Mini Meet East Meets West 2009 Trip to Winona, MN

We have all made it home..

2009-07-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

A note from Dave and Adrienne, so now all of the crew that headed out to Winona for MMEMW2009 have arrived home. Roger arrived back in London earlier in the week.

"We have arrived home safe and sound. After Marcel dropped us off in Lethbridge we stayed with friends for five days. Relaxed a bit and went sight seeing to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, the Lancaster Air Museum, Fort MacLeod and dozens of antique shops in Nanton. We then borrowed a truck from our friends in Lethbridge and rented another U-Haul and hit the road last Friday. We made it to Princeton where we pulled over for the night. Early the next morning we headed out to Victoria and managed to catch the 11 oclock ferry without any problems. Finally drove up to our house around 2:00 and off loaded Wooster and turned in the trailer. We want to thank Marcel C for giving us the lift to Lethbridge. You are a life saver and an asset to the Mini community. Thanks again Marcel and we are looking forward to seeing you next year at Mini Meet West in Penticton. Also a big hug and thanks to Roy and Pam L of Lethbridge for letting us use their truck to tow Wooster home. Also want to thank Mike and Roger the Hat, Terry and Linda for the support and help getting us to Winona. Also would like to thank Rick Higgs for trying to get us help back to Victoria and all the Mini Maniacs at Winona that helped or sympathized with our plight. Once again we would never have made it back without your support. Thanks again and we will see you at MMW in Penticton next year. "

Next year will be a short trip for us, as Penticton is an easy days drive.. See you at MMW2010! I am off to London in the next few weeks, and will be going to IMM/Mini 50 celebrations with Rog. Mike

On our way home

2009-07-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

We left Lethbridge today at 7:00 a.m. and stopped at Princeton at 6:30 p.m. LONG day of driving. I honestly never knew BC had so many darn mountains! Wooster is safely tucked up on his trailer enjoying being chauffeured I think! Picture to follow. We'll be home tomorrow. YAY!

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

2009-07-07T20:38:00.001-07:00

Tuesday in Lethbridge

2009-07-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump today. It was great. Had buffalo burgers and a buffalo smokie. From there we went to Fort MacLeod and visited the old RCMP fort and saw a musical ride put on by students dressed up as 1800's RCMP. All very interesting. Talked to Willi on my webcam tonight but I think he has forgotten who we are. sigh!

Leavenworth pictures

2009-07-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

Our Motel last night.
Time to go best Motel so far
Rain again, but not to bad. Below the back to the Border.

Leavenworth to Victoria BC 345km

2009-07-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

We have arrived home.. a total of 6884 km. Car is still running great and very dirty. I think I got every bug on the road that Murray missed! It will take me a week to clean up the car and get it looking good again.. A great trip..

Rain...

2009-07-06T18:06:00.000-07:00

Rain & cloud we just drive through, struck by lighting too, as
radio went into over drive screeching a bang, but we drive on.
Grand Coulee Dam
Eagle down for the kill
Passing the Grand Canyon

Todays pictures...

2009-07-06T17:39:00.001-07:00

Leavenworth street..

Rog trying on the diving suit used in building the Grand Coulee Dam
The Dam overflowing down the spillway..wonderful to watch the water patterns

Missoula MT to Leavenworth WA - 634 km

2009-07-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

Just back from having a nice cold beer in the local beer garden in Leavenworth, a nice German theme town located along highway 2 in Washington state. We left Missoula this morning with the sky looking cloudy and dark, and ended up driving through multiple storms through the mountains all the way until just past Spokane where we turned off on Highway 2 to head west and up to Grand Coulee Dam. We arrived and wandered around the Grand Coulee Dam area , took a few pics, but decided not to do the tour as the elevator was in repair and the tour did not go inside until the elevator is repaired in late July. After lunch we headed up #2 and stopped in Leavanworth, where we are spending our last night on the road. We will sleep in a bit, and then head for Everett WA, and shoot up I5 to the border, and hopefully catch as early a ferry as we can. We are all glad to see your report Dave and Adrienne that you have made it safe to Lethbridge and have a plan to get Wooster home. Have a safe trip back to Victoria, we will see you when you get back. Mike and the gang!

