2011 MINIs on the Dragon – Day 1

I apologize in advance if this blog doesn’t make much sense. I’m on the verge of delusional right now, having been up for the past 48 hours with about 1 hours of collective sleep. Not a good mix, but I digress.

I got off to a bit of a late start leaving home for Fontana. I wanted to originally leave around 10pm. The drive, being 10 hours, would have put me arriving at Fontana at roughly 8am, give or take depending on traffic, stops, etc. etc.

I didn’t end up leaving my house until a little after midnight, a full two hours later than I planned. My laundry wasn’t finished (stupid dryer doesn’t dry things anymore) and I wanted to be sure to catch the new episode of South Park that aired at 10pm that night. I also found it extremely hard to concentrate on packing. Dunno why, but it was.

The drive for the most part was pretty good. I gassed up in Clermont, which oddly enough was the most expensive gas so far this trip at well over 4 bucks a gallon. I never ran the tank dry or anything, however, the two Red Bull energy drinks and 32oz Gatorade made bathroom stops quite frequent. Sometimes not even in a bathroom at all (don’t worry, it was always just ‘number 1’).

The only real rough part of the drive out here was that through Atlanta, it started to rain. And when I say rain, I mean it poured! Luckily it only last about 1 to 1.5 hours, which wasn’t too bad.

I rolled into Fontana at about 11:45 12pm-ish. After going to the front desk to get my key to the cabin I’m rooming with everyone at, I went on and checked my messages and what-not on the single lobby computer.

After getting everything unpacked and settled, I made count of what cash I had on hand, what I owed, and what was left. I also went and checked out what was around the Vendor Alley this year. I don’t know if it’s just me being a little tighter with my money, being on a budget and all, or if the Economy is just in rough shape still, but a LOT of the after-market parts I was looking at today were VERY pricey. $340 for a Rear Sway Bar installed? Thanks, but no thanks.

After walking around a little, I decided to go make my first run on the Dragon. I drove out on Highway 28 and then onto The Dragon’s 318 curves. I eventually ended up behind some other MINIs out running the Dragon and stayed with them a bit, but it seems that they were heading into town instead of turning around and heading back towards Deals Gap.

I turned around and stopped at the Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort to check out any new merchandise, t-shirts, etc. I also got a Bacon Cheeseburger from the “Dragon’s Den” restaurant next door to the retail showroom. I’ve always had breakfast at the Dragon’s Den, but never had lunch before. It was exceptionally tasty! I then proceeded to purchase a couple decals and a really cool metal road sign and went back on my way to Fontana.

I met up with the Cabin-mates and we went out for a drive down to the Fontana Dam (apparently the biggest concrete dam this side of the Rockey’s). We then decided to get a better view and drove up to the top observation deck of the place. It was a cool view, but I’ve seen it 3 or 4 times before now. It kind of loses its luster after that many trips. The scenery was quite pretty none-the-less.

Bingo Night presented by Pittstop MINIs was tonight. Everyone who registered would get a stack of Bingo cards and a dauber and we’d all play Bingo for a chance to win cool MINI related prizes. I actually did in fact finally win a Bingo game for once in my life and won, ironically, a Prima Auto Detailing package. For those that don’t know me, my dad and I had a side business by the name “Detailer’s Warehouse.” I found it funny that I used to sell the prize I had just won. It worked out good too because I was just about out of our old leftover inventory and was going to purchase some detailing products to bring back home.

But now I’m heading back to the Cabin. Hopefully they have figured out where I’m going to be sleeping as every bed and room is pretty much occupied at the moment… *sigh*

Gas Crisis….NOT WITH A MINI!

I have to laugh at all the people lately who are really bugging out on the whole rising gas prices thing. Granted, no one likes to pay more for stuff, especially on such short notice, but here’s an idea ya’ll: Get a Fuel-Efficient car!

My 2005 Supercharged MINI Cooper get’s about 350 miles per tank. CITY driving! And I drive the car like there’s a couple tons of stolen Gold Bricks in the boot, Italian Job style. On the last NYC road trip I took with Freddy this past Winter, we averaged about 450 miles per tank! 450 miles!! And I’ve modified the car quite a bit, so there are definitely other MINIs out there getting better mileage. Especially the newer ones.

This thought came across my head today as I was number crunching for the Dragon trip coming up. I leave in less than a week now and was trying to budget my Gas expense. From my place (Clermont, FL) to Fontana Village North Carolina, it’s about 600 miles (giver or take for pit stops, etc.). So overall (assuming it still costs me a little more than $50 to fill my tank), it’ll cost me roughly $200 for my entire trip in gas. That’s not bad when you figure all I’ll be doing is driving the whole time while up there, AND that includes ROUND TRIP travel.

So yea, it’s pretty good owning a MINI right about now. :p
Eat your hearts out SUV owners!!

MOTD8, Oh yea, it’s on!

First off, let me apologize for never finishing the blogs of the rest of our trip last  year! *facepalm* We all had a great time getting lost in Western America. lol After Monument Valley, we made it out to Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, Carslbad Caverns New Mexico and finally New Orleans Louisiana. It was the trip of a life time and I’m really glad I got to check off a bunch of stuff on my bucket list.

