This summer I took the whole month of July off from work. I had my annual 4th of July party and headed out on the road trip across the US the following morning. My friend, her daughter, my son and I left South East Kentucky (two miles from the VA border). We put the top down, put the luggage on the roof that was down, bungeed our two duffel bags on the back of the rear headrests and headed out.

I couldn’t fit the duffle bags in the back because I wasn’t taking a trip like that without my subwoofer.

The first place we were headed was Perkins, OK. It was a little over 1000 miles. At Perkins my son and I dropped off my friend Karen, and her daughter Syd. We crashed out and then my son and I headed for Tacoma the following morning which is 1990 mile from Perkins. We went up through Kansas into Denver. Then up into Wyoming and across into Idaho and then into Washington. The drive from the North Western section of Wyoming through the top of Idaho was probably the prettiest. We went through the pass. We didn’t encounter any rain on the trip there thank goodness. Especially on the way to Okalahoma, because putting the two duffel bags that were bungeed to the back into the vehicle left NO room for the two kids.

When we got to Washington we stayed with my sister in Puyallup. We went to Ruston Way, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Mount Rainier, and spent time at our cabin in, Ashford Washington

Most people thought I was crazy, but I had this brand new kick A%& convertible, there was no way I was going to fly and not have it when I got to Tacoma, which is where my family is and where I grew up. I wanted to show it off. We spent two weeks there and headed back. We made it back in three days so the trip back was really crazy. We did stop at Bobs Rock Museum in Bliss, Idaho. That was a neat little shop. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the gentleman that owns it is really something. He has a head for history too. He had some really neat unusual stuff, and it was priced very well too. That was important because I was running low on funds after all the partying with my nieces in Tacoma. We spent a good hour in there looking around and talking to the owner.

We made it there and back with no tickets. I have lots of pictures that I can post later. I have some beautiful photos of the trip.

Cindy Callinsky

 

Where in SE KY? I have family in Harlan county and have had our MINI there many times and have never seen another. We definately get a lot of looks when we go to town.

 

I actually live in Letcher county. I think we may be next door to each other. I live about three miles from the SW Virginia. I work in Virginia. The houses are much cheaper over here (on the Kentucky side). The are about half the cost.

I haven't seen your Mini. I have seen three since they came out. One was the light pearl blue hard top. The most recent one that I have seen was a red convertible. I did see a silver convertible once.

Isn't Harlan county going towards George town KY?

I usually drive around Wise, VA more than I drive around Kentucky. I am more familiar with the area.

 

Harlan Co. is the next county south of Letcher. We go to Cumberland on 119 to 160 over to Big Stone Gap. There are some good roads over that way. We go to Pineville, down to Middlesboro and take 25E south when we head to Gatlinburg. You could spend days just motoring and not be on the same roads twice. It is a great unknown area to most so the roads only seem to have the locals on them.

I will have to let you know next time we are headed down. We go every so often as I have family in Totz. It would be nice to see another MINI. Just think of the looks two would get!!

 

I'm from Clay county. Sounds like an awesome trip. I've always wanted to go out west

 

That is soo funny. We are all pretty close. We should have a little Mini rally. That would be cool. Big Stone Gap is really close to me. I work in Norton, Virginia. I dated a guy that lived in Big Stone a few years back. He lived by the hospital.

Is Clay County in West Virginia? I have only been there once.

 

The Clay County you are in must be in Kentucky. You said Manchester.

 

I grew up in Florida but spent many summers in Leslie County. I'll be driving to Wildie (Rockcastle County) in the spring to visit a cousin - the Redbuds will be in bloom. It's a striking time of year.

 

That only looks to be about four counties to the north west of where I am at. Not far at all. We all need to plan a Rally.We should come up with some theme. Something that we could do as a fund raiser maybe. That would ber really neat.

 

My parents live in Johnson Co. KY and when we take the MINI to visit, we sure get a lot of looks. I actually saw another MINI on US 23 south of Louisa, KY on our last trip. (We were making our way from Charleston, WV after the MTTS Indy to Charleston leg to Paintsville, KY.)

There are some fun roads in eastern KY, and there's some gorgeous scenery. If anyone were to ever organize a drive down there, the Cute and I would travel for it.

KY to Washington would be quite a drive! But how can you not enjoy a trip in a MINI?