Arriving in Lethbridge

2009-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Lethbridge, Alberta

2009-07-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Lethbridge. My trusty TomTom got us to our destination in record time and with no problems. Then Marcel set his to find his way out again. We had Wooster unloaded and Marcel's onloaded in short order, all our mess cleared out of the van and away he went. Pictures to follow. I got a massive load of laundry done. Whew. I was down to my last outfit. We got to sleep in this morning. What a TREAT! ok so sleeping in is til 6:30, whatever, I enjoyed it. I'm now at the public library as Pam and Roy don't have internet at home. sigh! I can get on occasionally for short bursts from a neighbour's connection but it doesn't last long. Anyhoo, Roy has offered us his pickup truck to haul Wooster home so we will take him up on that offer. And then they will fly out in August for a holiday and drive it back home. WOW! What wonderful friends! I think we will stay here a few days. Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump was one of the stops on our original itinerary so we will go there. Nanton was on MY itinerary. An old western town with masses of antique stores and apparently an air museum so Dave and Roy can enjoy that while Pam and I are shopping. YIPPEE! Their son (who lives on his own) arrived shortly after we did and spent the evening talking military talk with Dave. I think he LOVES Mr. Walker!! We were treated to thunder and lightning shortly after our arrival with storm warnings tonight. I think we should push Wooster outside for a free bath! But why get rid of all that protective oil? We had no problem getting over the border in Coutts. We sent Marcel on ahead to say this is my car and that's my van and that's my trailer and that's my manservant driving it. They asked if our car was insured and Dave said the insurance papers were in the car and as the girl was just heading off for a break I'm presuming she couldn't be bothered to haul us over to prove we had the papers. That's it for now. Just wanted to let y'all know we made it safely to Lethbridge and I presume Marcel is already at work. Ciao for now!

Yellowstone pictures

2009-07-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Animals we saw today in Yellowstone or while driving!

2009-07-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

1. Bears
2. Marmot (or similar)
3. Deer - doe and two fawns
4. Deer - bloating at the roadside
5. Deer flattened by a truck
6. Squirrel - darting across the road
7. Squirrel - squished on the road
8. Bald Eagle
9. Red winged Blackbird
10. Bison
11 Bison burgers
12. Sheep - fluffy
13. Horses
14. Cattle
15. Ground squirrels
16. Rabbit
17. Dogs
18. Llama
19. Chipmunk
20. Mules or Donkeys
21. I think that was all!
Forgot the following..
Skunk - very flat
Canada Geese - swimming and taking off
some sort of Pelican - floating

Powell WY to Missoula via Yellowstone Park - 701km

2009-07-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

A shorter driving distance today as we dropped South and headed through Yellowstone National Park and stopped for several hours. We were able to see Old Faithful, as well as Beehive and one other geyser spew while we were there. We then headed on stopping for scenic shots and wildlife viewing, stopping in Ennis for lunch, were Terry paid $5.50 for a chocolate shake! Roger and I had buffalo burgers, probably from one of the ones we saw in Yellow stone! The car is still running great, although it now sounds like the baffles inside the new muffler are coming loose as the exhaust is starting to rattle, so it will be back to the exhaust place when we get home. I will figure out the millage tonight and post results so far. If we can get Roger connected he will upload a few shots from today as well. I hope you get the van sorted and get back on the road..

Update on mileage.. getting 45.5 mpg so far for entire trip including all around town driving at the meet..