Now enough talk about last year. The 2011 MINIs on the Dragon is right around the corner and I’m giddy like a school girl! This year’s event has the largest number of registered attendee’s to date! Well over 800 people and 500 MINIs will be in attendance this year. That’s a LOT of MINIs!

The only down side to this year’s trip is that I’ll be going it alone this year. Artavius just moved and is in a new apartment. he also has a new job that he can’t get off very easily. Jose has summer classes this term, and Felix is living in Arizona right now going to school. Leaving just me, still living in Clermont FL, attending MINIs on the Dragon for my 4th consecutive year. I wouldn’t miss an MOTD event for the world! Where else can you see over 500 MINIs and Minis in one place for one purpose? That purpose? To drive, have some fun, see old friends and make new ones! I’ve owned Stanley for 3 (coming up on 4) years, and I’ll be dammed before I miss this annual event!

As for a road trip, unfortunately, there won’t be a big, long elaborate trip this year. The lack of passengers and Co-Drivers would make the drive terribly long and it would also be kind of lame and lonely driving around the country by myself. Relaxing? Sure, but damn lonely.

But fear not! For when Felix arrives back in FL for summer break, I’m certain we shall be venturing into the wild unknowns once again! I have a week’s worth of paid vacation time I have to use up at work too, so why not? haha

I’ll blog more about the trip later. The cool thing about this year is that I’m not pulling my hair out trying to organize everything myself. Last year’s planning process was a mega drain. Totally worth the hard work, but I’m certainly looking forward to just driving up to NC for the event, and then driving back home.

Days 8 & 9

Quite a lot has happened in the past 2 days. Lots to blog about, so let’s get it started…..in here….

Day 7.5

Before I start blogging about Day 8, I’ll give a short overview of what happened in the time between my last blog post and Day 8. I finished writing out my blog post for Days 6 & 7 and took a short nap outside of the tent. Jose and Artavius were sprawled out in each of the 2 rooms, so I just grabbed my sleeping bag and decided to sleep outside. There were a LOT of bugs, but it was kinda nice to be able to sleep under a completely blue sky. One thing I’ve been really thankful for on the trip (knock on wood), is that the weather this year has been absolutely perfect (except for our last night in Fontana). I’ve never seen so much empty blue sky.

After I awoke from my short nap, I decided to take a drive, just me and Stanley. Jose and Artavius were still fast asleep in the tent, and there was still some sunlight left to be burned. So I took off into the wild back country that is Foss, OK. I didn’t go too far. I stopped by a gas station and grabbed some food and drinks, and decided to head back. I pulled into the campsite to find that everyone was still asleep. UNACCEPTABLE! They can sleep at home for free. So in a last-ditch effort to get everyone out of bed and around the picnic table for our last night in Oklahoma, I started a little camp fire in the grill pit at our campsite. As soon as I begun to light it, Jose awoke and Artavius did as well. I lit up a nice Tatiana Cigar and we all kicked back and relaxed around the campfire.

Ok, so now onto Day 8.

Day 8

Day 8 started out fine. We awoke to a slightly chilly, perfectly clear blue Oklahoma morning and began to pack everything up into the MINI. We are getting to be pretty good at breaking down this tent. It’s pretty awesome.

After we stuffed the MINI from boot to bonnet and all piled inside, we stayed in place about 10 minutes or so as we tried oh so desperately to find the address to the campsite we were staying at in Monument Valley. We eventually were able to find a close match, so we threw that into the GPS and headed out.

“Next Turn in 410 Miles”, my British Accented GPS voice said to us. It was then that I knew we were in for a long drive.

After crossing over into Texas, we stopped off at a Gas Station chain called “Love’s”. Ever since we got out west, we’d been seeing them non stop. They had WiFi inside and a Subway shop, so we stopped for lunch and did all of out internet postings. On our way out (and waiting for Artavius to get out of the bathroom), Jose pointed out to me that there was a Scratch off Lotto ticket vending machine. Jokingly, I put in $1 and bought myself a ticket. I didn’t win anything, but it apparently looks like a lot of fun to Jose, because he bought some as well. All of them were duds. At this point, Artavius had come out of the bathroom and decided that he too would buy himself a ticket. No winners all around. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a crisp $20 bill and put it inside the machine. I received my 1 scratch off ticket and began to scratch it off. I revealed a $25 dollar prize.

“Awesome”, I thought to myself, “This more than pays for the ticket!”

I then began to finish scratching the rest off. Another $25 prize! And another! AND ANOTHER!! That’s right, I won $100.00 on a scratch off lotto ticket! Needless to say, I was quite pleased with myself. Artavius and Jose each, wanting to win a similar prize, began to buy $20′s worth of tickets themselves. Artavius wound up walking away a winner with a $27 dollar profit. Jose on the other hand, walked away in the red with a negative $4. We gathered up our winnings and hit the road again.

The few hours we spent in Texas was rather…odd. Quite boring as a matter of fact. The only difference between Oklahoma and Texas that I saw was that Texas had a few more rolling hills and several more Cows roaming the pastures. That’s about it. Oh, and we passed the “Biggest Cross in the Western Hemisphere!”. Sound too good to be true? Well it should, because it was. Contrary to the sign, it was NOT a religious and spiritual experience to last a lifetime. Honestly, I think the Cross/Cell Phone tower in Orlando FL is taller than this thing. Epic fail.

