Welcome to North American Motoring, the North American MINI Community of owners and enthusiasts!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and photo galleries. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other MINI enthusiasts (PM), respond to polls, upload your own photo gallery and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact our support team.
You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, at no cost, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!
OK, here is a picture of the Porgy entering the Miraflores Lock (at the Pacific side of the Panama Canal).
Doesn't that just make your heart skip a beat? If you look close, you can see Twiggy looking out the window of her penthouse suite. This is the first trip the Porgy has made with a cargo on MINIs - I'll bet the captain told the canal workers to be careful and not scratch her new paint!
Now, I have to wait another week for Porgy to reach Port Hueneme near Los Angeles, then another week or more for her to go through the VDC and get trucked 1,000 miles to my dealer. And, there are no webcams for me to track the rest of the journey with! How will I survive?
Now, I have to wait another week for Porgy to reach Port Hueneme near Los Angeles, then another week or more for her to go through the VDC and get trucked 1,000 miles to my dealer. And, there are no webcams for me to track the rest of the journey with! How will I survive?
You could drive down and meet her half way!
__________________ MMC #582 07 Night Fire Red w/ Black MC
The sad part is the Porgy will be docking in Tacoma Washington after unloading at Los Angeles - Tacoma is where my MINI dealer is. But, there is no BMW/MINI VDC there.
Oh man.....someone's in rough shape...I'm currently mixing up a special batch of homemade, Canadian, triple rum & pineapple & coke & lime & white cream soda slurpees (all flavors in one keg!) to ease Ray through these last few moments of carbirth....
Not only the database dude...but also the bartender, voodoo witchdoctor, and anything else you really need!
__________________ 07 MC, NFR/B with stripes, Chrome int/ext, Premium package, Sports package, 17" crown-spokes, cloth/silver interior, driving lights, retro gas cap
carbirth.... loool
but it's exactly what it is.... by the way, when a MINI is built up (finishes her trip down the assembly line), when the motor is first switched on and she's driven away, a luminous sign goes up saying "A new MINI is born"... I swear it's a moving moment ! we all had tears in our eyes (yes, we're all crazy )
Good luck for your long wait, Ray...... and soon, soon Twiggy will be with you ! And we wanna see this wonderful moment !....
by the way when I read all this I guess I'm really lucky to live on the "good" side of the ocean ! I guess I'd be doing the same as Ray if I was in North America...
Yes, I'll admit I've got the MINI fever - bad. But, I'm not the strangest case. In our Week 34 Support Group, there are 13 people tracking their cars on four different ships. Today, five of the group members were excitedly watching the webcams as Porgy made her way across Panama - an 8-hour trip. And, only two of us had a MINI aboard! Here are a couple comments the people without cars aboard the Porgy wrote after I posted this...
Are we nuts or what? I never thought I would want to watch a ship cross the Isthmus like this!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DashHouston
Within the past few days, y'all have brought me back to childhood holiday memories. My baby brother got to open his presents first and I:
A) was SO excited for him and wished that every present he opened was one on his "list" and lived vicariously through him with every rip of wrapping paper on his gifts
B) just could not wait until it was my turn
I am SO there with all of you who are on the edge of your seats either waiting for the call from your MA or watching your ship so close to arrival.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Y2K Falcon
How do you think *I* feel? It's not even my ship. !
So, while I can laugh with all three of you as you laugh at me, I am enjoying every minute of this birthing process. And, before you accuse me of being totally off the deep end, don't forget we are all related - Nightfire Red in in our genes!
And soon, I will have Twiggy in my driveway and it will be party time!
Betty is so close she can spit on the plant, Ray still gets his car off the ship fairly rapidly. In Canada, they mail your MINI to you in pieces. You get 1 piece a month for 100 years!
The car was built in less than 1 month, but it took 3 months to get to me! CHALLENGE! Believe me Ray, we've all been through it and can relate quite well
__________________ 07 MC, NFR/B with stripes, Chrome int/ext, Premium package, Sports package, 17" crown-spokes, cloth/silver interior, driving lights, retro gas cap
You guys are great! This whole carbirth thing is as rough as you said it would be and having you here to hold my hand has made it all the more enjoyable. This is a great group of people (with obvious good taste - Nightfire Red rules!!!
Don't worry Ray, like we said, the hardest part is still coming up...Not only will we hold your hand through the process....we'll actually have to tie you down to prevent the crazies from taking over!
__________________ 07 MC, NFR/B with stripes, Chrome int/ext, Premium package, Sports package, 17" crown-spokes, cloth/silver interior, driving lights, retro gas cap
This is the first trip the Porgy has made with a cargo on MINIs - I'll bet the captain told the canal workers to be careful and not scratch her new paint! 
& Me
