Dirtgasm...

You have to understand something about my car. It lives a protective life. I watch the weather constantly and if there is a chance of rain my car stays in the garage. That is the temperature controlled garage. I never let it get dirty and it has only been driven in the rain once when I got caught in the rain at the Dragon run last year. At this point the car even still has the new car smell in it..well this trip I was made fun of for my "pristine MINI." OK by me I like my cars in like new condition baybe. SO I finally named my car. He is now "Mr Clean."
As we finished our day at the Hickory Tavern for some fine British Ale and great food this picture was taken in the parking lot by some MINI paparazzi...Not to matter...I was out in 30 degree weather the next day washing Mr. Clean and detailing the fender wells...All is good...

A detour....

We continued our ride through a bunch of twisty roads and through a mountain pass. We tried to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a short stint but the road was closed due to snow. So we changed the planned route and had to detour. Our leader was using google maps on his Iphone. I asked him on our radio frequency if he was lost. He said trust me and I did. The next thing I know we are on a frozen dirt road! OMG. There were all kinds of people making comments on the radio like..."if I had known we were going four wheeling I would have brought my WRX!!" "Don't look now, he has a gun." "I swear I hear banjo music." As I crossed a bridge of hand-hewn trees I prayed the weight of my car would not break it. Rifle Range Road...what a story.


Now our trip has become the Ned Beatty Classic" adventure canoe trip / world rally championship training run...

All Lined up on Stone Mountain....

All the MINIs lined up in the parking lot. We paused to stretch our legs, chat, and take a few pictures. The park ranger rolled though and smiled at our pack of cars. Everyone loves the MINIs.

Yes it Was a Bit Cold...

A picture of me with my layers on to keep the cold way....Love my Ferrari F1 team coat...that is one warm coat.

The GPS View....

My view of the GPS while cruising the area around Stone Mountain....I love my Garmin Nuvi 360. Remember you can click the picture to enlarge it for reading..

Surrounded by Deer....

There were deer everywhere in the Stone Mountain area. They were all over the side of the road. I counted over twenty in one field alone...

Headed to Stone Mountain, North Carolina

The MINI line headed for Stone Mountain last Saturday. It was a cold day. We started in Winston-Salem with about 20 MINIs. We had a nice twisty route up to Elkin and into Stone Mountain Park.

Headed Down the Mountains Back Home....

As we headed home..some of the gang went to the winery, some went to the Woolwine Festival..and we had a bit of fun on the twisties...although there was some slow traffic in front at times the roads are great...here is a link to a short video of one of the runs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PXjRWgI96s

The Pic-a-Nic!!!

We made it to the picnic!! Here we are at Rocky Knob right off the Blue Ridge Parkway which you can see in the background up the hill just beyond the fence.....I never saw Yogi or Boo-Boo. But we had some great food! We also had lots of fun talk and music supplied by our fellow THMC members Jennifer and Van.
http://www.virginia.org/site/description.asp?AttrID=29395

The Line-up at Mayby Mill...

We made it to Maybry Mill and we had so many cars we parked in the overflow lot. We are not far from the site of the pic-a-nic...

The Staging Area...

A group of MINIs waiting for the run to Mayby Mill...by now we are getting hungry for that Pic-a-nic basket!!

A Car Guy's Kind of Bird House...

I really liked these bird houses. They make a cool picture too.

The Lovers Leap Birdhouse Store...

Always a cool stop, the Lover's Leap Bird House store.
http://www.featheredphoto.com/
There were so many cars in our caravan we had to visit in stages with a big part of our group hanging out in the parking lot back at Lovers Leap.

The Pit Stop Scene...

A quick pit stop near Stuart, Virginia where we all over-ran the rest rooms and filled our boots with fresh apples and mountain produce...

Those Cotton Fields of Home...

You never know what you might see on a day of cruising....I put on some CCR and hit the gas pedal....
When I was a little bitty baby
My mama would rock me in the cradle
In them old cotton fields back home

http://yu.ac.kr/~bwlee/lyrics/cottnfld.htm

An Invasion of MINIs

The MINI invasion hits the Quick Stop parking lot. We needed to get the gang together as we moved through the traffic lights and multiple stops. The lady in the store said "The MINIs are here!"

You Ready for a Pic a nic Boo Boo?

The Beginnning of the Yogi & Boo Boo's Great Adventure....

We joined up at the Lowes parking lot in Winston-Salem from many miles around to create an adventure called Yogi & Boo Boo's Great Adventure...yes it was the day of the Pic-a- nic in the mountains and fun with some cool people driving MINIs.

Grand AM MINI !!!

There were two MINIs on the track yesterday. Here is a picture of one of them. This was a long race that ended well into the night but it was a fun one!! I have attached a link to a very non-professional video I made with my digital camera yesterday. This video will give you a feel for how the cars sounded as they go by. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7195356497834331408

My Loaner 2007 MINI...

Here is my 2007 MINI loaner car number 42 from flow MINI. I have been driving this one for a few days as my MINI is in the shop getting the OEM custom Digital Power Sound Module installed. http://www.motoringfile.com/index.php?s=dpsm
I can't wait for my 660 watts of power although I doubt my system will see the 128 db rating. I will tell you more about it in a future post. There is a 30 hour break-in required!
Meanwhile I am driving this R56 MINI with paddle shifters. As you can see I have given this one a bath before coming to VIR to view the Grand Am race as I always want my ride to look good. As they say, "It is better to look Good, than to feel Good." Actually I prefer both....