After crossing into New Mexico, we stopped at the Visitors Center for a bathroom break and some ”FREE COFFEE!!”. On our way out, I spotted a Billy The Kid cardboard Cut Out. Obviously, we HAD to get our Felix Cardboard Cut Out and take a picture next to him. Felix was a big hit in the Visitors Center. The ladies working there took pictures too and said that they would post them to their website and Facebook page. We gave them some 4 Guys and a MINI cards and were off again onto I-40.

It was a fairly un-exciting drive after that. We didn’t make very many turns and pretty much stayed on I-40 the entire time, with only a couple stops for gas and every now and then I’d hop onto Route 66 for poops and giggles, but other than that, it was pretty unexciting and uneventful.

Day 9

We arrived in Monument Valley around 3am Pacific Time. Being a National Park, everything was pitch black at that time of day and nothing was on except for the lights of “The View” hotel. We walked in, hoping to get some information on where the camp site was, but to no avail.

We then drove around for 30 mins hoping to run into the campsite. That didn’t happen, so we drove the car back up to the hotel parking lot and parked there. We slept in the car until day break. Worst. Sleep. Of. My. Life. The MINI is a very comfy car to drive, but for sleeping, not so much. Especially with it being full of camping gear. Though from what I’m hearing from the rest of the gang, they slept just fine. Perhaps it’s just the driver seat that isn’t good for sleeping. Which honesty makes a lot of sense. You wouldn’t want a bunch of people falling asleep while driving right?

Anyway, we waited until people started to show up and the sun began to rise so we could see where we were. The sunrise was absolutely beautiful. The golden sun rising in the baby blue sky over the red, orange and green colors that made up the Valley and rock formations were just breathtaking. I only wished that we could have stayed a little longer and taken in the view. But alas, we had work to do. Turns out, we had passed the campsite on several occasions the night before. But because everything was pitch black except for the half-moon and stars that sparkled across the night sky, we couldn’t see the entrance…or the several large camper trailers.

We set up our tent (the ONLY tent in the entire camping area mind you) and decided to get some breakfast. Jose and I went to the Hotel to get something to eat while Artavius sat out and visited the gift shop/museum at the visitors center. The breakfast was very good considering it was really the only good, full breakfast that both of us had had since before we left on the trip.

After eating, and making a couple of purchases from the gift shop, we decided to hike the Wild Cat trail, which took you into the Valley and around the West Mitten, a rock formation that looks like, a mitten. And yes, there is an East (or left) Mitten formation. The hike was amazing. From the Valley floor, you could really get a good perspective at just how big these things were, which also gave you a really great appreciation for how powerful the forces must have been to form them from within the Earth’s crust. It was simply awe-inspiring and will definitely not be forgotten by me for quite some time. The views from the floor were outstanding. Crystal clear blue sky allowed for a maximum viewing radius, allowing us to see each and every “Monument” in the Valley.

We got back to the tent around 1 or 2pm PST and all of us pretty much went to sleep as we were all tired out from the hike. We stayed in the Tent during the hot part of the day, and for really good reason too. There were very high winds during that part of the day, causing weird short sand storms to form and come sweeping across our campsite. Red rock dirt and dust got on EVERYTHING in the tent. Luckily we had bought a little brush and dirt pan a few days before.

Jose and I emerged from the tent around 6:30pm PST to await for the famous “Desert Sun Set” that you hear about on TV and such. Cameras in hand, we waited. And then….

Let me just say, that if you have yet to see the Sun set in the desert, you need to put that on your vacation list and just do it. It was one of the most beautiful and amazing experiences I’ve ever seen with my eyes. You always hear people saying that the desert sun set looks like an oil painting. They couldn’t be more right. The colors that both the sky and the rocks changed into were amazing, ranging from the softest baby blues to the most dramatic reds and yellows. The Monuments in Monument Valley made the view 100 times better. The contrast against the sky was just superb. It was well worth my very painful sunburn I had received on our hike.

We are all in the Hotel Lobby right now, posting these blogs and charging up our electronic devices. As I sit here typing this out, I can’t help but feel a little accomplished. Coming to Monument Valley and seeing everything here has always been a dream of mine and was one of the top things to do on my “Bucket List”. It just feels so good that I’m getting to do this, with my friends no less, and actually get to check things off my list before waiting for my last years of life to do everything that I wanted to do. I only hope that other people out there will get a chance to do the same as I. We only get one life, live it to the fullest. Work hard, and play 10 times harder. Life is short, drive fast.

We’ll be getting up early to see the sunrise tomorrow and will be heading out sometime in the afternoon. We’ll be heading to Bryce Canyon next on the recommendation from  a friend of mine. It sure has some stiff competition with Monument Valley, that’s for sure.

Days 6 & 7

DAY 6

Day 6 started early. A little too early if you ask me.

After posting the Day 5 blog, we attempted to leave and head back to the campsite to get things ready to be packed. Of course that didn’t happen because with the big wind storm the night before, it left a lot of the older trees even weaker than they were before. It left one tree smack dab in the middle of Highway 28, right in the middle of Fontana Lodge and our camping area. So to kill even more time, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the biker bar / gas store in front of Fontana Village.

I don’t know if it’s just being from Florida or if it’s North Carolina itself, but people seem to be a lot nicer and more genuine than they do in other places I’ve been. You can’t even compare it to Florida. Artavius swears it’s all of the old, grumpy retirees living in Florida. Whatever it is, I just wish that other places around could be more like North Carolina. They have some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet there.

