Get ready for a great time in June 2010. The Vancouver Mini Club, Vancouver Mini Cooper Club and the Victoria Minis Car Club are co hosting MMW2010 in Penticton BC. Penticton is located in Southeast corner of BC in the Okanagan Vally, part of BC wine country, with fabulous highways and twisty back roads. For more info visit our website. http://www.minimeetwest.com Registration is now open.

The host hotel has been selected and is now taking reservations. Be sure to tell them you are park of the Mini Meet West 2010 event to get your discount.

Host Hotel - Penticton Lakeside Resort, Convention Centre & Casino
www.pentictonlakesideresort.com

See you there!

Mike Smith
MMW2010 Organizing Committee

 

My wife, my MINI and I plan on being there!

Penticton is so beautiful in the summer; dry and hot. See you there Mike!

Jeremy

 

While its a ways out yet, my wife and I plan on attending with our '03 R50. We love Penticton, and love the Lakeside Resort; its where we stay everytime.

Any idea on numbers expected? Any other attendees from Calgary that you (the organizers) are aware of?

See you all then.

Asif

 

We should have registration up on the website shortly and then we can start to see who is coming. With a great location like Penticton, close to the US, and great roads, we are expecting a good turnout!

 

Anyone know if some of the vendors will be attending for mechanical/tune services? Thinking, for example, will anyone be offering a pulley install on R53 models?

 

We are still signing up the vendors and sponsors, so until this list is finalized I will not know. If you have someone in mind let me know and we can contact them to see if they would sign up as a vendor to provide the service. Thanks for asking!

 

My plan is to be there... If I take my Classic (and did the math correctly) it should be a little over 5,000 miles round trip. Hmmm...

 

Great News! Looking forward to seeing you there. What is your clasic? I have drive from Victoria to EMW in Minnisota twice in my classic Mini a trip of about 4500miles and my Moke to San Fran and to LA for two other meets.. the trip is half the fun! I will probably take both my 2008 and my 1980 Minis to Penticton. Make sure to book your hotel as soon as you can. Registration should be open in the next few days.. will post here when the web site goes live. Payment can be by cheque, PayPal and Credit card to make things as easy as possible.

 

We have 5 MINI/Minis set for a caravan to Penticton from Northern CA. We will drive up the CA, OR, & WA coasts, then ferry across to Victoria, drive to Nanimo, ferry to Vancouver, then drive to Whistler, Kamloops, and arrive in Penticton on June 28. Already have hotel reservations. We have three MINIs and two Minis and more to join up. We figure a 15 day adventure.

 

We will have cars from Victoria leaving for Penticton on both the Sunday 27 and the Monday 28th, anyone wanted to join a direct trip up is welcome to come along. Let us know when you are in Victoria and the Victoria Minis Car Club can welcome you! Mike

 

I just reserved our rooms and was happy with the phenomenal rates! As an aside, those of you planning on driving down early, the hotel is already sold out for June 25th and June 26th, with other rooms filling up quickly. Call as soon as possible to reserve your rooms!

The hotel was completely renovated in 2008, so it will be an awesome venue in all.

Looking forward to the trip!

Asif

 

Thanks for the gracious welcome and hospitality. We are looking to spend 1 or 2 mights in Victoria, including a visit to Bushart's Gardens if possible. I also know that we could make it to Penticton in one day. We are looking to make our drive a bit of an adventure and sightseeing BUT may want to join you all for a big caravan to Penticton. What is your route from Victoria to Penticton? It would be a blast to have a huge caravan of Minis driving across British Columbia.

 

We are leaving on the Sunday (to setup the registration room in the hotel) and then a second group on Monday, both probably catching the 7:00 ferry to Swartz Bay.( very early ). The route would be fairly direct using highway 3 which is the windy route and more scenic and fun to drive than using the Coquaholla Highway.. let me know when you have plans sorted and we would love to have your group come meet the club members or join us on the drive.. Mike

 

Website is up and running and registration is open. Any questions let me know. www.minimeetwest.com

 

Registrations are coming in now.. keep those cards and letters coming! We have booked the local Penticton Raceway for our autocross and funkhana events. It's a 10-15 minute drive up a twisty mountain road to the track overlooking the city. .. and of course you get the twisty drive back down again!