2009-07-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Montana Mini Blues

2009-07-04T21:04:00.001-07:00

Drivin' down the highway
Drivin' Marcel's truck
God I got no luck
Wooster's in the trailer
And he's feelin' fine
The differential however
is startin' to grind
I'm stuck in Big Timber
on the 4th of July
Fireworks are boomin'
The van is startin' to fry
I got the Montana Mini Blues

Maybe Rog can set that to music with his new Fender

Dave and Adrienne report in

2009-07-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

WE left Murdo at 5:15 a.m. in the blackness and fog. We are now at Bozeman, Montana. Jeff from Seattle met up with us and travelled a long way until we left him at Big Timber in the loo. Haven't seen him since. Sooooooooooooo.............................we have the words to the Montana Mini Blues now. But they are locked in the car. So you'll have to wait. We've had a long hard day and are off to find food. More later if we have the strength. and pics to follow as well.

2009-07-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ellesworth Air Base & Musuem

B52 + two

Minuite Man Misile

In Bighorn mountains

Over the Mountain and down the other side

Chamerlain, SD to Powell WY, 917km

2009-07-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

A long day today as we covered a lot of ground. Too early to see the Murdo museum and we flew by before it was open. I suspect we passed right by Dave and Adrienne while they slept. We then headed on to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum and took a tour of the Minuteman II Missile training site at Ellsworth Airforce Base. We also had a tour of the base. Lunch was in Gillette today, where we also gassed up. The cars are running fine, we averaged 72 mph along the I90, but speed dropped of as we changed to Hwy 14, where we headed up and over the Bighorn Mountain, to a height of 8347 feet, and then down via 8 and 10 degree grades. Some snow left on the sides of the mountains and some great views. Rog is uploading a few pictures as I type this. We are headed to see old faithful tomorrow in Yellowstone National park..on the way to somewhere in Idaho..

Dave and Adrienne report in

2009-07-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Chamberlain? You're only in CHAMBERLAIN??? We're in Murdo at the Super8 and Marcel's in his trailer. Don't ask. I'm a dork! Anyhooooo...............the mini is getting great mileage sitting in the trailer. Not a speck of trouble. We DID have to pull over and move it up a bit in the trailer as it nearly careened off the road the second we hit the I90. oops. There have been a few wiggly moments as big rigs fly past us at unsuitable speeds. But we get even when we hit the miles and miles of single lanes and the cars pile up behind us. Murray and Bruce left us at Rochester to head north to Winnipeg and then at some point along the road we hear they ran out of gas. They were 2 fields, couple of fences and a highway to the nearest gas station so Murray dispatched Bruce off to fill up the gas can. We toured the pioneer auto show GIFT SHOP and believe it or not Dave bought a BMC pin. We are in for an early night as Dave is all set to leave at 4:00 a.m. He's a maniac. He'll have to go wake Marcel up and let him use our facilities and we'll be on our way. I just hope it's light enough for Marcel to get a picture of his mini in front of Mt. Rushmore. Heck, if you're going to see it once in a lifetime, you may as well see it twice! That's it for us! Off to dreamland. Maybe you'll catch up to us tomorrow as we're going about 55 mph. And for the record Marcel is getting about 42 miles per gallon.

2009-07-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

The mad hatters

Spam Man

Run out of petrol or what

Porn Palace or was it Corn !!!!!!!!!

Corn Man

On the flip side - Winoona to Chamberlain - 653km

2009-07-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

We had an easy start today, packing up and saying goodbye to all the folks at the meet. We made sure Dave and Adrienne and the Cooper S were taken care of as we are splitting up, with Dave headed off with Marcel and Murray, borrowing the trailer and truck while Marcel drives his Mini. What a great guy and fabulous support from the Mini community to help out Dave. We ended up leaving about 9:00, and stopped in AUSTIN MINIsota to the the SPAM museum, as we missed it on the way out due to the Cooper S engine problems. After a rousing song of SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM..etc.. we headed back onto I90 west.. We then stopped off in Mitchell SD to check out the Corn Palace, but they were in the midst of removing all the murals and refreshing with a new theme, so it was not as impressive as it can be..but there was a place for Linda to go shopping.. We headed out and ran into torrential rainstorms, along the way and in the middle of a rainstorm, the VTEC ran out of gas..we were testing to see how accurate the guage was.. so we pulled to the side and top speed up with the spare can, then headed into the nearest gas station to top up the tank and the spare can. Then as we headed down the road in the pouring rain and with my wipers not working, we decided to stop in Chamberlain, a beautiful little town right along the river..dinner done and wipers sorted!

