to browse. We certainly don't need one to get us where we're going, and it's definitely not going to help us find the hotel. But at the end of the day, the paper map has a certain nostalgic romance to it - it's as much a part of a road trip as a Hostess cherry pie, bad music, and roadside attractions.

Oh, that reminds me, I have to download the Roadside Attractions app. It really is a whole new world.

On the road again

2010-08-01T15:06:00.001-07:00

Taking the blog off of hiatus as we get ready for the 2010 Mini Takes the States rally. This year, we're caravaning from SF to LA to Vegas to Salt Lake to Denver.

Follow us along the way, as we head down Highway 1 next Saturday, with the requisite photo opps along the coast and at the Madonna Inn, on the strip in Vegas, and across the mountains to Denver.

Our planned route:

Friday - Kickoff party on Treasure Island. (Coop gets to go to this one.)

Saturday - SF to LA, via Highway One.

Sunday - Skipping the MTTS detour to Phoenix and spending the day in LA, eating milkshakes, going to movies and generally celebrating Joe's birthday.

Monday - Catching up with the Minis in Vegas, and checking out the new City Center resort. It's been ages since we've been to Vegas, so we're looking forward to it.

Tuesday - Vegas to Salt Lake, with a stop at the waterslide in Cedar City.

Wednesday - Salt Lake to Grand Junction, CO.

Thursday - Grand Junction to Winter Park

Friday - short hop from Winter Park to Denver

Saturday - Hang out for some of the MTTS Festival, then get back on the road to the west. Not sure how we're getting home (or when, really).

halp!

2009-02-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

um... what is this weird white stuff on my windscreen?

tax day...

2008-04-15T22:07:00.000-07:00

this is a lovely artistic shot of our gift to uncle sam and the governator...

Begin forwarded message:

From: Amanda Smith <amandaroo@yahoo.com>
Date: April 15, 2008 21:52:28 PDT
To: David Perry <david@the-mouse.com>

2008-02-20T14:21:00.001-08:00

Further proof of the chickens.

Sent from my iPhone

That's a chicken boo

2008-02-20T14:15:00.001-08:00

Right in front of me. In a parking lot. At a coffee place. I think I'm scared. Sent from my iPhone

They're talking about me!

2008-02-16T16:56:00.001-08:00

Spotted this sign in marin and was compelled to make a u-turn.

Sent from my iPhone

apparently I make a great pickup truck...

2008-01-31T12:29:00.001-08:00

Home?

2008-01-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

So the people tell me that this what Coop considers home. Buc-ee just
wants to know if he can have a taste.

Buc-ee with the locals

2008-01-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

this is Buc-ee hanging out with some local celebs at Santa Rosa Depot
Park

Buc-ee's Quest

2008-01-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

so, Buc-ee can't believe he doesn't have any locations in California
(quite frankly, I can't believe that, either) - so we're off on
another trip. maybe we'll find something for him.

I'm not so sure that I liked that 93 octane, however. the people say
that 91 is the best they can get and they also complain that it's
expensive - what can I say, a guy's gotta eat!

I-5 here we come!

this is where we started...

2007-11-04T12:06:00.001-08:00

22,623 - 16,214 = 6,409 miles

and I'm tired.

home again

2007-11-03T21:38:00.001-07:00

Six thousand and some odd miles later and we are safely home again.

we're back in California!

2007-11-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

here we are in Death Valley, covered in dust and salt!

Multimedia message

2007-11-02T19:26:00.001-07:00

Greetings from las vegas.

Multimedia message

2007-11-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

Woot!

more trees rocks

2007-11-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

A tree turned into a rock turned into a crystal for auntie carol.

we're petrified!

2007-11-02T09:41:00.001-07:00

Today's first stop, tree rocks. Poor Buc-ee.

Status Report (photo free)

2007-11-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

So we're in Gallup, New Mexico, headed to Vegas to pick up David (did I not mention that we dropped him off at the Tampa airport on Sunday? Ooops!), then up to Death Valley so that he can finish the journey with me, and so we can not end our journey with the trite, predictable and boring drive from Vegas. Ick.

