Here are the scores (sorry if I don't remember all of your names!):

I think that's everyone - 14 MINIs total. Wow. You guys rock!


From my side of the event, I think it was a success.

The morning started with us getting the site set up. With some help from Chris we set up camp and started the grill. I had a table set up with the roster and envelopes for everyone. I made a lame sign with an arrow pointing to our shelter, because we didn't use the same one as last year. This one was a little further into the woods and wasn't as easy to see from the parking lot. MINIs started to arrive shortly after 11. Pretty soon the lot was overrun by MINIs - and it was a great sight to see. We had one whole row full and about half a dozen others elsewhere. There was 1 topless MINI. Pretty much everyone was involved in the scavenger hunt, so I think there were 15 MINIs participating - nice!

The food was fantastic!! I was sad that I wasn't able to try everything, but I was soo full. There were fruit salads, wild rice salad, potato salad, cake, salsa, brownies...Ryan even brought cake (or brownies) with the 'sota MINIs logo on it in frosting - It was awesome!!

At about 1pm I got everyone under way with the explanation of what they were getting into. I grabbed licenses and sealed them in envelopes and went over the ground rules. Obey the laws, etc.... I had made envelopes for everyone with a sheet glued to the outside so they could keep track of their answers easily. The envelope would be used to house any items they picked up along the way, like, oh I don't know, a print out of the strike they had to bowl...or a receipt for a bracelet they had to buy...stuff like that. I had everyone's name printed on the envelope and then put them all up the path towards the parking lot, names down and had them run up the path and find their envelope. Basically a LeMan's start. It was fun to watch!

Once the envelopes were opened, the clues were revealed and everyone instantly was reading pirate-speak! Aaargh. I wrote all the clues in pirate-speak - mostly just for fun, but also hopefully to throw people off just a bit. I think it worked.

No one had to call for hints this year! I did get a call from a MINI that was overheating. They were able to continue driving and make it back okay. They'll be visiting Motorwerks very soon.

Tracy and I sat at a couple of the clues just to watch. It was a blast to see people try to figure out the clues or just drive right by 'em!

Around 4pm we headed over to the finish - Billabongs in Bloomington. Not too long someone came in and handed us their envelope. Job well done, as they had pretty much everything correct. This year I also had bonus points for finishing time, broken down to half-hours. So not only did you get points for correct answers, but for how long it took you to complete everything.

Soon other MINIs strolled in and the conversations began - "Where did you go first?" "We saw you at this spot, but you went the other way" "I thought of that, but I wasn't sure if that's what you meant!" "It was SOO hard to find a parking spot at the mall!!" you get the idea...esp. Jimmy!

Once everyone was in - well almost - I made the announcement of scores. Due to a couple discrepancies within the clues, we had to give credit for some answers that were different than ours. This changed the finish order for Ryan's group, as he was winning, but then tied for 2nd .

I was able to give away some prizes for the winners compliments of Out Motoring. They sent us a Boot Bag - a shifter boot cover with pockets for cell phones, change, etc. Some interior chrome pieces - a chrome ring for the pop holder between the seats and some chrome accents for the stripes on the steering wheel by the horn.

There was some misc. prizes from Motorwerks MINI - notable some German MINI stuff - a catalog and a viewfinder the way that only MINI could make a viewfinder - cool as ever! We also gave out some MINI Maverick card packs, also compliments of Motorwerks MINI. These were given out as a doorprizes via a drawing with ticket stubs, that sort of worked the way I wanted, but not quite - as I left the other half of the ticket at home. So I had people right their name on the ticket they did have.

All in all I think it was fun. I had so much fun putting it together and watching you guys run around and work it. I liked the length of it this year. It was shorter than last year. The winning team came in just over 3 hours. The majority of the other teams came in very close to 4 hours.

I forgot the finish list at home. I'll post it up tonight for you with point totals. I think this is the top three...

1st - Peter and Mindy Busch
2nd (tie) - Ryan and co.
2nd (tie) - The Martensons, with Oliver, their year and a half co-driver.

I forgot to mention that we had a LOT of new people there! I asked them to raise their hands afterwards in Billabongs and I think half or more of the room were made up of new people! That's awesome. Thanks for coming out.

I can't wait to see some of the pics from the BBQ and the MINIs in the lot. I should have a couple from the start of the event, with Ryan winning the sprint down the path.

Tell me your story of the day! What did you like, what didn't you like. Would you do this again? What would you change? Is there something you'd like to see added or taken away? I want to make this as much fun as possible for you next year.