MINI Coopers have always been a part of our relationship. On our very first date I realized that if we became a couple, MINI’s were going to be a big part of our lives. I’d never been a huge car person… I liked cars and all….they get me places and they go fast… but I didn’t know anything beyond the basics about cars. Brian drove in MINI Rallyes… He did Auto Cross and Track Days… He was president of the MINI Club! If I was going to date this guy, I was going to have to accept MINI’s in my life….. hmmmm…
As our first date came to an end Brian walked me to my car (Big, Black, SUV)…. and we paused to look at his car…. and I called it “cute.” Then he didn’t call me for two whole days. UGH! Today he swears that he was just busy… that it wasn’t the “cute” comment at all….. I still wonder though…
We’ve been together for six years now and MINI’s are a huge part of our lives. They are like our little, adopted, British kids. We take the blue one to track and cross-country events… the little yellow one just likes to go on short trips around town and out for ice cream…. and our newest baby gets to go to the zoo and social events. I now have a bigger, black SUV so that I can take the blue kid to her track events out of state. Kids! Two legs or four wheels, they are all consuming!
Brian and I have been talking about going on the MINI Takes the States Rallye since our first date. MINI USA organizes a cross-country rallye with events at each evening’s stop. MINI’s from all over the US (and I’ve heard of a few coming in from overseas for the event) meet in different cities and travel from event to event. It’s a fun way to make new friends and see new places. MINI parents are just a fun group of people. MINI only hosts the event every two years and we weren’t able to go in 2010 or 2012…. But this year, especially since we just got the new Roadster, we decided to make this our summer trip.
We are going to meet the MINI’s in Albuquerque, NM and travel back with them to St Louis. I wish we had the time to take the whole trip… from one coast to the other… but not this year. We are going to take an extra few days and make a couple of stops along the way to Albuquerque. Our plan is to stay on old Route 66 for as long as possible. 
The trip is still over a month away, but we are already trying to plan how to:
- A.) pack 10 days of clothes and supplies in a 2 seat MINI Roadster
- B.) eat gluten-free and healthy on the road for 10 days
We plan to take a cooler and pack lunch meat and cheese slices for lunches… but we may not have a fridge at every hotel. I could probably survive off of pistachios, so we’ll have to get a big supply of those before we go. Breakfasts are my biggest concern though. Not all of our hotels offer breakfast and we don’t eat cereal anymore….. I wish we could take our Breakfast Bake, but I wouldn’t trust it in a cooler for that long! Anyone have ideas?
Follow along and we’ll post photos and fun places as we go!
Phoenix Rize Blog 