So after driving the MINI underneath the fallen down tree (and JUST making it mind you), we went back to the campsite and did what little packing we could do. It was a nice night outside and everything seemed nice and quiet. It started to drizzle a little, so we packed up our stuff and headed inside the tent for the night.

What happened next can only be described as an apocalyptic-sized torrential down pour the likes that could have extinguished the fires of hell. Or at least that’s what it sounded like. The noise the rain makes on the tent kind of makes it more dramatic than it really is. It still wasn’t a pleasant little shower though. As it turns out, there is a reason that the tent came with a little bottle of SEAM SEALER, because the people making damn tent apparently don’t seal them for you like one would assume. So all night long, the tent was dripping mentionable amounts of rain water into the sleeping area underneath the windows. It got so bad that Artavius actually moved his bed and sleeping bag over to the other side of the tent to keep dry.

This “rain storm from hell” kept all 3 of us awake throughout the night, completely screwing up our “waking-up-at-6-and-leaving-by-7am” plans. We didn’t end up leaving Fontana until around 9am, thus screwing up our “spend-the-night-in-a-Arkansas-campsite” plan because they would be closed before we could get there. To make a long story short, we decided to just drive straight through to Oklahoma and set up camp there in the morning.

Oh, and to make matters worse, my cell phone stopped working properly upon arriving in an area with an actual cell phone signal. So not only did we get off to a really late start, but we wasted a good 2 or 3 hours trying to get my phone fixed. I went to a Spring Store in Tennessee and they said they’d fix it, but it’d be about 45 minutes. I left the phone with them and the rest of us got lunch at the neighboring mall. Upon my return, the guy at the desk said that to fix the phone, I might lose all of my contacts and everything, and they didn’t want to do anything until they knew if I was okay with this or not. Obviously I wasn’t, so I took back the phone and went into a local coffee/book store in the mall to attempt backing up my phone. Then, all of a sudden, the phone started working again. Don’t you just love technology?

DAY 7

After driving all night and all day long (Artavius and I switching off when either got too tired), we finally arrived in Foss State Park Oklahoma around 9am. We set up the tent, paid the tent fee, and left in search of some civilization.

On our journey out to find some maps on Route 66 (and inadvertently actually driving a little bit of it), we found the National Historic Route 66 Museum. For only 5 bucks a pop, you can view a little museum they have set up there that includes things like old pieces of highway from RT66 as well as vintage cars from its hay day, among plenty of other things. Well worth the 5 bucks. I quite enjoyed it myself. Oh, and I did find and buy a road map on Route 66. And a new RT 66 Oklahoma Shot Glass to add to my collection of Shot Glasses!

After visiting the museum and getting something to eat, we headed back to the camp site and took showers and relaxed. In fact, as I’m typing this update in MS Word, Jose and Artavius and fast asleep in the tent…and it’s only 8:21 EST (7:21 Central).

I’ve come to this conclusion about Oklahoma in my short time span here; It’s a very pretty State with lots of rolling hills and plains, allowing the eye to see for miles upon miles around you. And that old song line that goes, “Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains…” is dead on. The breeze hasn’t stopped since we’ve gotten here. While this sounds great, there is absolutely nothing out here. When I say you can look out and see for miles, it’s because the only things blocking your view or a few handfuls of wind mill power plants. That’s it. And I can’t put my finger on it, but Oklahoma (or at least Foss and Elk City) give me a really weird uneasy feeling. I don’t know what it is about it, maybe the lack of life and buildings, or maybe it’s just a new topography and location to me. But either way, I’m not a huge fan. I can’t wait to get out of here in the morning and start heading towards Monument Valley. I actually still have to hammer out the route for that leg of the drive, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got things to do!

Road Trip Days 1-5 (MOTD8 in Review)

Well, internet connection and time seem to be kinda limited as of late. Hopefully there will be more chances to write in the coming weeks, but this will have to do for now. MINIs on the Dragon 2010 is over now, but our reservations aren’t up until tomorrow morning, so we are just kind of chilling out today in the lodge checking emails and posting blogs/pictures. To keep things somewhat organized in this particular post, I’m going to split it up by days.

DAY 1 of MOTD8

We arrived in Fontana roughly around 9am or so after leaving home around 10pm and driving straight through. We got lost only a couple of times on the way up, and I blame Google Maps for this. I’m not sure why I entrusted this first part of the journey to Google Maps, especially after last year’s poor performance, but I guess I wanted to give them a chance to redeem themselves. To make a long story short, they didn’t. In fact I’d say they messed up more than last year. I got the directions before we left the house and printed off the directions and map. After heading out and looking at the directions, to my horror, Google printed 2 out of the 6 pages blank. Granted, I should have checked this before hand, but honestly, Google? Really? To remedy this situation, Artavius and I broke out our phones in an attempt to use the GPS to help navigate our way. The Sprint Navigation didn’t want to work and thus, we had to use Google Maps Mobile…risky yes, but we were out of options…and I didn’t have the address or anything loaded into the Garmin Nuvi. So needless to say, we got lost. I dunno if I should blame Artavius for some “Lacking at Best” navigation or Google for providing vague directions. Either way, we eventually found our way and arrived right on time (I planned about an hour or 2 for being late).

