Just wanted to share my excitement at bringing Samwise home today. I took a very long route home through the mountains (129 miles) so that we could get better acquainted - even though the dealer is only about 25 miles from my house. Sam has a Lightning Blue Body+Roof with black sport stripes which I think came out really well.

There was a mix-up in the order that showed the 16" star spoke wheels as well as the bridge spoke wheels I actually wanted (this was shown in my OL configuration too). Anyway, the wheels in these pictures are going to be replaced with bridge spokes next week.

Anyway, back to the 'cruise'... I enjoyed myself tremendously today and grew more and more confident with Sam's handling of the turns as the evening went on. Every now and then (going in tight uphill areas) I would have twinges of "S" envy when power wasn't there at low RPM's. I know that this is only a temporary twinge since I was being a "good girl" and keeping the RPM's below 4500 until the break-in period is over. When I can play around more to find the power-band I think Sam will be a great canyon carver.

In the Santa Cruz Mountains (Alba Rd).




Hwy 1.



Hwy 1


The Pacific Coast

At a lighthouse.


The red barn on Hwy 84


That's it for my first installment. I was bummed that there was alot of haziness/fog along the coast, so some of my favorite stops were a no-go for pictures today. It did make me really glad that I have the front and rear fog lights on Sam... at one point I was the last in a line of cars heading down a hill and worried if I'd be seen from behind.

 

Grats and nice pics. Now I'm gonna have to come up there when I take delivery of mine after seeing those nice views. Oh and I noticed we ordered from the same dealer, too.

 

Very nice! Congrats!!! Great looking car and very nice pics, especially the one with the lighthouse. I can't wait to order mine. It will be a similar spec to yours.

 

Thanks. I've had a good experience with MOMV. When are you "due"? I can give you the route information if you'd like... there are nearly endless motoring options off of 9, 17, 84, 35, Pescadero Road.... etc.

 

Those pics are stunning! Reminds me of our club's weekend in the coastal area

Samwise is a stout handsome young lad don't worry about S envy. Once the break in is done your Samwise will keep up with the S models in the canyons no doubt!

 

He is beautiful! Congrats!

I get mine Tuesday or Wednesday! Yahoo!!!

 

Very nice. I haven't been up through that area with my MCS yet, but a couple shots look familiar.

Let me know ahead of time if you are going to be at MINI of Mountian View on Monday morning so we can get the timing right. I'll drop my car off and a friend will pick me up. His next project is an elegant modern bench for the foot of the bed, and he needs to buy wood. So, we'll be shopping for Cocobolo and Maple.

 

Congrats again Emily!! Samwise looks great . It sounds like you had a fun time on your trip home.

We only have a few more from the Isolde that are still waiting on delivery. Oh, I have a question for you too. On your NAV unit with the voice activation, have you programmed in any FM presets yet? If you have, when you press the voice activation button and say "preset" followed by a number 1-12 does it take you to the corresponding FM preset?

When I try it, it takes my to the Satellite preset instead of the FM one. I know you don't have the OEM Sirius so it may work correctly for you (at least according to the Voice Command List at the back of the manual it should go to the FM preset not the Sat presets).

I'm wondering if it is misprint in the manual or if my voice activation is slightly off. I can get to the FM presets by saying "choose preset" then it prompts for the preset number.

I do have say again, I love those sports stripes on Samwise! I kind of wish I got the sport stripes instead of the regular ones.

I hope your having fun bonding with him .

 

Congratulations! All a foggy day does it give you another reason to get out and motor about. Enjoy!

 

word up samwise gamchee

 

Congrats and a great looking car!

 

Hey unixgal, I like your little hobbit! Congratulations on finally gettin him. What a fun first day you had!

 

'Well I'm back; he said.

 

Emily,

Great pics! Congrats... awesome scenery! Like I said before, 4 August is a great day!

 

Great looking MINI!!
congrats i almost got the body color roof on my MINI but decided to go black. i picked my MINI up friday afternoon and already put over 200 miles on it. of cours 117 of those miles is how far the dealership is from my home.

congrats again and enjoy it

 

Nice looking MINI! Congrats! You're going to love your car and we have some great roads! Our group is often seen "tearin up the twisties" in the SC mountians. Stop and say "hi" if you happen to see us!
And don't forget to wave!

