The time was 11.50am, and I'm thinking to myself, "How am I going to do this. I need to sneak out the back way, that way the boss won't see me". I had put it in our 'sys_calender' that I would be leaving early today at 12.30pm, but my circumstances changed when I got the word from DiD, "The convoy is on." We had planned to meet at the Winchell's Donuts on my street at 12.30pm and proceed to Vegas from there. Man I havent even packed yet, this is going to be tricky.

"I know, I'll make it look like I'm going to lunch", I thought to myself and merged in with the 12.00pm lunch crowd who were casually walking down the hall towards the salad bar, my yahoo directions and girlscout do-sie-dos in hand. Happy Friday boss.

The wait at the Winchells was brief, just like my half-assed pack job. All I needed was a toothbrush anyway. If I need anything else in Vegas, I’ll just buy it. And here comes DiD, with a smooth Dark Silver Cooper S, white roof, but no flight leader stripes…. I guess I’m leading the convoy.

It’s the first time we’ve met, but I feel I already know him (Disciplinary emails can do that to a man). I give him the mission briefing and option to fill up now or cry later, but we’re both good, and it’s off to the 405 for us.

California has a lot of bad drivers, most of which can be found on I-15, Northbound. And DiD and I found a few. Evolution gave me a set of eyes in the back of my head the day I picked up my Cooper S. You learn to avoid the clowns in front of you, and the ones behind you when you drive a car you love. I could see that DiD was also blessed with MINI evolution, because he did a good job of avoiding pickup trucks behind him with tractor tires that can’t seem to stop even if their lives depended on it. DiD is also a great wingman, sticking to me like glue even on the tight lane changes I did not expect him to follow.

The weather on this trip was not too kind. We had a steady fall of rain until Barstow…. where it started to hail. Yes. Hail on my dear MINI. TOK TOK TOK, was what it sounded like, “What the phark is that sound”, I said to Jen, my navigator. Those are big bloody raindrops. So big that they bouncing off the road. By now I had slowed right down because cars were pulling off the road, under an overpass, then when I realised what the big rain drops were, I was like, hell no, and floored it the hell out of there. Very fortunately for me the hail didn’t last too much longer, nor did it damage my Camel. Thank you Lord.

We got to Vegas around 5.15pm, rush hour traffic had just started, but not too bad compared to L.A. traffic. After a 15 minute nap at my hotel we got ready and then headed off to the AMVIV dinner at Hoffbraurs, a german style restaurant.

The c3 club did a great job, despite the long buffet line and hard to find seating for late comers like me. Apparently we shared the room with some not so friendly “This table is reserved” people, who took up about 30% of the room. Wouldn’t it be nice to wrap them up in their blue and white checkered table clothes, and bury them in the desert. No no Matty, Las Vegas isn’t like that anymore.

Oh look, there’s an empty chair, lets sit there. The big guy sitting on the end didn’t seem too pleased about that, because he kept very still and stared at his plate, holding his knife and fork, as I pulled the chair out next to him. The big guy had his little name tag on too, Edmund Dunn it read. Oooops, poor Edmund doesn’t look too pleased about food neighbours I thought, well as long as he doesn’t eat me with a side of saurkraut he’ll do just fine. Turns out the poor fella didn’t like crowds, but that’s ok because we re-assured him that neither do we, then we all got along fine. Edmund I still have your paper MINI, come and pick it up in Los Angeles any time, brother.

The food was good, the beer was better. I’ve never drank out of a 34 ounce mug before. Good stuff. The prizes…… grrrrrr what can I say. Raffles arent fun when you don’t win, and that confounded club in the corner had lots of fun that night. Pretty much went home with all the cool prizes, I don’t remember which club it was. Probably Sin City, because they’re lucky like that. Come on, anyone who can survive in Vegas longer than a week has to be pretty lucky.