We set up Camp relatively fast and everyone at the campsite was really helpful and friendly, offering us help and a seat around their fires. Apparently the MINI group that camps out here in Fontana are very friendly and community driven. Which is a LOT more than I can say for last year’s neighbors at the Cabins. I don’t think any of the people surrounding us said 2 words to us. But I digress.

We then left for Fontana Village to go to the general store to pick up some supplies, food and complete our registration for MINIs on the Dragon 8. Everything went really smooth and surprisingly well.

But, like all good things, they usually come to a halt. Really fast. Literally. After we set everything up and got things together, we had some time to kill before the Welcome Dinner, so I decided to make my first run on the Dragon. For those of you who don’t know, the Dragon is only open for 11 miles this year due to some rock slides that happened earlier in April. Therefore, there are a LOT more cops on the Dragon this year than before. We were following a group of Pontiac Solstices with a Red MINI behind us. We passed a cop towards the end of the run and the Pontiac’s pulled over to let me and the Red MINI pass. We had a good spirited run to the man-made end of the Dragon and then pulled off to stop for a little. After talking briefly with the Red MINI, we pulled out and got back on the Dragon to head back to camp. I couldn’t remember exactly where the cop was parked. Needless to say, he got me and pulled me over. The Red MINI, having a radar detector behind me, slowed down before getting to the cop, apparently trying to signal to me to slow down. His attempts were all in vain though, as the Cop clocked me at doing 53 MPH…in a 30 MPH zone. Damn. He ticketed me and we went on our way with broken spirits and kinda depressed. Obviously it was my fault, but I can’t but help feel a little mad at the other guys in the car as well. They both saw the cop we passed before, and according to them now, they knew where he was, and knew I was speeding, but didn’t tell me to slow down or remind me where he was for some reason. Whatever.

We went back to camp and then motored over to the Welcome Dinner. It wasn’t very fun with the downer that the ticket brought, which is unfortunate because it was a really fun day up until that point. We went back to the campsite, skipping the Cigar Sampling Salon that I was kinda looking forward to, and failed at making a campfire. We all just went to bed, putting an end to the Epic Fail that was the later half of that day.

DAY 2 of MOTD8

Day 2 started off a little bit better than it’s predecessor. We woke up and Jose and I went and started to make a fire to make up some breakfast before starting the day. We broke out the logs we bought at the General Store and gathered up some tinder to light. After some failed attempts, we finally got it to light (with a little help from our friendly neighbors) and through the grill and cast iron griddle thing we bought at Bass Pro Shop. Jose made us some scrambled Eggs and I threw some hot dog buns on the grill for some make-shift toast. Artavius got up and ate a Pop Tart followed by a Cigar. After breakfast, we kind of just hung around all day sort of relaxing, the speeding ticket still lingering in the back of my mind. We played some Frisbee and walked around the Vendor Alley at the village. I priced out some mods that I’ve been wanting for a while and went back to the Lodge to use the Public Computer to crunch some numbers to see if I would be able to afford them or not. Turns out that I could have, but I didn’t really want to blow all of my money that I saved for the trip on one modification to the car, so the TSW Lowering Springs that I wanted will have to wait. I justified waiting to do it (to make myself feel better) by telling myself that I still had my JCW Rear Wing to paint and install back home. I also called the Tennessee Traffic Department to find out how much the Speeding Ticket will be and where I need to mail the check. Turns out it will only cost me about $200, and if I take one of those Driver Safety Classes, it’ll only cost me about $100. Not particularly cheap, but a lot better than I was expecting it to be, so I was kind of relieved about that. The rest of that day was spent being lazy and hanging around by the village and the campsite, keeping the driving down to a minimum. Later that night, we went to the Dragon Bingo Night, which was a MINI event at Fontana. As the title of the event states, it was a Bingo night. None of us won, but it was a fun time with the guys and the MINIs people. They sure do know how to party and have a good time! BUBBA! ROLLLLLLLLLLS! (inside joke).

Day 3 of MOTD8

Day 3 was actually a good day. The night before, Jose and Artavius went over to go visit with the neighbors that had a big Bonfire going. I would have went myself, but in the morning, the 2010 Dragon Parade was going on, and I wanted to be sure that I was there for that. The Dragon Parade is a yearly event when all (or rather a large majority) of the MINIs gather around the base of the Fontana Dam and motor on the Dragon in a big group. It started at 8am and I wanted to be sure I got there on time to get a good spot in the line up. As luck would have it, I was kind of in the back of the group and was stuck behind a Pepper White MINI that drove the Dragon kind of slow and kept crossing the double yellow line, breaking an unspoken rule amongst MINI owners, nay, all Dragon Riders. I pulled off just before the end of the Dragon run and got some video of the rest of the group coming back. Good footage, AND I managed to drive back WITHOUT getting a ticket! Sounds like an easy thing to do, but if you know me, you know that I like the drive the car pretty hard. Luckily, the cop that was patrolling the Dragon had another MINI pulled over. Kind of mean I know, but better you than me. Best to let someone else take the heat for once. Maybe I’ll make up a “I got a Speeding Ticket on the Dragon” T-Shirt.

