New Mod Report!

OK so I have a new mod under the hood!! And it does rock! If you click on the image and drill down to the real deal you will see my JCW cold air intake (CAI) which I purchased from a really cool place http://www.minspeed.net/

You should call Pete for your MINI part needs. He is down in Florida, a really nice guy who wants to live in North Carolina, and best of all he has great prices, fast shipping, and he packs his orders like a pro. Anyone who knows me will say I am picky as #### about my toys...Pete will not disappoint. Give him a try.

As far as the modification! I travelled to Flow MINI to get this item installed. Why? To get the factory warranty! And they do great work. The guy who did it was Ryan Draughn and he does fine work.

Now my car is pretty much stealth sounding until 4,000 RPMs, then the flap opens and the supercharger screams. Love the power baybee. 'Nuff said.

One of My Favorite Houses...

On the way back down to Carolina from DC I stopped by a favorite place. http://www.monticello.org/

Thomas Jefferson's house. My saying is "That man was an alien..." He was so cool and so far ahead of his time. I love his house and the story of his lifestyle..I never tire of hanging out at this place. I am ready for the dome tour next time. Maybe one day I can be a volunteer tour guide...

It won't be long until I have another report on this stop for you. Several of us MINI owners are plotting a nice future trip in the area....

I have tons of pictures of the gardens and the area. The wine with his name is great and I now have several bottles in my cellar....yes, life is good....

Hey I Spotted Your 2007 MINI in DC....

As I am spending my last day in DC I see this new MINI parked on the mall. OK so I can't help myself...I took the picture.

And no the catering company truck parked in the background cannot have free ads on my blog...Heheh.....

My Travels to DC

Just got back from a several day trip to Washington, DC. Great town! After several times of being there I actually had time to explore on this trip!

9999 and Counting....

Hmm...time for the 10 K service and a tire rotation. This car is getting better by the day....9999 trouble-free miles and free dealer service is due. Ahhh...Steve over at Flow just took care of the oil change, cabin filter change, and windshield wiper blade changes. My second oil change at this point, my MINI is purring again and still smells like new.

MINIs Motoring Against Cancer!!!

OK here is a group of people from all over the Carolinas region coming together to have fun and start raising money for a great cause. This was an idea started from Mr Magoo in the picture here (in the hat third from the right of the red car) . All of the People in this picture helped raise over $600 on this day alone. We even got donations from visitors on Mt. Mitchell....The banner you see in the picture was created in Hickory, North Carolina. The banner will now find its way across the USA and the world to raise money for Cancer research and prevention. From MINI club to MINI club. Coast to coast....Very cool indeed. It is a good day when you can have this much fun and throw some dollars at a good cause. Great job all.....I am proud to have friends like these people.

MINIs at the Summit!!

How about this shot? Taken from atop an old container most of the MINIs on the trip are here...You can see the clouds in the distance as the Spruce trees touch them. This is one nice location. My car is way in the back but that is no big deal. It is very cool just to be a part of this journey.

A Nice Picture...

I like Natural Landmarks.....

Acid Rain..Power Plants, Soapbox Moment...

This is a sad picture. 6600 feet...At the higher elevations the trees are dead. The earthworms are gone. I am hopeful that we are starting to make a move towards solar energy and alternative fuels. We are too smart to let this happen. Maybe in 1-200 hundred years people will see a clear sky and no more pollution from fossil fuels and coal-burning power plants. We have a long way to go but little time to make a difference. I hope for the best. Time will tell....let's make a change!!! Acid rain and global warning is a real phenomenon. BMW is working in the right direction and I will keep supporting them!

The Entrance...Mt. Mitchell....

Here we are at the entrance as we climb the mountain to the peak. I can feel my ears going crazy. 6600 feet? Wow we are at the highest point east of the Mississippi. http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/momi/home.html
http://www.northcarolinaoutdoors.com/places/mountains/blacks.html

Tunnels? Yep We have Plenty...

There were plenty of tunnels along the way and it was cool that we were burning lights, front and aft....and blowing horns as we past thru them...as only a MINI caravan can do.

Spiral Curves??

Man there are some long and winding roads here....check that sign out!!
A sports car drivers dream...How about those rodedendron bushes on the side of the road? ...huge!!! Awesome stuff. Nice scenery for sure.

Entry to the Viaduct....

Here is a shot of the entry to the Linn Cove Viaduct... nice road....North Carolina has some very cool places...

Linn Cove Viaduct in the Distance. ..

Wow....a nice engineering marvel in the distance...we all pulled over for a distant shot of the Linn Cove Viaduct...very cool...yes, I know this picture is a very distant view...enlarge it!!
http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/linncove.htm
This shot was from Julie's camera through the sunroof of my MINI.

A parking lot full of MINIs in Boone, North Carolina!

After we collected all the cars along NC highway 421 at the various interstate junctions we made our way to Boone, North Carolina for lunch. This was the coolest place. Blues and BBQ....MY kind of place...there were posters everywhere of Blue Legends from all over the building and they had crawfish on the menu...can you say YES? I had my share......cool music too...Stevie Ray to Elmore James....ahh....
A funny story as we are eating. A fellow comes in as he is driving a 2007 MINI though town. His girlfriend says, "Hey we just passed a MINI dealership!!" Nah we just had the whole lot full of MINIs!! Cool eh?
It was nice hang with MINI owners from Charlotte to Roanoke, Virginia. A real eye-catcher...all those MINIs coming through town.

Line 'em Up!!!

Here is a small line getting ready for the Mt. Mitchell run on Saturday morning, June 23. I have been so busy I haven't had time to post these shots up. Trust me we had a BLAST!! A very nice trip with a huge turnout of MINIs from all over North and South Carolina as well as Virginia. Here are a few of the early birds waiting west of Winston-Salem. We picked up others from Charlotte, etc. as we rolled west. Great fun!!

A Parting Shot of the USGP Podium...

Well I need to move on to the next adventure so I will end this segment with a parting show of the podium. I took this shot from my race day seats. Is that a cool podium or what? Remind me to show you my pictures of me and the grid girls in front of the podium some time. Hmm...

This is the inagural year of a new F1 superstar, Lewis Hamilton of the UK. I don't believe I have ever seen so many Union Jacks flying at a grand prix! Everyone loves a winner. Sorry I am not a Mclaren fan, but Lewis, now he can drive. He is a real sensation on the track. It is good to see some new F1 legends in the making.

The Yard of Brick.

OK so I didn't leave my cigar on the yard of bricks. I just put it there for a moment while I took this picture. This is a very cool feature of the track and I never get tired of taking pictures of the bricks. The funny thing is you see quite a few people doing really stange things to these bricks! Hmm...not me....I'll never tell. http://www.usgpindy.com/news/story.php?story_id=4162

Formula One Live on Speed!!

Here is a shot inside IMS during the F1 team interviews which was being broadcast live on Speed. http://www.speedtv.com/
David Hobbs and Peter Windsor are interviewing Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock of the BMW Sauber F1 team. http://www.bmw-sauber-f1.com/html/en/index.html
Robert Kubica was in his medical check at the time from that really bad crash the week before in Canada. Ultimately Sebastian Vettel drove the car for Robert and placed in the points. He set several records for a teenage rookie at this USGP that are likely to stand for some time. Great job Sebastian!

The BMW Sauber F1 Garage...

Now this is a garage! Check out those overhead lights and the video screens in the back. This looks more like an aircraft hangar than an automotive garage. Plenty of spares are present in all directions. And the interesting part of this is the fact that it has to be flown here in a plane for the two North American races. Can you say $$$ ?