 

Very nice, Emily!!

Welcome, Sam! The Lightning blue is beautiful - love, love, LOVE it!!

 

Congratulations Unixgal! Very cool- I like how you got out to the scenery immediately! I'll have to make the time to find our local venues and scenic drives all over again... with the cammie of course, Max hasn't had his photo shoot yet.

Have fun with Samwise!

 

Congrats! Very nice looking MINI, and a good name too!

 

WOW Unixgal, thanks for the great pics of Samwise.

I like your choice of Lightning Blue overall. I haven't seen too many LiB/LiB combos as most people seem to opt for the contrasting roof. Looks very nice and those sport stripes really set it off.

Impressive looking trip also. Ahh, a pairing made in heaven... A MINI and wonderful roads and scenery. Can life get any better?

Enjoy and may you and Samwise share many miles and smiles as you travel down the road. It's true... Adventures never end!

Motor On!

 

Emily,

samwise and the pictures, yummmm. I do like your choice of roads.

Great combo, it almost make me want to go order a new MINI in blue. Don't let scooter know about this little indescretion.

Enjoy your MC, it will only get better as the miles go by.

 

Wowzerz, Emily! You did it riiiiiiiiiiight....a beautiful MINI, and stunning California driving to bond with him!!

Those pics are only half the story. A camera doesn't do the MINI or the Cali coastline justice. What a terrific journey you and Samwise have embarked on!!!!

I'm soooooooooo happy for you! Have you finally been able to sleep yet?

 

excellent mini i like the sport stripes

 

Wooott! Beautiful car - beautiful pictures - beautiful trip home - what more could you ask for?? Congrats...

Donna

 

Hey everybody. Sam and I would like to say thanks for the complements and warm wishes.

I spent the morning with the NAV manual and sitting in Sam trying get to know his ins and outs better. Later in the day, I ended up bringing my odo up to 225 - so 221 miles in just over 24 hours - 90% of it up in the hills.

Today was even better than yesterday... I really started to "get" him better, learning his gearing and slowly turning up the pace in the corners. That go-kart feeling was ever present today and it was AWESOME.

Hey Mike, if WCM ever wants to venture up this way, I'm sure many of us up North could help set up a great route for you

Robin, I'll be sending you a PM in a little bit.

Gary, After my geek-bonding with Sam this morning, I've been able to confirm that the voice control is working pretty darn well. I could go between AM/FM/CD as well as changing tuner presets or cd track numbers. It is really cool, and a fun thing to show off to people. On the down side, it appears that my iPod setup isn't working right (I have heard of an update needed for it to work - I was hoping that the VDC installers would have done it). I'll be bringing this up with my MA tomorrow.

I am having a blast bonding with Sam, and I hope you and Demi have gotten better acquainted as weel.

Skuzzy, great point, and I took your advise this afternoon. Was a sort of misty day, but the driving was great (I have to reprogram myself that wet doesn't automatically mean stay home like it did with my motorcycle)

Hey Bob and others... I thought Samwise was a great name for a MINI, glad you guys agree.

Escape Pod - Hmm, canyon carving with other MINI's sounds like a blast. How often do you Maverick's meet up?

Don - Scooter won't hear a word of it from me


Tigs - Thanks a bunch and a big thank you for your support and humor during the horrible wait. I'm not planning on bailing out now that Sam has arrived, so I hope to continue contributing (or detracting from) to the SD Mike Support Unit.

Tigs is correct that the pictures don't even come close to capturing the beauty of the areas I've been showing Sam. I feel truly blessed (and pay the "convenience fee" of high living expenses) to live within 10 minutes of some beautiful country, with excellent twisty roads.

The Lightning blue color definitely changes photographic hues depending on the lighting conditions... bright natural light = deeper, brighter, and richer, while when overcast = more subdued, paler blue (similar to the color in the configuratior).

Thanks again for the comments and kudos... A mother feels good when people complements her children.