I arrived back to the camp to find Jose next to a roaring campfire with breakfast ready to go. Artavius was still asleep and Jose got to use his “Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey” line. We made Eggs and Bacon with Toast over the fire. It was very tasty. Artavius awoke again and ate a pop tart. Apparently he’s not a big breakfast eater.

We went back to the Vendor Alley and I picked up a new “Actual Size” sticker for the back window of my MINI (the dealership’s car wash dissolved mine away) and I also got an Objects in Mirror are Loosing” sticker for my driver’s side mirror. A decal I’ve always wanted. I was happy.

Later that night was the Karaoke Night which Artavius and Jose were especially looking forward to. They both got up and sang 3 songs together. The first one was Help by The Beatles, followed by Rocket Man by Elton John, and then Hotel California by The Eagles. They did a great job (especially considering their “competition”), and got some of the biggest and loudest applause from the MINI group. I sat out for the singing part and filmed the two of them. We went back to the tent site and hit the hay after a long day.

Day 4 of MOTD8

Day 4 of the Road Trip was a good day as well. I started off the morning by going out to search for a bath towel because me and my infinite wisdom totally forgot to bring one from home. I went to all the little gift shops and stores around Fontana to no avail. I eventually just went up to the front desk of the hotel lobby and told them I was out of towels in my room and I figured seeing as how I’m down here, I’d just grab one. It worked. It was a crappy towel (really thin and fraying), but it got the job done. I threw it out after I used it because I just couldn’t see myself using it again. It was kinda gross.

After I got back from my towel search, Jose and I spent a little time detailing and cleaning up the MINI. I worked on the outside and Jose worked on the inside. Artavius left on a long walk by himself and after I got back from my shower, Jose was still in the MINI doing some cleaning. We all got dressed and cleaned up and all piled into the MINI to go on the Ice Cream Run (a group drive down to Bryson City to get Ice Cream at a little Ice Cream Shop in the town). We all got in and I tried to turn on the car….but it wouldn’t go. I tried to turn the key again, but nothing happened. It was about this time that the car started to make a ticking noise and the needles started jumping. Upon closer inspection, the headlights were on. That’s right. Jose, while cleaning the inside of the MINI inadvertently left the car’s lights on and killed the battery. And of course, no one around the campsite had any jumper cables or anything, so we tried to Push-Start it (YAY for Standard Transmissions!). The Push Start didn’t work, so we pretty much accepted the fact that we had to walk up to Fontana and see if someone there could give us a ride into an actual town with an auto parts store to buy a new battery. On our way out, we passed by a Classic Mini owner who was camped out there with us. Seeing as how he was a Classic Mini owner, I figured he’d have a set of Jumper Cables (for those of you who don’t know, Classic Minis are ALWAYS breaking down). Jose had a similar thing in his head too, so we went and asked if he had any. Turns out that not only did he have a set of Jumper Cables, but a Battery Charger too! So we got back to the MINI and hooked it up to a neighbor’s MINI and got Stanley to turn over. After a brief cheer and letting Stanley sit for a little bit to make sure the battery was juiced up, we headed out, hoping that we weren’t too late for the Ice Cream Run.

We got to the Fontana Village around 11:20 (the schedule said it would start at 11:15). Luckily for us though, the Panoramic Picture was taking a lot longer than expected, so it delayed the start of the Ice Cream Run for a good 30 to 45 minutes! Awesome!!

With this new-found time, Artavius walked off to the general store to buy himself a drink and Jose and I walked around the Vendor Alley again. Determined to buy Stanley a Dragon present, I walked around and found a CG Lock from OutMotoring. I purchased that and walked across the Alley to the WayMotor Works Tent and found a new set of R53 Mirror Caps that he had for sale. My mirror caps (the black and white checkered ones) had turned yellow on top due to the wonderful and constant pelting of the Florida Sun and UV Rays. I’d have replaced them by now, but the MINI dealerships usually want around $200.00+ for a set. Way had them for $100! So I picked up a set of those too and installed them while waiting for the Ice Cream Run to begin.

The Ice Cream Run was good. While waiting for the line to die down a bit, I noticed I had a cell phone signal, so I made a call home to see how things were going and to tell everyone that I was still alive. Once inside, we ordered our ice cream. Artavius had a combination of Moose Tracks and EXTREME Moose Tracks. Jose had Strawberry and I had  a blended Vanilla Butterfinger ice cream. It was all very delicious. After getting our Ice Cream and discussing what we would do during a Zombie Apocalypse (ya had to be there), we went to Bo Jangles, a fried chicken franchise, for lunch. It was a little better than the last time I went there. Though I didn’t have the chicken this time. I had a Biscuit sandwich, which honestly worked out best for me because I thought the biscuits were the better part of the meal last time. The french fries were particularly good too.

After we got back from the Ice Cream Run, we went up to the front desk to ask if we could move our tent to a higher location. It was supposed to rain pretty hard this night. In fact, a good 75% of the MINI owners who were there left early expecting the rest of the weekend to be a complete wash out. So in anticipation of this seemingly catastrophic event, and upon the recommendation of our ex-camp site neighbors, we got our site moved to the very top of the camping area. We broke down the tent, gathered up all of our stuff, drove it to the new location, set it back up, and, of course, it didn’t rain one single drop all day or night. In fact, it hasn’t rained one bit yet as I’m typing this blog post. I kind of feel sorry for the MINI people who left early, but I’m also kinda pissed that we moved all our crap. Though to be honest, the people who moved in across from our old tent site look really creepy…like Deliverance kind of creepy, so perhaps it was for the best.