I've given up on getting Blogger to post photos, so I promise to take some phone photos today, but we've seen some cool stuff over the past few days. Yesterday was Bandalier Nat'l Monument, with Anasazi cave dwellings, petroglyphs and a fantastic CCC visitor center, as well as a great drive through the mountains (and Los Alamos Nat'l Lab - a little strange). Oh, and Sante Fe and Route 66 and...

Before that, Arkansas was beautiful, with the amazing little teeny Hot Springs National Park (the town of Hot Springs is Bill Clinton's childhood home). It's totally bizarre - you're driving through the hills of Arkansas, and then you come into this little town that could be from England - Roman-style bathhouses, an old promenade for promenading between your treatments, the whole kit and kaboodle. That's all one side of the street, and all the park. The other side of the street isn't park, and is appropriately filled with tacky tourist stuff. It's very cool.

A few sightings and crossings...
Mississippi River again
Continental Divide
Snow! (and I thought Amanda was a wimp for putting the top up!)
Rio Grande (twice?)
Where Planters peanuts come from
Mini dealership! (Albuquerque - also two Mini billboards along the way)
Deer! (three sets - those last ones might have been elk, though)
A crazy town in Texas where one side of the freeway is an Air Force base, the other a strip mall.

Ok, that's it for now, Route 66 is calling, and we have miles to go before we get to Vegas, and many miles again after that. Hopefully David can make the photos work tomorrow.

Dear Best Western,

2007-11-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the "free" internet. Wish I'd used it to find a Holiday Inn Express. Or perhaps book a room at that campy Route 66 motel down the street.

Kisses,
Amanda

Dear New Mexico DOT,

2007-11-01T21:53:00.000-07:00

So we love the 75 MPH speed limit, the signs telling people to stay right except to pass, and the fantastic mountain roads for motoring. Really, we do.

But, having crossed the state twice in 2 weeks, on two different freeways, and utilizing several delightful highways, that you haven't yet discovered the wonder of the "cat's eye" reflector. You should Google it. Seriously. It would change the way people drive at night. It would, in fact, make it possible to take advantage of your delightful speed limit, even after dark. (I mean, seriously, even Texas uses them, and their nighttime speed limit is 65. See what we're saying?)

I couldn't help but notice that you're currently undertaking a number of roadworks, including resurfacing of I-40. Perhaps this might present an opportunity for you to make it possible to actually see where the road is in the dark.

Just a thought.

Miles

Multimedia message

2007-11-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

We've been bad bloggers today, but we've been to sante fe, and are currently checking out cliff dwellings just outside of los alamos.

Get your kicks...

2007-10-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

We're in Tucumcari, apparently a legendary Route 66 Town - legendary for being the only place to really stop between Amarillo and Albuquerque, and it still is. Another three state day - Oklahoma, Texas and back to New Mexico. Route 66 seems like a really fun path to travel until you realize that much of the time it's literally 20 feet from the interstate, and many of the small towns that it does go through have literally fallen to pieces waiting for people to rediscover them.

But some pretty photo opps along 66 - much better than the previous cell-phone cam... You could see how cute I am if Blogger would actually upload the image. We'll share today's photo safari tomorrow.

The long and, um, straight? road...

2007-10-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

An awful photo of a lovely road - yes, we're trying to follow 66.

In Memory

2007-10-31T11:24:00.001-07:00

Nothing chipper about this stop in oklahoma city.

I've been trying...

2007-10-30T21:10:00.001-07:00

To post the photos from Florida and Georgia, but for some reason it hasn't been working. It looks like the computer is happier with this connection, so enjoy this photo flashback of some of our favorite sites from four (four!?!) states ago.

One of my favorite trip photos so far...

Please note the sign around her neck...

And just a couple of pretty photos of Jacksonville...

(and yes, I know that they're sideways - David'll fix 'em.)

Tiggers don't like Oklahoma

2007-10-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Arkansas was surprisingly fabulous, but Oklahoma, which we haven't actually seen by daylight, is evil. Consider this:

Signs seen in Oklahoma (to be clear, these are legit, federal highway signs):
"Speed limit strictly enforced."
"Checotah, Home of Carrie Underwood, American Idol 2005" (biggest of all signs seen in the state)
"Baby Jesus of Prague Shrine"
"Absolutely nothing, 200 F-ing Miles"

Ok, the last one isn't true, but the first four are real. And clearly the evil plan of the Oklahomans is to enforce the speed limit by having the most dreadful roads EVER. These make Louisiana look like smooth sailing.