2009-07-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

At the banquet the gang from Victoria, plus Rick and Elaine Higgs.

Phill Wicks gave a talk

Mike 2nd in Custom Mini Class

LINDA Wins again with the boys.

Dave who never made it award.. the hard luck award. Has to be something that comes from all the bad luck he has had on the trip!

We win stuff!

2009-07-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

The Victoria gang did ok last night at the awards banquet. We all took home a trophy. The 2004 MINI won 2nd in her class, the VTEC also second in it's class and the 68 Cooper S won the Hard Luck Award! !st in my class was the other D series VTEC Riley elf owned by Red Riley. We are packing up and hitting the trail this morning..more updates and photos tonight.. Mike

Thursday was Rallye day, and Rog and I headed of early running around in a few circles right our of the gate until we sorted things out. However we were not alone as Minis were coming and going along the one stretch of road, and most cars were confused for a bit at the beginning as some of the milages were incorrect. We did make it back, and answered most of the questions, by seeing the stuff along the route, or by simply guessing!

The banquet was at the local University building, and was very well organized, with prize draws and award announcements. Phil Wicks entertained us with a few racing stories from his days of racing the Mini and Mini Coopers. I also did a presentation to the room about MMW2010, along with Rick Higgs from the Vancouver club. We handed out over 100 brochures to interested folks.
The banquet ended near 10:30 and we headedoff to pack for our departure. Dave and Adrienne are trailering the Cooper S thanks to Marcel C from Edmonton, who will drive the car he trailerd, and along with Murry will run along with Dave. Dave will get the car to Lethbridge Alberta, where he has a friend he can either leave it with, or help him sort out a tow bar and rental truck to get it home.. So we are two cars now headed back to Victoria..

Mall of America

2009-07-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

While Mike and Rog and Dave attended the Autocross and the Funkhana, Linda, Terry and Adrienne took a field trip to Mall of America. A two hour drive each way. Gee, it's pretty big! A department store at each corner of the mall, an adventureland in the middle with rollercoaster and other such nasty looking rides. There are doubles of a number of stores like American Eagle and the Mall of America stores. We saw almost every store and went to Kokomo's for lunch. I THINK it really should be done over a period of days, however, I think we did ourselves proud.

Rog gets Interviewed by local TV!

2009-07-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

They have tracked me down, now I have to tell them how I drove
down to Winona from B.C, how I put the Vtec engine in the Mini, Mike
was not any were to be seen to put them right.

Cruise night at the Lakeview Drive In

2009-07-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

"The Cruise Night" big and small

Cruise Night from Roof of the Lakeview Drive Inn

Tucking into food at the Drive Inn

Ordering food at the drive inn.

One of the rooms at our Hotel

More autocross..

2009-07-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

Murry from Edmonton tearing up the track, bugs and all.

Rick Higgs and Pooh, back in action!

Chuck Heleker in his south African Countryman..

Some autocross pictures

2009-07-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

2009-07-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

The band from last night "O" Rock & Roll

Mike and his old Moke Sold to Randy

Band Sand and Mini

Autocross

We are Famous!

2009-07-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Mike and the VTEC make the front page of the Winona Daily News! Must have been a slow day...