After moving all of our stuff (come to find out unnecessarily), we broke out the playing cards and played some Texas Hold’em and smoked some Cigars. We played with our spare change in lieu of poker chips. I was doing pretty well, and then I went to check what time it was, remembering that the Farewell dinner was supposed to start at 6:00pm. Of course when I checked my iPod for the time, we were already about 45 minutes late. We hurriedly changed and drove up to the Village hoping that there was still some food left (we paid 15 bucks for the food, and dammit, we were going to eat some damn food!). We walked in (with our Cardboard cut-out of Felix, and while we were starting on the left overs from the dinner course, everyone else was either eating their dessert or leaving. We all ate alone, with the exception of a couple of people who came by to wish us luck on the trip and to ask us who the cardboard cut out was and why we were carrying him around.

After finishing dinner, we went to take some picture with Felix in the General Store (they have a stuffed Black Bear that Felix liked last year that we took pictures with). After that, we headed back to the tent and played some more poker and just shot the bull for a while waiting for the Midnight Run on the Dragon  Hellbender, which I was particularly looking forward to. I set my alarm for 11:00pm which is when everyone was supposed to be meeting up for the run. Or so I thought at least. In the past years, everyone met up at 11 and left Fontana village around 11:30ish for the Midnight Run. I got to the village around 11:15pm and there was absolutely no one around except for a few people partying in the cabins. I was sad.

I got back to the tent and talked a little more with the guys until we all drifted asleep. That sleep didn’t last for long though, because that night, instead of rain, we had a huge wind storm that was blowing like mad all throughout the night. If we weren’t inside the tent, it probably would have blown away, even with everything tied down. It woke everyone up throughout the night several times and got quite annoying. Especially with all the trees around, it seemed to make the wind blow with a very ominous howl usually reserved for horror movies.

Day 5 of MOTD8

With all of the ruckus and noise of the wind bellowing throughout the night, we attempted to sleep in, but one of my MINI friends came by to drop of a Dragon Slayer Magnet that I wasn’t able to pick up all week before he left for home. That was around 8am, and there was no going back to sleep after that. After getting dressed, we drove over to Deals Gap to get breakfast at the little walk up joint they have there. It was really tasty, especially the pancakes!  After finishing the breakfast and watching the Weather Channel looking at all of the Tornado warnings and flooding that the surrounding areas have been experiencing, we left for the Lodge at Fontana. EVERYONE was gone it seemed. Vendor Alley was like a ghost town with only empty tents which were once filled with MINI parts, accessories and fanatics that make this Family of MINI and Mini Owners so awesome. The cabins were deserted with only a few stragglers left getting ready for their departures.

We went up to the Lobby area to use the WiFi there to send-off messages and update our Facebook pages and Emails. I hammered out the next part of our route on the AAA website (AAA TripTicks), hoping that these directions wont fail us like the Google Maps one did on our way up. It’s been a few hours now, of which the past 2 have been used to write this blog. And 3 cups of complimentary coffee and several spell checks later, I’m happy to say that I’m done writing for today. Hopefully now I’ll be able to post a little more often and avoid having to do this long elaborate posts recapping 5 days worth of content.

Be sure to keep checking out our Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/4GuysandaMINI) for pictures and updates. I’ve decided to wait to edit the video blogs until I get back home. I don’t have the time or the resources available to edit all of them, but we are still making them, so keep an eye out when we get back for those.

Today is the day!

It’s been a long time coming. A long time in the works. It’s been discussed in hushed tones across the land by millions of people. Okay, I may be exaggerating about the hushed tones part, but regardless, TODAY IS THE DAY!!

That’s right. Today is the day that we leave on for the 2010 4 Guys and a MINI Road Trip!!

The planning and pre-road trip task completion has been particularly hard, but I feel that it will all pay off soon enough.

We’ll be leaving tonight around 9pm (but more realistically 10pm) after I’m finished with my Algebra Final.

It’s been crazy lately. Especially the last few days. Running around and getting everything together has been exhausting, but exciting and some-what rewarding at the same time. My MINI (Stanley) was in the shop for the past 2 weeks getting fixed, so being without my car has made things kind of hard to accomplish. Sure the dealership gave me a loaner, but not being able to do any prep work on MY car has been kind of a drag. But I have him back now, so I’m trying to run around and get everything done.

We decided NOT to go with a Road Atlas this time due to the complete and utter confusion that Artavius and I experienced when we opened one in the store. Instead, we will be using Google Maps (Sponsor Us please!) and my Garmin Nuvi (also Sponsor Us please!!) for navigation and directions.

All of the camping supplies have been purchased and are awaiting to be packed in the car. We got ourselves a huge tent (which we nicknamed “Big Ass Tent”) along with some other camping essentials from Bass Pro Shop (Sponsor Us please!!) and Wal-Mart (Sponsor Us please!!!).

I still have a bunch of stuff to finish on my To-Do list.And blogging about it isn’t on the list…or getting anything else done at the moment. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to leave blog writing for tomorrow when we arrive at Fontana for the 2010 MINIs on the Dragon in North Carolina. See ya there!

Are you ready?

The 2010 Road Trip is only 39 Days away, and if I get any more excited I’ll poop myself. Seriously.