Another highlight during dinner was watching the video of Dominic facing the wall, with his hands up, and legs spread. I could almost hear the cop with the shotgun say “Don’t drop the soap tonight.” But alas, cops let ya go when you do a good job of reaching for the sky. Thanks for the laughs Dom.

It was about 11pm when we shuffled out of there. Those big girls started to look really pretty. (Not that there’s anything wrong with big – now I’m starting to sound like Randy Webb). The rain was pouring now, and the ¼ mile walk back to the all MINI carpark was a bit of a challenge.

Saturday morning, rise and shine cupcake, the RedRock run starts in 30 minutes and I don’t think they’re going to wait for slow pokes. Damn, I still needed to get gas. I ended up leaving 30 minutes late, but that’s ok, we’ll just catch up. A dark silver Cooper S starts to follow me on the 15, watch out for the typo though, because we need to merge RIGHT.

RedRock took my breath away. It was overcast with slight drizzel, the views were just amazing, I loved it. LOVED IT. Excellent run, and lots of fun.

..to be continued.

 

We got back from the Red Rock just in time for the start of the Boot and Bonnet show. There was an excellent selection of vendors there, with loads of goodies between them. My Camel was scheduled for a 3.30pm appointment with Randy Webb, for a 15% Pulley and Alta Cold Air Intake install. I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the Webb Motorsport corner because it really is amazing just to watch him do his stuff. His tech talk was great, his funny stories better – ask him about the cute car story.

“This is number 500”, said Randy pointing at my Camel, as I pulled the bonnet. Five hundredth pulley install for Mr. Randy Webb, I guess that makes him the most experienced MINI specialist on the planet. By now it was 5.15pm, a good 100 minutes late. Little did I know the upcoming evening’s events will be well worth the wait. “Looks like we’re going to miss the strip run Jen.” I was referring to the Glitter Gulch to the strip MINI run which was supposed to depart at 6.00pm.

The sounds of the MINIs starting up and getting into position was pretty sweet, I feel all cozy inside when surrounded by the whines of 200+ power steering motors, because I know I’m in good company. The distinctive exhaust notes are music to my ears also. It was just after 6pm and looking over the balcony the streets were lined with MINIs, and there was still a long line of MINIS snaking through from the very top of the 5 story parking lot.

I had brought my own parts for the install, which I had collected slowly over the last 6 months, one of which was a smooth ‘e.t.’ pulley. I preferred the e.t’s over the Alta’s because their logo looked better, and the pulley just looked better because of that. “No, I’m going to use this one.”, said Randy, showing me a shiny, polished, extremely smooth, no logo pulley. “I polished it just for you”, he said. Um, ok Randy. Something tells me he polishes all his pulleys.

I didn’t want to argue with the man, after all, he’s already got bits of my engine laying on the ground, and I am now at his mercy. He sharpees “#500 Randy Webb” onto the shiny pulley. I’ll put money on the fact that that just added 5 horsepower to it. Now I feel special.

It was about 7pm when Randy lowered the jacks. We let the engine run for a couple of minutes to let the #500 pulley get accustomed to it’s new home. “Jen, do you wanna come on the test drive?”, I asked my navigator who said yes enthusiastically. Unfortunately I did not share the same enthusiasm, for I had seen how Randy test drove the pulley’d cars earlier in the day.

