life on road

Day 5: Albuquerque, NM to Lubbock, TX

What is life like on a whirlwind cross country road trip?

This morning I've started putting my clothes on backwards and inside out.
In honor of this feat, I thought I'd mix it up today by posting this morning before I head off in search of Lubbock, TX.

There is a rhythm to each day that goes something like this:
wake up at 3 - try to go back to sleep - fail - give up and get up sometime between 4:30 and 5
shower; get dressed; repack car; check oil; fuel up; meet at Rise and Shine location; check in; eat something; make new friends; hit the road; stop here or there; reach next city; find hotel; unpack car; meet at Evening Event; eat; mingle; sleep; rinse and repeat.

::

And later...

Sandia MINI sent us off with a fond farewell and the usual stoppage of traffic as we set off on a flat, mostly straight course toward UFO territory.  No alien sightings to report, but I did witness a fighter jet flyby before we stopped at the International UFO Museum in Roswell, NM.

After a delicious meal at Martin's Capitol Cafe - it was off to Lubbock, TX.  Along the way we were greeted and warmly welcomed into Texas by a group of Texan MINI motorers.     Couldn't pull my camera out fast enough to catch a photo of them!   

Fortunately for me, and you, a fellow motorer captured the welcoming committee here:

photo courtesy of Jim Carman

Just outside of Lubbock, I spied this old theatre.  

As I stopped to snap a photo, a young man approached me and asked if we were being required to take pictures and then asked what it was exactly we were up to.   It was fun to tell him about the rally and so very heartwarming to meet people across our nation that were truly interested in our silliness.   Kinda makes you feel like an ambassador of joy...

talk to the camera

This is going to be the world's shortest post.  I have a stalker.  His name is Bernie.

Here are today's totals plus photographic proof I was being followed.
Miles motored:: 1994
Bugs:: what bugs? there were bugs?
Roadkill:: add a chipmunk and a skunk to yesterday
Curse words:: the word of the day begins with the letter F

Here is the stalker and his assistants (the shy one took the photo).

I need to sleep.  GOOD NIGHT.

please pass the salt

Day 3: Wendover, UT to Grand Junction, CO

Totals to date -

Miles motored:: 1609

Bugs fatalities:: the entire cast of Bugs Life, plus all the extras

Roadkill observed:: 2 deer, 3 raccoon,  7 rabbits, 3 skunks and 1 plastic beach ball

Curse words:: 25

Today's adventure includes when weather gets in the way, a guest passenger from the UK, a grumpy room mate, one possible bad thermostat, and the most bad ass car wash in America!

Under cloudy skies the third day of MINI Takes The States 2014 begins with a kick off in the parking lot of McDonald's in Wendover, UT - hey when you have to park bunches of MINIs you go where there is ample free parking.  Much to everyone's dismay we learned that the weather was going to change the plans for the day.  No driving on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  waw waw waw -insert sad face here.   Still we managed to work a photo opportunity out of this...

Which leads me to - I had a guest passenger today.  Riding along with me was Ali Mir who boldly walked up to me at a pit stop yesterday and asked if he could be my co-pilot for the day.  Since this is an adventure, I found myself saying sure! (WTF - who is the alien that has taken over  my body?)

This turned out to be quite fun.  Ali told me all sorts of stories, played some cool tunes, took photos and didn't fall asleep once!  

Ali and Ugly Doll hanging out in the co-pilot seat above.

And then there was Alex and her bad mood... Miss Rose woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning - I forget what being 21 was like - do they need more sleep than old people???   After she missed the exit for this first stop this morning it was apparent that she needed a nap.  Happily she snapped out of it by the time we hit the afternoon stop at Papa Joes.

And then the check engine light went on in her car... MINI to the rescue!  Claude and John from MINI USA came over and ran a little diagnostic test on the car deeming it safe to drive onto our final stop in Grand Junction.  

We motored on toward the last stop of the day - the Splish Splash Car Wash in Grand Junction. woot, woot!  This was the BEST. Car. Wash. EVER!!!!  It was like the Tron ride of car washes.  A friendly attendant removed my car magnets, another gave me instructions on how to ride the conveyor and a soapy blast to the front windshield (for the great bug massacre) and then boom!  I rode in Felix watching the car being blasted with soap suds, giant brushes, water jets, blowers and cool flashing lights.  Probably delirious from driving, but I thought this was fantastic!

radio radio

Day two: Reno, Nevada to Wendover, Utah (or Nevada depending on where your bed was)

The count to date -

Miles motored:: 753+409

Bugs fatalities:: 200 + oh who's counting 

Roadkill observed:: 1 deer, 1 raccoon, 5 rabbits, 2 skunks

Curse words:: 15

The day starts with a little pep talk from the White Roof Radio guys, DB and Todd; breakfast burritos; free window washing and a line up of MINIs two by two for a nice police escort out of Reno - apparently they wanted us OUT.

That's the boot of my car above left and my friend Alex's to the right.  Today we were driving buddies  for the route.  Being a little worried about getting left behind or lost it was nice to have someone to keep in sight.   We managed to go off the route to find ourselves a great little pig themed barbecue place.

I learned several things today about Alex: she enjoys laying on the horn in her MINI just a tad bit too much; she is writing a book about roadside restrooms and must stop at several (um 4 today) along the route; high maintenance is her middle name when it comes to ordering from a menu. She knows how to enjoy a good pulled pork sandwich. Oh and I cannot understand a thing she says when we tried using our 2-way radios.  

twist and shout

Day 1 on the road, San Francisco, CA to Reno, NV

The count to date -

Miles motored:: 753

Bugs fatalities:: 200

Roadkill observed:: 1 deer, 1 raccoon

Curse words:: 15

5:30 in the morning came too quickly today.  Way too quickly.  But there was some serious motoring to do.  I made my way towards Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley, California over the Bay Bridge.   Kind of overcast - a typical summer in San Francisco.

And perfect for standing amongst a sea of MINIs waiting to hit the road for the first leg of MINI Takes The States.   It was a party, with food trucks, stunts, swag and a whole bunch of very excited people.

Around 8:30AM off we went on our big adventure.   I'm dubbing the first half of the day the Twisties of Napa.  This means hands on the steering wheel, eyes on the road and keep up with the person in front of you.  Oh and no photography - ok, maybe one picture:

I never knew Highway 128 could go on and on and on...  By lunchtime at Niello MINI in Sacramento I was a bit done with following the curves of winding roads and decided to go rogue straight up Highway 80.  Which is where I saw the poor deer by the highway, followed by the raccoon.  Sad.  And slightly weird as I really wanted to stop and take pictures.   But I pushed on towards the Biggest Little City of Reno, Nevada.

Here I got a little rest before going off to "Taj Mahal of Tenpins" - the National Bowling Stadium to rock the lanes with all my fellow motorists.  

zzzzzzzz

Miles motored:: 354 give or take a few

Bug fatalities:: 100+

Curse words used:: 10

At 5 am this morning I fell out of bed, put myself together and crept out of Casa de Villa-Schneider.

Stopped to fill up Felix and hit the road to MINI of Valencia for a pre-launch breakfast. Fun party, complete with swag.  Hats off to MoV for their gracious hospitality.

Followed the merry gang of AlphaMINIs along to highway 126 then onto the 101 - where I was busy riding along in the fast lane and missed the part about turning off somewhere near Santa Barbara for some over the hills and through more hills motoring to Solvang.   I was alone!  Until I spy Jeff flying past me with his son Alex.   I couldn't quite catch up, too many hills...