This year’s Road Trip has required some very careful planning on my part. Rather than just plugging in relative’s addresses into the GPS and driving, some precise calculations had to be made and locations had to be determined. I just hope everything goes smoothly.

This year, instead of spending a boat load of money on a cabin at Fontana and mooching off of our relative’s, we are camping. That’s right, old school camping, like in a tent and everything. Apparently campsites are hella cheap, especially on National Park grounds, which is where the majority of our trip will be spent on this year.

For those that aren’t aware yet, the Trip this year is going to be epic. Ten times more epic than last year’s Trip. Here is a quick run down of where we are going this year:

• Fontana, North Carolina (2010 MINIs on the Dragon!)
• Foss State Park, Oklahoma
• Blue Water Lake State Park, New Mexico
• Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah
• Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
• Grand Canyon (North & South Rims), Arizona
• Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
• San Antonio, Texas
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Clermont, Florida (Home Sweet Home)

So as you can tell, I’ve had my hands full going through all of the websites and maps and such looking for the best route and the best places to stay and how long to stay at each location, and how to break up the driving, etc. etc. Planning a Road Trip this epic is no easy task, let me tell you.

Of course we will be traveling on the Mother Road, Route 66, for a good part of the journey. I mean, with a trip like this out West, how could you not? Unfortunately though, Route 66 is no longer on any up-to-date maps or Google for that matter. No GPS, nothing. So I’ve been thinking of honestly just sort of going super old school and getting one of those big Road Atlas’s and letting the guy sitting shotgun play Navigator. Of course we’ll have the GPS with us as a back up incase we get really lost, but I think we will be able to manage. It’ll make for an even more rewarding experience, am I right? Of course I am. I’ll let the other guys fight it out to determine who will be the Chewie to my Han Solo.

The Road Trip is going to be awesome. And I’m really glad that you all reading this get to be a part of it.

~Marc

Stand Up NY!

Well, we are in NYC and personally, I’m loving every second in the city! Rush hour, though annoying, was even some-what enjoyable…not really. lol

The first day we hung out around Time Square and walked around. We went through the M&Ms world, Hershey World store, and the GIANT Toys R Us store. We even made a stop at Nintendo World (after getting a little lost in Time Square…haha). In Toys R Us, Jose and myself bought some little RC Helicopters. We’ve been flying them non-stop since we got them in my Aunt’s house. They are AWESOME!!!

The second day, we hung out around Central Park. That was cool. I never really walked around Central Park (or at least I can’t remember). After Central Park (and some awesome pictures!), we  went on a hunt for some Chinese Food. Aparently, there aren’t very many off of Broadway. So we settled for some pizza off of Broadway. Big mistake. We went to Ray’s Pizza. Supposedly it’s great pizza. NOT! I don’t even think it was run by Italians. The slices were huge, which is cool, but when it’s a big slice of nasty pizza, not so much. I suppose we’ll have to go to Brooklyn for some real pizza. Jose got a hot dog from a hot dog cart yesterday in Central Park, but it honestly was store bought hot dogs boiled. Not the best or as good as the other hot dogs in the actual heart of the city.

After we finished eating nasty pizza, we got some Mr. Softee (ice cream truck chain in NYC). That was kinda cool. Not really unique ice cream, but whatever.

Then, after passing a bunch of people yelling, “It’s too early to go home!” “Go to the show and get drunk as a Motha F***a!”, I said, “Hey! Why don’t we go to one of those things! Haha” We eventually did wind up buying tickets to a comedy show at a place called, Stand Up NY off of 78th street. The show was HILARIOUS! About 6 or 7 comedians for a low price of $25 ($10 for the ticket, $15 drink minimum). The show was in a really dinky looking place, but the show was really great. We took a cab to the show and walked back to the MINI on 66th and Central Park West. We then drove home via the GW Bridge and the Palisades Parkway, getting home around 2am.

An awesome ending to an awesome day!

All show and now some GO!

I got my 15% Alta pulley installed today, and I have to say, I am really happy with the results!! The car just feels right now. The gears are quite evenly powered now and have a little bit more range. I’m also able to pull more power from lower RPMs! Being on the dragon and twisty roads though make it tough to truly test. I’ll have 10 hours of testing time however when we are driving from here to DC though.

I’m going to miss Fontana. I really love it out here. Especially during MOTD (MINIs on the Dragon). Meeting up and talking with old friends and hanging around these cool little cars is just paradise to me.

We went on an Ice Cream run today with some other MINI people today. It was pretty cool. I had Moose Tracks in a sugar cone.

Later on after the welcome dinner, Artavius and I went to the Midnight on the Dragon event. It was a blast! I finally was able to use my light bar for a real practicle purpose!! Spirits where high right up until we passed a fellow MINI who, on his way back from “Darkness on the Dragon” (an earlier version of Midnight on the Dragon), went off the road and into the trees. It sucks because it was a MINI belonging to one of the vendors at MOTD, the MINI FINI cooper. A word to the wise, never drive out of your limits, focus on the road, always looking ahead, and don’t hit the brakes on a turn, epecially in a FWD car.

Other than that hiccup, everything else went great! Like I said, it sucks that tonight is our last night here, but we are going to DC after this and then onto NYC, the highlight of the trip.

Later!

~Marc