“That light wasn’t on before was it?” said Randy pointing at my DSC light. I looked at him with a sarcastic look on my face. I was well aware of his little scare tactics. Even though I didn’t see him turn the DSC off, I knew he was capable of doing so with his mind. The 5mph ride was jovial, until we got to the first 90 degree turn of the parking lot……. The car hissed, whined and screeched around the concrete pole as his right foot floored the pedal. I had to grab my sunglasses from flying off my head and out the window. We gunned it up the ramp to about 50 mph, the wall got frightenly close as I thought to myself, “This is it Matty, we die tonight.” WE TOOK THAT 90 DEGREE CORNER AT 50 PHARKEEEN MILES PER HOUR. The car was still screeching, and I’m still praying, “Please don’t let there be anyone around the corner”. Everyone was still on the strip run, so we had a nice empty parking lot. I can assure you, Randy didn’t test drive the other cars like this. He either hates me or loves Camel. Oh no, another concrete wall. No poles though, just someone’s Cooper S. Man, it’s owners should consider themselves lucky for not witnessing how close we passed that MINI, Randy practically pointed Camels nose right at it, but we screeched and slid right around it, still screeching as the pedal hit the floor again, oh sheeeeeet, another wall, this time we doing about 70mph, and I’m thinking we’re not going to make it. The brakes on this car are literally a life saver. We HARD braked down to 50 then Randy pointed the car at the big concrete pole as we slid right around it, missing it by inches. Still screeching. Down the 2nd ramp we go, accelerating hard, screeching all the way, seatbelt tugs hard on my chest as we hit those beautiful brakes, still screeching. Through the little barriers, hard left turn, Randy is tearing it up, last corner, but no pole, just a light silver Cooper S, that owner should be thankful too, I wonder if they noticed that black tread mark next to their MINI the next day. It’s the final stretch! Larry, Mark Finn, M7 Randy and a few others were waiting at the finish line, where we schreeched from 50 – 0 in 1 and a half seconds. We had screeched from start to finish, with each accelerating, braking and sliding state. Now I know why I named this car after an aeroplane, because this thing bloody flies. I really had no idea the car was capable of doing low level aerobatics like that, and not only is Randy an exceptional engineer, he is an amazing driver and pilot. Jen and I were shaking when we got out of the car. I now have a new level of respect for my car. (Don’t try this stuff at home though.) That test drive was definitely the highlight of my weekend, and missing the strip run now seemed like a blessing, because we never would have been able to do that with people and other MINIs around. Cheers Randy!

I was exhausted by 10pm and decided to call it a night, so headed back to my hotel, which was located on the strip a few miles from the Palace Station. I wanted to be fresh for the Valley of Fire run the next morning and I didn’t want to be late again.

We checked out early, and headed for Paris for their breakfast buffet. Not too shabby. Looking at the clock, it was 8.45am when we left the restaurant and headed for the parking lot. 15 minutes until the pack leaves the palace station, which is 4 miles away, we should be fine. The long traffic lights on Tropicana Ave. made those 15 minutes disappear, and it took us just as long just to get to the freeway. Uh oh, looks like we might be late again, it’s 9.05am and I don’t know whether to head to palace station which was just off the freeway, or should I assume they’ve already left and catch up to them. Sahara Ave. exit is fast approaching and I still have not decided what I’m going to do. Oh wait!, look there they are… just past the freeway exit I could see the onramp with 2 rows of SO MANY MINIs just getting on the freeway. Excellent, talk about timing, how about a flyby. So I kept in the slow lane, whacked the Camel into 4th and my pedal to the metal caused the 1.6 supercharged powerplant to hiss and whine it’s way to the redline. The car is an absolute BEAST with this new intake and pulley. The difference is like night and day. Thanks again Randy!!! Zoomed low and fast for the flyby, passing the long line of MINIs who were still on the merging lanes. Zoomed past the semis and other MINIs that were starting to get into the fast lanes. Barrel Roll across the nose of Donovan’s white and maroon Cooper, which was leading the pack. Yikes, does the speedo read 100? Better throttle back, and fall in. The drive to the Valley of Fire was lovely, made even more so when I saw a 75mph speed limit sign. Never seen those before. Or was it 80? Cant remember now, but it was a beautiful sign nonetheless.


The Valley of Fire is beautiful. The road was fun. The state troopers were without a sense of humour, but that’s ok, we all stayed at the signed 25mph speed limit.White dome was great, although I think I was the only one who trekked the 1.5 mile loop, and I can safely say that the desert has less scorpions than hollywood had led me to believe. The afternoon was concluded by a slow drive past the Lake and back down to Vegas through the back way.