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2009/07/01/news/02minis.txt

Mini Birthday Bash Pictures

2009-06-30T20:48:00.001-07:00

Mini Birthday Bash

2009-06-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the Mini Birthday Bash held at the Lakeview Park Bankshell on the shore of Lake Winona. We were treated to an evening of '60s music by the Invaders. They played it all and then some! The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Rollling Stones, etc. Yes, people were dancing and singing along. Good times! They were also selling a CD plus a tee shirt for $15. Now is that a bargain? Or is that a bargain! We also got a gigantic cupcake and a pop. The cupcake had a chocolate mini on top of it. Then we were off to dinner. We headed to a restaurant and decided it wasn't what we wanted. Then to our amazement one of the staff came out and said "Your looking for a different type of restaurant, aren't you?" And she suggested two. We went to the Ground Round and it was delicious. I'm determined to make it back there to have a steak before I leave after seeing Terry's. NUMMY! Linda and Terry and I are off to Mall of America in the morning. YIPPEE! Better get some zzzzzzzzzzz's! Have to make sure I'm well rested! Dave has to take the UHaul and trailer back tomorrow. Mike is going with him to drive him back so I CAN GO SHOPPING! What a guy! Thanks Mike!

Wooster Hobnobbing with his Bros

2009-06-30T16:29:00.001-07:00

2009-06-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

A Mini chop Job

Unipower Gt Mini

Radford HATCHBACK Mini

Pick up interior not finished

You get some funny MINI drivers in the USA

Show and Shine Day

2009-06-30T15:17:00.001-07:00

Show and Shine Day has arrived! Dave and Adrienne watched sadly as everybody left for Show and Shine without them. We wandered across the road and found ourselves a nice Nissan Sentra to rent til Friday. We checked out exactly where we have to return the UHaul tomorrow and came back to find Rick Higgs with his car torn apart so we hung around to lend a hand or get in the way whichever worked best for Rick. Finally we took Rick and Elaine's box lunch tickets as well as ours and headed out to the Show and Shine to find food. We were all starving. We got there and were turned away from the MINI road. Because we were nobodies in our Nissan we had to go use a different parking lot and walk down a steep hill and up about 50 stairs to get to the site to find there were indeed plenty of OTHER cars parked there. Linda and Terry kindly drove us back to our car when we were done looking. We raced back to get good parking spots overlooking our rooms. I found out Starbucks is about 20 feet from my room. How great is that? Roger has gone off with Dave to help him unload the mini in preparation for returning the rental gear tomorrow. Tonight is the Birthday Bash at Lake Park Bandshell. Cake and pop. Yahoo! We are hoping we may have a solution to getting home but I think we'll be working on a backup plan as well, just in case. Virginia there was NOTHING to buy for Muffy there. A BIG disappointment. Oh yeah, the weather is definitely NOT HOT!

We have arrived - Mitchell to Winona - 546km total 3247kms one way

2009-06-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, we have arrived, a little later than planned, but safe and sound in Winona. We did have more problems with the Cooper S and finally 225 miles from Winona, we decided to put it on a trailer..so located a U-haul rental place, and found what we needed 20 miles away. Place a reservation and headed off .. just 4 miles away the Cooper S died on the I90..and coasted to the side. Just when we were going to split up and head off to pickup the trailer, I found the problem, the distributor wire had fallen off from the vibrations along I90. With the car running again, we all made it to the rental shop, loaded the car, and headed for Winona. The next thing to sort is how to get the car home. Will post pics from the car show tomorrow night. Mike

2009-06-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

A cut chop job

Chop job coming up

Daves taking a lift so he can get air con as its so hot

Daves muffler is repaired then a lift.

Minnesota here we come

Day 4

2009-06-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Day 4 pics

2009-06-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

2009-06-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

De-bugging the windscreen

Wall City Drug Store, my City Wall to Wall "TAT"