And, one last question for Scott to Google - does Oklahoma have canals and/or locks? There were some mysterious signs that seemed to imply as much.

But now, we are (finally) happily ensconced at a Holiday Inn Express in the undoubtedly fine city of Shawnee, Oklahoma, and I'm resting my tyres. It was a long day, but I'm not going to let the dreadful OK roads spoil my memory of the lovely "mountain" highways of Arkansas, where we drove with the top down until the temperature dropped to 53.

G'nite.

Arkansas!

2007-10-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

We're in hot springs national park, a detour that brings with it some fantastic, top-down, curve-hugging driving.

We went to Graceland

2007-10-30T09:15:00.001-07:00

As close as we got.

Still cursed...

2007-10-29T20:22:00.001-07:00

Memphis - home of the world's biggest onion ring. That's not bar-b-q, but it's tasty.

Incidentally, Memphis claims to be "America's Distribution Center" on the Welcome to Memphis sign. Not home of BBQ or jazz or even Elvis. Nope.

Go figure.

4 states today -

2007-10-29T20:07:00.001-07:00

georgia, alabama, mississippi, tennessee. Memphis hasn't wowed us yet, but there's always tomorrow. Alabama was actually really pretty - lots of rolling hills, because apparently we're in the Appalacians. At least the highway signs in Mississippi (I think, might have been Alabama) said so. If that's true, these people have no idea what mountains are, but who am I to critique? Great drive along a nearly deserted freeway that hasn't been made an interstate yet. (The second one of those we've traveled on - who knew?)

Georgia turned out to be really pretty, too. It's the one place where we've passed fall colors - they mellowed out after we got to Alabama.

And I don't like to judge Tennesse, since we've only driven about 10 miles in the state, but right now it's rivaling Louisiana for the absolute worst roads! Hopefully things will go better tomorrow.

Growing up so fast!

2007-10-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to me! The birthdays come really fast when you drive cross-country - this one was on Highway 78 (soon to be I-22) somewhere approaching Tennessee. We're right around the 3,000 mile mark for our journey.

A giant statue in Birmingham

2007-10-29T13:47:00.001-07:00

Don't know if this will work, but this is me with the biggest sculpture in the country.

Three states today...

2007-10-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today we started in St. Petersburg, Florida, with plans to head up to Atlanta. But the lure of the Atlantic was a little too much for us, so we took a small detour to Savannah and across a bridge to South Carolina on the way. We kindof saw the Atlantic, if you consider looking downstream to count... Now we're at a Hilton In Atlanta, just a few tantalizing blocks from World of Coke, which, from what I understand, we're really visiting because it will make Joe crazy. Undoubtedly, there will be photos of giant polar bears and coke bottles tomorrow, but for today, I can't get blogger to take the upload, so you'll have to wait for photos of Florida, Georgia and (briefly) South Carolina.

For the rat

2007-10-28T19:15:00.000-07:00

Before I say anything else, Remy asked me to show these photos of his tribute at Epcot. Apparently he's the star of the Food & Wine Festival, not to mention David's costume.

I wouldn't know, since they left me in a hotel car park for 3 days.

Lakeland, FL

2007-10-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

this is me parked by the side of Florida Southern College - one of the
largest collections of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the country.
the people are out taking photographs...

goodbye Mickey!

2007-10-27T11:49:00.001-07:00

after sitting in a car park for 3 days...

2007-10-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

well, it looks like we're off again. Orlando was quite warm, but it
was nice to rest my weary tyres. we are now heading southwest to St.
Petersburg, apparently...

we're here!!!

2007-10-24T08:48:00.001-07:00

19,000 miles in Orlando

2007-10-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

We're almost to Disney world and I just turned 19. (that's the pilot in reflection in my speedometer!)

and, um... I need gas...

Roadfood

2007-10-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm too lazy to set myself up as a contributor...