I had an awesome weekend. Probably the best I’ve ever had in Vegas. Many many thanks to the Sin City MINI Club and it’s members, and also to c3. You guys did an awesome job. Thanks again Randy for putting the wings on my Camel. AMVIV is the best and I’ll see you all again next year.

TALLY HO.

 

#500!!! What luck for you, camelpilot! Randy is awesome and so are your pix & wonderful report!


Clover

 

Great story and pixs!!! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us...

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven)
05' Cool Blue MCSC

 

Hey Camel, I was right next to you at the C3 dinner across from Edmond. Glad we could fit you in at our table.

Great story.

Chris

 

Nice write up
I felt like I was on that test drive with you

 

What a nice job, CamelPilot. Liked the pictures. Loved the writeup.

 

Very nice write ups!

Geez, you were right about me and that pickup truck. Traffic slowed and I checked my rearview mirror to see that the truck wasn't going to be able to stop in time. I dodged as far as I could to the right (without going into the lane next to me), and the truck (fortunately) followed my lead and dodged left. I wasn't sure if you saw that or not, but it definitely got my attention.

You have a lot of nice scenery in your photos, but my favorite is the #500 photo. Lucky guy. I was #2. :smile:

 

Great story Camelpilot!!! I was with Andrew and Donovan at the #1 spot leading that Glitter Gulch to the Strip pact. What a thrill, and probably about as dangerous as your test drive---lots of pissed off drivers (non MINI's, mostly SUV's cussing and driving wildly) once they passed our convoy!

 

I'm glad you all like it.

My walk in the desert while on the Valley of Fire made an impression on me, so I went out and bought the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid DVD, and am watching it right now.

Awesome movie, very thrilling. Man I love the desert. Better get back to the movie.

p.s. Chris, yeah I remember you, you had a white shirt on I think. The Arizona MINI club people are cooooooool.

 

Yeah, that was me. I was the one that built my own paper Mini since i didn't get a pre-fab one. I won the "most quirky" paper Mini award.

 

It was great to have an enthusiast like you for the 500th! I really enjoyed doing the work for you, even after the long day.


I wish I could have been a part of more of the drives, but it was still great being around all the MINIfolk! We really do have a great community .


Hope to see you all next year!

Randy

PS - All roads on the test drives were closed and drives were done by professional drivers. Do not try this in your housing community.

 

A shot of the Mule at the event - thanks to DiD!

 

I loved your quirky little MINI! I definitely lobbied heavily for you to get quirkiest! Tee hee! Not using the pattern, but creating your own, was so MINI! So "outside-the-lines!" I thought it was great fun!


Clover

 

Not a problem. It was nice to see the evolution of the car in the last 18 months. :smile:

 

I was one of the judges was your green???? LOL

 

Which one was "most quirky" one?

 

I don't see it in that shot, Toshi! CP used the backside of the trivia contest sheet, cut out his own Mini shape, and used a green crayon to draw the contours. It was CUTE!

Clover

 

Yup. That was my green handmade Mini. I didn't get an official entry so I drew one up in green crayon and cut it out. It was fun

 

Pardon me, AZMini! I thought that CamelPilot had made the "quirkiest" Mini winning entry! My apologies! I LOVED your little entry!


Clover

 

My paper MINI won for something, but I dont know what lol. Mine was the one with the camouflage and the airplane tail.

 

[size=3][font=Times New Roman]Your anecdote of your “after mod” driving experience in the concrete confines of a public parking garage slash mod shop is classic. I paid witness to the finish line spirited stop and when the dust settled all I saw was the Camel, it's Pilot and two wide eyed, white knuckled passengers in a state of shock. [/font][/size]

 

Yeah, that was cool too. You mentioned you rebuild spitfires right?

 

Here's my award winning paper MINI. I won for ugliest...which is funny because my husband and I were having our own contest to see who could make the stupidest/ugliest MINI. Mine is the one on the right with the magazine photos stuck all over it.

I won.

 

Thanks, and no prob on the miss-ID