 

Funkhana pages updated with info now.. www.minimeetwest.com

 

Our group has decided that we want to spend two nights in Victoria and include a visit to Butchart Gardens. I'd bet I'll be ready for a lazy day strolling around the harbour in Victoria, maybe afternoon Tea at the Empress Hotel. So Jesse & I might take the "northern route" through Whistler on the way back. Here is our updated route and would love to have any Minis join us along the way:

Mini Meets West caravan from SF Bay Area to Penticton BC
So far 4 MINIs and 2 Classic Minis

Depart Novato CA./Redding/Eureka June 23
Arrive: June 23 Brookings OR Best
Distance: Redding to Brookings 238 miles
Arrive: June 24 Newport OR Best
Distance: Brookings to Newport 204 miles
Arrive: June 25 Ocean Shores WA
Distance: Newport to Ocean Shores 236 miles
2-Night Stay in Victoria (June 26/27
Arrive: June 26 Victoria BC Canada
Distance: Ocean Shores to Victoria 137 miles via 101 north to Port Angeles and ferry to Victoria
June 27 Victoria 2nd night
Depart Victoria June 28 via ferry to Vancouver
From here it is 283 miles to Penticton – which works out to 6 hrs 46 minutes (however nearly 2 hrs is on the ferry) If we left at 9:00am from the hotel in Victoria we would arrive
Around 3:46pm in Penticton without any further stops. If we add in gas/potty & lunch we would arrive around 6:00pm

Although its nearly 283 miles from Victoria to Penticton we feel we can make that run. Part of that will be via ferry.

1st Ferry – Port Angeles to Victoria – June 26 afternoon
2nd Ferry – Swartz Bay – Tsawwassen Ferry (Victoria – Vancouver) – June 28 morning

Return is Open

 

Sounds like a great trip... anyone else planning the trip to come through Victoria or Vancouver on the way...

 

I would suggest that if you want to be sure of your arrival time in Penticton, you can reserve space on the ferry at Swartz Bay. It is a bit more money, buy you wont have to sit and wait if the ferry is full, although it is highly unlikely it would be on a Monday leaving the Island.

Also, when you get to Hope, you can choose either the Coquilalla to Merrit, then Merritt to Kelowna and then south to Pentiction. This is all freeway to just south of Kelowna, then a decent road by the lake down to Penticton.

A much nicer road for driving is from Hope to Princeton, then up to Penticton. Much more twisty and I think, pretty.

Get early to the Port Angele's ferry, if you miss it, it is a long wait for the next one.

When you are staying in Victoria, this is a nice hotel. A block from China town and 5 minutes to right downtown, which is pretty much where everything happens in Victoria. This is the hotel I always stay at when I am in Victoria. Ask for the top floor, parking lot side. They are the quietest rooms. The rates are decent.

http://www.travellersinn.com/inn_downtown.htm

Enjoy the trip. I was just down the Oregon coast last summer. It is one of my favorite drives.

 

Canadian Rocky,

Thanks for the input and suggestions. We do have the Port Angeles Ferry book for 5:15PM depature. We will get to Port Angeles well in advance of that. We plan to get our Minis in line then go take a walk around town.

We booked rooms at the Best Western Inner Harbour on Quebec St. which I understand is almost walking distance from the ferry terminal.

We have booked the 9:00am Swartz ferry on Monday AM that arrives at Tsawwassen terminal at 10:35am. I will look at both routes to get to Penticton. I prefer doing the "twisty" mountain route if possible.

Thanks again for your help

 

The ferry terminal that comes from Port Angeles is right in the inner harbor. Make sure you get down to the inner harbor at night to watch the jugglers, just don't be in the front row if you don't want to be in the show.

You will love the Empress, if you go for afternoon tea, you have to be dressed for it, at least I had to when I went. I got to stay at the Empress once for a week, it was the best hotel holiday I have ever had.

It was a good choice to book both ferry's, if you every have to wait for one it really sucks.

Now, if you want excellent food in Victoria, go to Pagliacci's on Broad street. They dont take reservations, so get there early if you can and stand in line. I think it is the best food in Victoria. Also, the Fan Tan Cafe in China Town. I don't miss either when i am on the Island.

When you are driving around the Olympic Peninsula, there is a little place on Lake Quinault called The Salmon House Resturant. It is worth the side trip for both the food and the view.

 

Canadian Rocky,

Thanks.. we have found the restaurants address' and phone numbers. Even checked ou the menus. We will definitely try these.

Not sure of the Salmon House as we will be passing by mid-morning. Couldn't see if it was open for lunch.

We plan to take a sea plane from the harbour to do some sightseeing as well.

Looking forward to meeting up with everyone.

Cheers,

Norm

 

Hotel has 50% of the blocked rooms booked. Registrations are coming in.. .
See you in Penticton!

• Host Hotel will be holding the block of rooms until April 28, 2010. After that date they will not guarantee the rate.
• Registration: Deadline May 10, 2010.
• After May 10th please add $25 late fee.
• After June 1st, no guarantee of meals or memorabilia.

 

We just booked our hotel, still a few rooms left. Show registration going out this weekend.

Are there any good winery's nearby?

 

There are wineries around every corner! The Penticton tourism office is also a wine tasting location, plus many vineyards on the local side roads and along the whole Okanogan valley. The problem will be deciding which ones to visit..Mike