There are 250 of the bill boards along route 90

The Presidents & the Three Stooges

Day 4 - Sturgis to Mitchell SD - 600km

2009-06-28T19:42:00.000-07:00

Another good day on the road, althugh with navigatort Mike and his side kick Rog-rog, making a few errors starting out..we went round in a few circles..all part of the fun. We then had a side trip to Mt. Rushmore to see the 4 presidents. What great roads on the way in, although hilly, but lots of curves, and we took the back way out via Hwy 40 which was another good Mini road. We stopped in Wall to see the famous drug store after reading the 252 signs posted along the way.. we saw the first ones in Montana, a couple in Wyoming, but the most are in South Dakota. We had a nice lunch there, cleaned off the multitudes on bus and headed for Chamberlain to see the Akta Lakota museum, where we cleaned even more bugs off the cars! By now the temp is up to over 30 degrees, (86 F) so we were running hot..not the cars, but the people, other than the new Mini who were being windswept by the air conditioning! We ended the dat at Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace.. and spent asome time fussing with the Cooper S which astarted to run rough. we found the exhaust pip has been wacked enough to bend the clamps and deform the new pipes, probably from one of the road to bridge bumps we hit earlier in the trip. We solved the rough running with a setup of the points, which had closed up the gap and were too tight.

Day 4 and Adrienne is heard from

2009-06-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

Last night it was decided we would start a bit later today so what happens when we are all snug in our beds and SLEEPING? Some idiot pulled the fire alarm! So much for the extra sleep. I think everyone woke up at their normal 5:00 a.m. anyway. Today we visited Mt. Rushmore. You could spend days at these places! They have so much touristy stuff built up around them. It was very large and impressive. They have an amphitheatre and as it was Sunday morning they had a church service. From Mt. Rushmore we took a different route out (hoping there would be smaller hills and they were, thank goodness. Our next stop was Wall Drugs. Another huge tourist attraction with something for everyone. On the way there I was told to stop reading out the signs along the road saying what Wall Drugs had or there would be no need to stop having already found out what they had. Hmmph! After a tasty lunch there we headed out to Chamberlain South Dakota to find the Akta Lakota Sioux Museum. We crossed the mighty Missouri to get there. First decent body of water we've seen since home. It was a lovely AIR CONDITIONED museum and it was FREE and we had 30 minutes to see it before it closed. I got the distinct impression it is connected to a residential school. Didn't they get rid of all those? Anyway, it was REALLY hot out and we had been travelling in it for hours so Mike and Rog provided us with water and Linda provided Rog and Dave with those neck cooler thingies. WOW! What an invention. Between the air conditioned museum, a chance to park in the shade for half an hour and the bandanas we made it to Mitchell South Dakota for the night. We have just returned from dinner at the local truck stop (delicious of course!) and found our own bandanas in their truck stop store along with bisexual bug cleaner. Go figure! Everybody is outside working on Dave's car once again. It seems to be a nightly ritual. That's it from me. I'm listening to The Lion King in the comfort of my air conditioned room, I've been well fed and I'm ready for whatever comes next.

Day 3

2009-06-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

2009-06-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

Pics of Day 3- lots of flat roads

2009-06-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Bozman MT to Sturgis SD- 843km

2009-06-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

A long day but with lots to see. We started by going to the Little Bighorn Battlefield Museum, and then headed off to see Devils Tower in Wyoming. By the time we arrived in Spearfish, all the rooms were full as they were holding a Rodeo..so on to Sturgis, Sd where we got the last rooms after checking a few places! The VTEC continues to run well, getting close to 50mpg, taking on less gas than either of theother two cars. The Cooper S has lost the starter solinoid, so we are opening the hood and pushing the button to get the car started. She is also blowing a bit of oil and seems to be burning oil, although the exhasut is clear.. The new MINI just zooms along, with no issues, and in utter comfort! Some if theroad surface along I90 was enough to send both Rog and I up in our seats hitting the roof on the way over the bump! On towards Winona...Mike

2009-06-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Enter South Dakota

Prairie Dog

Devils Tower just come down from the top

Mini & Devils Tower

and a few more...

2009-06-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

A few pictures from Day 2 in the Mini VTEC

2009-06-26T19:43:00.000-07:00

Day 2 - Ritzville to Boseman - 730km

2009-06-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

A good day today with no problem, and a lot of ground covered. The weather was cool and we skirted a bunch of storms or just missed them. I am getting 45-50mpg at about 65-70mph...pretty good mileage. The cooper S is running well, but spraying a bit of oil, so we made sure the breather tubes were clean and not compressed. The new Mini is running quiet except for the air conditioning fan! Got a quick clean of the cars today to remove the road grime. A good dinner at the local Chinese buffet, and then ready for the run tomorrow..

