My girlfriend and I just completed a 3,700 mile road trip from Charleston SC to San Francisco CA in my cooper s! I know what you are thinking…”That’s only 2,700 on a map, *******” however the trip went as follows


Charleston – Kansas City
Kansas City – Wall SD
Wall SD – Jackson WY
Jackson WY – to Idaho Falls ID
Idaho Falls – San Fran


Along the way we saw the Badland, Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, The Bonneville Salt Flats (only 120mph with two people and all our the stuff in the car ), and Finally the Golden Gate! I have as part of my car, mud from back county Yellowstone (Northeast corner to do some fly fishing), salt from the flats, and a much higher odometer.


[Man what a trip and a testament to the MINI….We never felt cramped, the car accelerated up serious grades without needing to downshift (even though I did for fun), the ride was smooth, fast, and quite! Proof of all this is the fact that my sweetie still speaks to me!



Now there is one less Charleston and on more Bay-Area MINI!

 

Welcom to Norcal. Sounds like you had a good trip.

 

Drove to the Dragon and back from PHX, AZ. MiniClo has me beat driving to the Dragon and back from San Diego, Ca

 

Yes. I've done two, and a third one is planned. When Wanda was a week old in April 2003, we went on a six-week 10,000+ mile solo cross-country roadtrip, which included going to the first MINI Meet at the Tail of the Dragon! I visited my internet MINI pals all across the country and it was FANTASTIC! My rough itinerary: Los Angeles to Bullhead City, Arizona to Santa Fe, New Mexico to Fort Collins, CO to Lincoln, NE to Booneville, MO to Birmingham, AL to Fort Walton Beach, FL to St. Petersburg, FL back to FWB back to Birmingham to the Dragon in Robbinsville, North Carolina to Leesburg, VA to Severna Park, MD back to Birmingham to FWB to Baton Rouge to Houston to Las Cruces to Los Angeles! Actually drove through 22 states!

Roadtrip #2: April 18 - May 30, 2004. Only drove about 8,000 miles this time. Was accompanied by YuccaPatrol from L.A. to Birmingham, AL, via Albuquerque, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Fort Smith, Memphis. I traveled down to FL to visit MINI friends there, then a bunch of us returned to the Dragon for MINI Meet #2, after which I stayed with friends in VA and MD. Back down to Birmingham, then hubby flew back to AL and rode/drove home with me. We visited MINI friends and saw New Orleans, Houston, and Albuquerque. It was a great trip.

The MINI is so road-worthy! I was able to stuff it full of plenty of clothes and supplies, and could actually see out the hatch window! LOL!

#3 will include the 3rd Annual MINIs on the Dragon event May 5-9, 2005! I hope you can make it, too! :smile:

Clover

 

Beat ya twice...and that was motoring from West Los Angeles to the Dragon and back.......LOL!!!

Clover

 

Congrats on your road trip! It's a blast doing it in the MINI. I'll be going to the Dragon next May from California, and that's going to be a blast!

I certainly can't top Clover, but I did put 4,500 miles on my 2003 MC just to bring it home from the dealer. LOL.

I flew to Memphis, TN and drove my new MINI back



This was the original itinerary, and we skipped Jackson and went directly to New Orleans and we ended up cutting off Washington/Oregon off the trip and went from Montana, through Idaho, to Nevada, and back to California. My wife was pregnant, and we were both tired of the cheesy motels by the 11th day. LOL

 

A few days after I got my MINI me and TWO friends drove from NY to ST Louis, stopping overnight in Columbus, OH, making a 'pitstop' at Indianapolis motor speedway, then from St Louis, drove to Knoxville, TN and stayed overnight, hoping to make a run through the Dragon, but there was a snow/ice storm so we figured it wasnt a good idea, so we just headed back up to Philly and stayed with a friend there then went home. I think it was about 2500 miles altogether. Three people, and a weeks worth of stuff for three people is a TIGHT fit!

 

My wife and I put somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 mi on in one week this August.. CT to Camden, Maine --> Prince Edward Island, Canada and back by way of Bar Harbor, Maine.. yeah it should have only been about 2000-2500 mi but we did a lot of extra motoring

We practically drove 8 hours without stopping and never felt uncomfortable or claustrophobic..

You can see all of the scenic pics I took of our MINI Here:

http://mug.ods.org/gallery/PEIMINI

 

Well, Today is 3 weeks we've had our little precious metal {get it...Solid Gold...GOLDIE}. She has a little over 3600 miles on her and is purring right along. We left on 9/7/04 on our "Road Trip" should have named it the "Whirlwind before Hurricane Ivan!" I think most of the road we traveled for the first few days has been destroyed by the old chap, but we blew through just in time.