But I thought it was about time to recap the culinary element of our road trip adventure, before we descend into the culinary oddness that is Walt Disney World (don't get me wrong, there are good eats to be found there, but it's a whole different scene). So, as david recaps the miles, I'm recapping the meals...

Thursday - I'm a bad person, and we didn't actually ever eat. Well, we had cupcakes at the hotel, but that's about it.

Friday - On the suggestion of a very nice man at Taleisin West, we stopped at Blue Adobe, a local "New Mexico" restaurant - the irony being that we were still in Phoenix and would not arrive in New Mexico until later that day. Good food, though. That night we briefly lost our "no food we can get at home" resolve and tried to get ice cream from Dairy Queen, but it was closed (which we realized after driving past the darkened sign several times). We did look around for something else/local, but failed. Cupcakes for dinner again.

Saturday - In Van Horn, Texas, we stopped at Papa's Pantry, which was a very odd, but tasty little restaurant hidden next to a gas station at one of those freeway exits where you would expect to choose between McDonalds and a Hostess pie from the Chevron. Instead, we had chicken enchiladas, beef tacos and other bizarrely Tex-Mex items. Then that night we were in Junction, Texas, (it's a REALLY big state), and after much vague driving around in what was actually a cute town (never did find out if they beat Comfort), ended up at Isaaks for pecan pie and peach cobbler served by Texas high school girls. The cobbler was lousy, but the experience perfect. Also, I had no idea that they grew pecans in Texas, but we had been wondering what they were growing in the Orchards.

Sunday - we went to the Alamo and Johnson Space Center, and somewhere between the two ate at a gas station, well, Buc-ees, which we've posted about previously. It was seriously the strangest thing. They had this huge deli/bakery area, with cookies and pastries and beef jerky by the pound, but you ordered everything from a touch screen kiosk that was very well designed, and then they'd call your number when your order was ready. While I wouldn't recommend ordering panini in Texas to anyone, David really liked his sausage rolls, and the homemade chips were out of this world. Sunday night we made a great effort to find real Texas barbecue in Beaumont, Texas, but it was Sunday, and it was well after 8pm, making that an impossible mission. We ended up eating fast food from a local chain in the slightly creepy Holiday Inn. Beaumost is a very odd town. We probably should have skipped Galveston - we checked out one BBQ place there, but were genuinely concerned to leave the car even long enough to get a take out order, so we skipped it.

Monday - mmmm, the previously discussed plate lunch in Lafayette, where I also discovered that I don't actually like sweet tea, which I had been looking forward to trying. Monday night we were in New Orleans, and of all the Brennan restaurants available, chose Mr. B's Bistro, where we dined like kings. Mint juleps, Pimm's cups, gumbo ya-ya, shrimp and grits, duck risotto... Our one splurge meal of the journey, which ended up being less than $100 - seriously, food is free outside of California.

And today we stopped at two regional chains that had been intriguing us for awhile - Whataburger in Biloxi and Waffle House in Gainsville, FL. Whataburger is a little bit In-n-Out, but with a bigger menu. Seriously the best onion rings I have had in a long time, and the chicken strips come with gravy. What's not to love? And Waffle House had been intriguing me for a while - they're tiny, open 24 hours, and have a really cute sign (which we'll have to get a picture of). They're basically just diners, but I have to say that it was some tasty eats.

That's it so far - and a really long post! The only thing I skipped was the Texas shaped waffle I had in one of the hotels in Texas!

Florida...

2007-10-23T19:33:00.001-07:00

We hit Florida many, many hours ago, and are just a couple of hours
from Orlando, but it's an amazing thing already to be able to say
we've gone from California to Florida.

it's also amazing to see the fires on the front page of the
Gainesville Herald-we've been tracking the story and our thoughts are
with everyone back home. Be safe.

Buc-ee in Mobile, AL

2007-10-23T13:40:00.001-07:00

Remy is tired of being in all the pictures, so Buc-ee is standing in

third state of the day!

2007-10-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

states are much closer together down here than I'm used to...

look at me, I'm so handome!