2009-06-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Stoping to clean windscreens

Mike having a shampoo to get oil out of hair

Dave jet washing about

Into Montana

Into Idaho

2009-06-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

The bridge over the Columbia River
Lunch in the cafe
We are welcomed in to USA after a bit of bover with customs Mike has a twin with a record, so they gave him the third degree talk, then it was my turn as I am from the uk it cost me $6 to get in, I think they give it back when I go out !!!!!
Peace Arch just inside USA
Coming off the ferry

Disater Strikes the Cooper S!

2009-06-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had the first breakdown... as Terry in the MINI and me in the VTEC were cruising along, we received a panic call from Dave and Adriene ... the Cooper S had died and they were at the side of the highway, trying to fix it..well of course they broke down just before the nearest exit so, we had to turn around and go two exits back, taking about 20 minutes or more to get to them due to the divided highway

After a little while of problem determination it was decided that the 'new' Lucas coil that was installed for the trip had failed, and we grabbed the old one, wired it up and it started right up.. then onward.. but we only made it to Ritzville, before we were all ready for a good meal and a sleep..up early tommorrow and off to make up some miles..Mike

2009-06-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Victoria BC to Ritzville WA - 528km

2009-06-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Just arrived in Ritzville, WA, and it's 6:30pm..a little behind where we expected to be..heading for dinner and will update later tonight more with pics and the story behind our delays..Mike
We started out early this morning, leaving at 5:30..
We took the ferry over to Vancouver and headed for the border.. so the first delay happens at the border. You'll have to go inside the border guard says, stuffing our passports into a bag.. and I am thinking..it's that UK chap causing us to do this.. when the guard say.. there is a hit on you as a international criminal, so we have to do more checks! (oh no..not the cavity search!)... and of course your friend here needs paperwork filled out. Once inside they look at me and the description and simply say..here is your passport back.. now you (pointing at Rog) need to fill this out.. a few minutes later and we wewre off..with the border guards crowded aroubndthe car asking how fast it goes! We meet back up with Dave and Adrience in the Cooper S and head off to Bellis Fair mall to meet Terry and Linda...

Then we head off down the I5 cutting off on highway 2 and 203 to bypass Seattle..We have a great lunch in North Bend at Tweeters.. famous for having been used in the Twin Peaks TV show..

When we stopped in Ritzville for gas and lodging, a friendly young lady came up and asked where we were headed.. Winona I said..to which she replied..oh off the East Meets West are you.. obviously she was a mini owner, and yes she has two a classic and a new Mini. After a nice chat, she left, leaving behind a bag of freshly picked cherries for us to have on our trip. I forgot to ask for her name, but we would all like to thank her for stopping to talk and for her generosity!

Wooster

2009-06-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Dave's 1968 Cooper S - ready to go!

2009-06-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

2009-06-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Update.. I retrieved Rog from the airport tonight, as he has arrived safe and sound.. bearing Mini gifts and travel bags of souvenirs from Mini 50 event at SilverStone. We'll be packing up the car tommorrow and heading out on Thursday. Mike

2009-06-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

Headed out to pick up rog at the airport..and received this update from him... Mike

"So you think flying over to Canada is easy with British Airways is easy in Cattle Class, so what do you do when an email comes from B.A. to up grade to Traveler Plus for £80. Well usually you can ask to be up graded and its free not that you ever get up graded.

So I fill in the form thinking its both ways, click click then the credit card click "oops" was that £800 to late, so what had happened I was miss lead into clicking the return trip as well. so that's £720, what do B.A. say "nothing we can do". any suggestion's will be welcome on how to get my money back.