We trotted out on Tuesday heading for Bunkie, LA; Baton Rouge, LA (MINI dealer); and New Orleans. That was on day one. The next day, we left for Pensacola, Florida making stops in Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi, MS, Bayou La Batre, Dauphin Island, AL. After 2 days there, we head out for the WORST leg of the trip to Savannah, GA. From Tallehassee all the way to Savannah, it RAINED!! Not tiny sprinkles, torrential downpours on construction ridden, swamp surrounded, back road, two-laned highways. I thought I was in hell. The rain continued for HOURS!!

We spent 2 great days exploring Savannah and Tyebee Island, then headed out for Atlanta. There is a Great 6 screen drive-in movie theater in Atlanta. Great for a MINI excursion!! We visited the Atlanta Underground and The World of Coke and ate at a fantastic Indian Restaurant in North Atlanta. We left after one night and headed home, stopping in Talladega for a few photo ops. Hope you enjoy our photo album. We had a great time and despite everyones amazement had a VERY comfortable trip!! GOLDIE and I have officially bonded!!

SO CHECK IT OUT
http://www.cooperspeed.com/gallery/...ls.php?album=84

 

I did 1500 miles in less than 24 hours, all by myself. Less than an hour and a half worth of stops in the 24 hours. That was my big trip. Not the most amount of miles total, but probably the most a body could handle by itself.

 

Jacksonville, FL to Los Angeles, CA in 5 days. Right around 2,500 miles. Mini was extremely stable on the highways, even when passed by tractor trailers. Spent $127 in premium fuel (last November). I averaged form 23 -41 mpg on the way.

 

San Diego to Seattle and back twice. Up the coast roads all the way, and the inland byways back down. The roads in Oregon are FANTASTIC!! Must do it again soon!

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

Hey, Rob! Next time you and Chris head up that way, maybe I can follow along in Miss Wanda!? If the schedules jive, wouldn't that be fun?

Clover

 

Clover:

What is this "dragon" whereof you speak -- er, write? Is it a good excuse for a mini roadtrip?

 

Sadly,This next trip is in the Sportwagen - Sean is tagging along as a dead weight, and it would be too hard to stuff 'im in the back of Brooksie. ;-) Next trip is hopefully is a MINI run! I'll let ya know!

BCNU,
Rob in Dago

 

The Tail of the Dragon, Rte, 129, runs through eastern North Carolina on the Tennessee border, in the Smoky Mountains of the Appalachians. It has 318 turns in 11.6 miles and is the ultimate road for MINIs!! And it has been the prime "excuse" for my fun roadtrips!

There is a forum dedicated to the big 3rd Annual MINIs on the Dragon Meet being planned for May 5-9, 2005, in the National Events forum right here on NAM! Here's the link:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...splay.php?f=86

Check it out, minims! I drive there all the way from Los Angeles, so NO excuses about it being far away! LOLOLOLOL!

Clover

 

THE definitive solo road trip, in my mind, is still OmToast's 10k mile odyssey from PA to CA and back. We all were glued to this forum following her itinerary in her daily messages "Tearing Up the Country."

Om and Clo should be elevated to the status of superstars of the NAM forum for their astronaut-like mileages.

 

SF to Bryce Canyon, Utah here. Almost ready for a cross country trip soon, maybe next year.

 

Miami to Williamsburg, VA back in October 2003. We did this trip in my wife's '02 Cooper CVT. We went thru seven states and the car simply loved the highway! 40 MPG and lots of fun in the Blue Ridge Parkway.

March 2004 we drove from Miami to Hilton Head Island, SC then again in the Cooper CVT.

June 2004, I took my MCS on its first roadtrip from Miami to Universal Studios in Orlando.

In all and all, around 12,000 miles in just roadtrips.

More coming up soon!:smile:

 

My longest trip in the MINI...

Nashville to Tampa, then to Orlando, then back to Tampa, then to Key West, then to the Dragon, then to Gatlinburg, then back to the Dragon, then finally to Nashville.

Car packed to the gills with cargo and two passengers, never a problem or a complaint about being cramped. (Though we did stop to mail un-needed gear home twice along the way.)

 

Well I got one lined up out here in Hawaii to bad its hard to have a road trip over 100 miles without going the same places twice.

 

qwvt2 - sounds like your road trip was a total blast...:smile: We've done many - all were a ton of fun and the MINI performed flawlessly.....

Chow!

Donna

 

_____________________-

Funniest post in this entire thread.
Strange that minihune hasn't mentioned this before.

 

Hee hee hee! You're right! I can picture him doing laps of the island!Vrooooom! Vrooooooom!

Clover

 

My longest road trip so far was not all that long--less than 1,000 miles RT from Sacto to Bishop California, on beautiful Rt. 395--but it included a run over the incredible Sonora Pass. Great MINI road!

More great trips to follow....

Clo--thanks for the dragon links. The run looks terrific, worth plannning and scheming for...