2007-10-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

reflected in a tanker, somewhere along interstate 10

this is the Gulf of Mexico

2007-10-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

we're in Mississippi now, taking the coast road thru Gulfport/Biloxi/
Padcagoula then into Alabama...

we're leaving New Orleans

2007-10-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

via Lake Ponchartrain Bridge. I am reliably informed that this is the
longest bridge over a body of water anywhere in the world - 24 miles!

this is me in Lafayette, L.A.

2007-10-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

(sorry about the out of order postings)

they paint the road number where I can see it!

2007-10-22T13:43:00.001-07:00

we're in New Orleans, L.A - sitting in traffic. todays drive has been
brought to you by the letters R, A, I & N

Alton would be proud

2007-10-22T11:20:00.001-07:00

this is what they call a plate lunch in Lafayette Louisiana. roast
beef, mash potatoes, buttered carrots and apple crunchi. of course,
there were choices on the steam table-pork roast, catfish, chicken
fried steak...

and all served up by a woman who said "baby" and "y'all" a lot.

finally out of Texas

2007-10-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

(this is amanda, guest blogging for the car.)
Texas is BIG, but we're finally across to louisiana.

a few thoughts on Texas...
there are crazy frontage roads on both sides of the freeway all the
way across, even in the middle of nowhere

the eastern half of the state seems to be under construction

Johnson space center has cows - Texas longhorns, to be exact. Maybe
so they can jump over the moon

only a few parts of the state look like what we expected - they have
water, so its not particularly deserty.

The Alamo that we visit is not actually the part of the Alamo that
they defended - that part is now a street.

Texas closes early - we never did manage to get BBQ.

and just one note about Louisiana - so far it looks exactly like I'd
expect.

more later

I'm 18!

2007-10-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

after a strange visit to a very dark part of Texas, I turned 18,000.

a new treat for Remy

2007-10-21T13:00:00.001-07:00

mmmmm...

2007-10-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

So Buc-ees was HUGE. It was like a strange hybrid of a British
motorway services place, a truck stop and a Cabela's. But they had 93
octane for me, and the people seem very excited about the fresh chips,
fudge and touch screen ordering.

Oh, and they got a beaver to go with the rat. It's a bloody menagerie.

(also, we figured out how to blog from the iPhone. Expect lots of
randomness and forgive the typos, blurry photos and strange line breaks)

for the record...

2007-10-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

it is not david's fault that my fuel light came on in the middle of Texas. amanda said we could make it to Buc-ees, which seems to be something of a roadside attraction, and we're just arriving now.
photos soon...

the trip so far...

2007-10-20T20:27:00.001-07:00

OK, so I'm guest-blogging for Miles, as he's out resting in the parking lot of the Best Western in Junction, Texas.

some stats so far:

thursday...
left Los Angeles, CA @ 4pm, 16214 miles on the odometer
arrived Scottsdale, AZ @ 11:15pm, 16609 miles
average speed on first leg: 54mph
timezone: Pacific
states travelled: 2

police activity: 2 (the first incident was before we even got onto the 10 in L.A.)
number of waves from other MINIs: 1 (in California somewhere)
number of fields of windmills: 2

friday...
left Scottsdale, AZ @ 2pm, 16626 miles
arrived Las Cruces, NM @ 10pm (local), 16998 miles
average speed on second leg: 53mph
timezone: Mountain
states travelled: 2

continental divides crossed: 1
rio grande rivers crossed: 1
other MINIs seen: 0

saturday...
left WSMR, NM @ 1pm, 17050 miles
arrived Junction, TX @ 9:30pm (local), 17558 miles
average speed on third leg: 72mph (see the Texas speed limit)
timezone: Central
states travelled: 2

current highest elevation reached: 5,719 feet (New Mexico)
crazy cyclists on interstate hundres of miles away from anything in Texas: 1
brand-new, shiny L.A. Metro buses seen headed west: 2 (one regular, one metro rapid)
large decorative bulls: 2
first oil well: 286 miles into Texas
number of fields of windmills: 4 or 5 (too many to count)
gravel "on-ramps": too many to count
other MINIs seen: 1

as it turns out...

2007-10-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

texas isn't all bad, as evidenced by the sign below... of course one cop just stared open-mouthed as we went past in the other direction, but I don't think he had ever seen a mini - we weren't going that fast.

we don't have a picture, but David's favorite road sign in Texas says to keep right except to pass.

traffic lights are weird here

2007-10-20T20:08:00.001-07:00

Remy & I want to know; why are they sideways?