Fathers Day was a lovely dinner with my daughter & family, but when I was eating crunch "O" a bit of my tooth fell off, I am lucky to have a good dentist, I am there on Monday, "I fly out tomorrow", 2 hours later tooth filled. Now pack, and off to Heathrow on Tuesday at 9am to fly out at 2pm.
Which I did but not in Traveler Plus but up graded again to Club class, its all to much for me all this up grading, I suppose I should be thank full but still want my £720 pounds back.
Now its over to Victoria it looks on time. "

Happy Mini-ing Rog "The Hat"

Mike's VTEC Video

2009-06-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

A short video of my car....music by Laura Smith.
www.laurasmithmusic.com

Car Prep

2009-06-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

The Mini had an oil change and a lube today, as well as checking as the suspension nuts and bolts and frame mountings to make sure all is in good shape on the car after 1000kms of driving. Found the source of my tranny fluid dripping a quarter size pool each time I drive... the drain plug needed tightening and the drip has stopped. All looks great, so other than packing the car with some tools and spare parts and some more polishing the car looks good for the trip. Rog the Hat is ready to go, tickets in hand and bags packed for his trip from the UK to here...The Cooper S that is coming along was in the shop today getting new tires, exhaust system and a few other items checked out before we head out. It's good to have a great local Mini mechanic in the club.. Thanks Richard!

Tentative route

2009-06-11T10:38:00.001-07:00

We have a tentative route planned, along with a lot of things to see along the way there or back.. We plan on the following to get from Victoria to Winona..route may vary as we find other roads that parallel the I90..

Day 1 - Early ferry to the mainland, and a drive down I5, Hwy2, 203, 202 and I90 to somewhere around Coeur d'Alene, Id.
Day 2 - I90, Hwy 12 to Billings , MT
Day 3 - I90, 212 to Sturgis, SD
Day 4 - I90 to Mitchell
Day 5 - I90, 43 to Winona

Things to see.. some on the way out and some on the way back..any other suggestions??
Devils Tower
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Wall Drug Store
Mount Rushmore
Black hills National Forest
SD Air and Space Museum
Atka Lotka Museum
Corn Palace
Pioneer Museum
Spam Museum
Coulee Dam
Custer National Forest

2009-06-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we have confirmed there will be three cars. My 1989 Mini 30 with the D15B VTEC engine, a 2004 Mini Cooper automatic, and a 1968 Mini Cooper S. We are following a route that is along I90 with using some other highways to keep off the interstate, but hitting I90 where it makes sense to see sites. We have lots of stuff planed along the way, and expect to take 4 days to arrive a EMW2009. I have 700+km on the VTEC build and all seems to be good. I lost the engine due to a broken valve spring in the first 200km, and had to replace it with another used one..so 500km and no problems with this one! Here's a shot of the new roof decal I just added to the car. My good friend Bob W and I spent one afternoon, measuring and fitting the decal..

Car Ready to Go!

2009-05-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

The car is back together and ready to go for the trip. I will be putting as many miles on as I can over the next few weeks to make sure everything is working well..Winona here we come! Rog will be arriving late next month and we will be headed out with a few other cars from Victoria. Follow along as we make our 3000km journey to Winona for EMW 2009. Feel free to add comments as well. We will try to update each day with a short synopsis of the day and a few photos of the trip highlights.

2009-05-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

The car has been painted and is now ready for re assembly. Have a few shiny bits to put on the front as well as the lights grille etc, then on to the dash.

Getting Ready for the Drive

2009-04-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go again with our trip from Victoria BC to the this years Mini Meet. We are headed to Winona, Minnesota, and this year I have a new mini, as I have sold the Moke. I will be drving a 1989 Rover Mini from Japan, that has been modified to have a Honda VTEC engine and transmission. Here are a few shots of the car as I am finishing it up in time for the trip. Rog is coming over from the UK and joining us again on the trip. It should be great fun as we travel along through the US seeing everything that we can..of course all the world's best and biggest stuff along the way!