Beautiful shot, Gromit. You're making me homesick for the Bay Area.

Do you ever get out to the East Bay -- Grizzly Peak, Bear Creek, Rd., Skyline...?

 

Not too much Red. Spend a lot of time in the foothills though.

Stopping in Sutter Creek, we found a parking space with good energy!

 

I finally get to see my mini! Did not get to take delivery yet because I'm away on a business trip. :( Can't wait until that first drive!

 

Alright Phil! See? It really does exist!

 

Woo-hoo! The day will come when we both get our MINIs! Granted, we'll be the last ones. Better late than never!

 

Add us to the list of "being the last ones".

We're not sure yet when it's going to arrive at the dealership, but we're flying to Salt Lake City on September 11th to drive it back to Washington State.

 

Ghod Mitch, I hope your Mini is actually there in time!

 

Mitchman, I will be heading to SLC from Washington state sometime next week, possibly as early as 8/30, to pick up my MCS at Mini of Murray. I can take a pic if you'd like....

 

GROMIT: Yeah, we're not too worried....but you never know. It's not the best date to be flying on (9-11)

QUEENOFWHATEVER: That would be SWEET! So have you got a firm delivery date from them yet? Who is your MA? Ours is Juan. What color, etc...are you getting? (it's good to meet someone who is doing the same thing we are....maybe we're not so crazy after all!)

 

Nope, no firm date yet. Grrrrr!!!!! But my husband has promised we will leave as soon as we know, after making the mistake one time of telling me we would need to wait for a weekend. HA! Guess my look told him that wasn't going to happen. CRAZY?!?! I think we are smart! Let's see, we could have waited ONE YEAR to get one from the dealer in state or take a little road trip to break in the car. Hey, I live on an island, it would have taken me years to put enough miles on it to break it in. LOL My MA is Dan. I am getting a HB/B with most everything as I let my 19 yo son pretty much pick out what he thought I needed. Figured I'm finally out of the "Soccer mom 3000's" and wanted to do it right.

 

What? You let your 19 year old son pick out all the options? I'm surprised you didn't end up with a GP! hehehe

Be sure and keep us updated. (I can't even get my MA to return my emails)

 

Well, to be honest, he has dreamed of a MCS for years and has done a ton of research on them so I figured I was in good hands. ;-)

I FINALLY heard from my MA! My car has arrived in SLC and will be ready for pick up Saturday morning. We will be flying there Friday evening so we can be on the dealer's doorstep when they open Saturday morning. LOL This will seriously be the longest week of my life. Msg me the spec's on your car or something so I will know which one is yours to take pics for you!

 

Queen, did your son recommend the JCW?

 

Absolutely! However, that was about the one and only thing I nixed. It was one option I was wise enough to realize he was choosing for what HE wanted, not what he thought I needed. This way I'm sure he won't want to drive it. HAHA

 

You're getting an MCS, He'll WANT to drive it!

 

Yeah, he is itching to get his hands on it. However there is a big difference between WANT to and GET to. He has his own car, hardly a MCS but that will give him something to save his money for.

 

Well, last week I realized that my mini is not, in fact, a boy. She is clearly a girl and needed a better name than Green Racer. So after much thought (and consultation with one of my best friends) I came up with...

Ivy

It fits particularly well, in my not so humble opinion.

So how are our west coast week 28ers? Everyone have their mini and working on the break in period?

Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks with Ivy and I'm at just over 800 miles. Considering my commute to work is only 6 miles, I think I'm doing pretty good.

 

Ivy? Or maybe Poison Ivy when she's being bad..... to other cars!

 

You know it!

 

I paid for Mary today, but I won't be picking her up until Tuesday. I'm jealous of all you PW28'ers who've have your MINIs for a month!

 

Nah, just two weeks!

 

It's killing me to know that she'll be ready just hours after I leave for HCR tomorrow. That sucks big time. I'm going to pick up my personalized plates tomorrow morning to have them ready Tuesday.

 

Ivy is perfect! So what tipped you off about her gender?

Btw, you were right--the torrid love affair has definitely begun. Logan is all man and all mine!

Before Logan, I really enjoyed my Integra and thought she was sexy and speedy, but enjoying is different than turning giddy every time you see your car knowing that it's yours, it's gorgeous, and you get to drive it. Going out to lunch with coworkers, or taking a trip with friends, I used drive only if no one else would volunteer--suddenly, I'm always the first to volunteer. Yum!

He's only gone about 650 miles so far, but I have a short commute and was sick in bed all last week...

 

Gromit is officially broken in. 1250 miles. Celebrated on a little known east bay road called Calaveras road. Does the phrase, "joyously throwing the car from corner to corner with wild abandon," bring any images to mind?

 

Huh. I had a whole long post responding to this and it disappeared. D'oh.

Long story short, Ivy revealed herself pretty much right from the start. She was clearly a pretty girl, polite, playful, not nearly mean enough to have 'racer' in her name. Coming up with the name was a process let me tell you.

I'm so close to 1250 that I can taste it. I can't wait.