I'm 17,000!

2007-10-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

While on the hunt for ice cream in Las Cruces, New Mexico (USA), I turned 17,000!!

Florida?!? We're going to Florida!

2007-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well, our journey got off to an unpromising start, since we went all of 30 miles in the first 2 hours of our trip, but things picked up after that, and I'm so excited to be driving off to Florida! I'm not even crammed to the top with stuff for such a long journey.

We haven't seen much so far, but made our way to Scottsdale before midnight, which we'll call successful. This is a new state for me, but not for the people (which means we don't have to go to the Grand Canyon), and later today we'll be in New Mexico, and possibly all the way to Texas. It seems that we're going to go look for aliens in the desert.

Since I'm sure I'll be tired from all the travel, I'm going to let the people post on the blog for this jouney, although I'll chime in now and then.

And yes, there will be pictures, but we need to travel during daylight to get photos.

something is afoot...

2007-10-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

I'm all packed with stuff. They've checked my tyres and oil. I even have fresh windscreen washing fluid (feels great, by the way, thoroughly recommend it)...

I think we might be going somewhere...

Guest Post: I'm 30! How did that happen so fast?

2006-05-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

OK, this is Coop, Miles' brother. I'm just dropping in to share this news with y'all.

Tax Time

2006-04-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

So everyone knows that there are always lines at the post office, but since I can't go into the post office, I didn't realize that I'd ever have to wait in line at one.

But that was before I knew about taxes. Apparently, my people always owe money on their taxes, so they wait until the last possible moment to send, through the mail, their stuff to Uncle Sam. Apparently this allows them to cling to the illusion that the money is theirs for a few extra days before it gets swept away. Now I think this is crazy, and thought it was crazy last night until we got to the only open post office and had to wait in traffic for a half an hour to drop off two little teeny envelopes.

The cool part was that the post office was by the airport, so we were stuck in traffic with planes flying overhead, which was pretty cool.

Apparently this is a tradition, so unless they actually change their W-4s, I think I know where I'll be next April 15.

That is one big boat!

2006-02-26T13:47:00.000-08:00

So we went to the sendoff for the Queen Mary 2 yesterday. She's the world's largest cruise ship, and she is HUGE! I thought the boat I rode here from England was big, but she's enormous! It was pretty cool to get to see her, after all she must be a distant cousin of some sort!

Dinosaurs!

2006-02-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

We went exploring today and found dinosaurs! They might be even cuter than me.

one week, 300 miles

2006-02-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

So, I've driven back and forth to work every day for a week. Work isn't as much fun as weekends - 6 miles, each way, on a bumpy road filled with other cars. I do get to park in a landmark, though - Walt Disney Concert Hall. Rumor has it that the commute will change sooner than later - Amanda's looking for a new job. I'm not sure how I feel about driving to Disneyland every day, but since she knows people there, it could be an option. Of course, right now, I think anything could be an option.

On the way home today, I turned 300! A quarter of the way to broken in...

Mt. Wilson

2006-01-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

Today I saw mountains! Amanda took me up to
Mt. Wilson, which was a fun drive. Another hundred miles, most of these on a great squiggly road - we didn't even have a map, so it was the definitely of "motoring" like I was taught at the factory. We couldn't quite keep up with the motorcycles, but otherwise we had a lot of fun. You can't really see it in the picture, but there's snow on the mountains behind me - probably as close to snow as I'll ever get.

Adopted!

2006-01-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been about 2 months since I was "born" at the Mini factory in Oxford, and there's been some cool stuff since then - the Panama Canal was fun - but yesterday I finally earned my stripes (literally), and got adopted. They put a big green bow on me at South Bay Mini and I waited and waited for my new owners to show up. They oohed and ahhed over me, then went off to do all the paperwork.

Apparently everything went well because they introduced me to my brother Coop (who got new windshield wipers while we were there) and took me home.

I already took my first trip to Disneyland - with a side trip to Knott's, so the people could have fried chicken for dinner. We had to drive home with the top up, though - the upper fifties are a little chilly for freeway driving.