Hi all,
As mentioned in my introductory thread in 1st Gear, I was going to write up a quick trip report for you all with some pics, so here goes!!

Part 1:

My girlfriend and I had been looking for a nice MINI for quite some time and as the search progressed, the idea developed to maybe look a little further outside of our direct neighborhood for something to suit our needs and taste. By doing so, we would get a nice little trip out of it, see a bit more of this great country (I'm from Holland originally and other than East/West/Gulf Coast, hadn't seen much in between..) and get to know the car inside and out straight away as we're both new to MINI's and she's new to driving a stick.

Anyway, keeping a close eye on the classifieds here, it wasn't long before fellow member MuShadd posted up his '04 MCS, 64,XXX miles and with the upgrades I was looking for (unfortunately, not the level of cuteness my girlfriend was looking for but we're working on that ). After some back and forth e-mailing, lots of pics and even some YouTube videos with a "virtual tour" of the car ( ), we sealed the deal and started planning the trip.

Seeing how MuShadd lives in West Virginia, we got a bit more than we bargained for when we said we'd look elsewhere but we proceeded undeterred.. Luckily for us, Melissa is a flight attendant so we fly for practically nothing and made it on a flight to Cincinatti, if only by the skin of our teeth. Thomas (MuShadd) and his girlfriend met us there and we encountered the first problem there and then regarding payment. Not wanting to take that much cash with me and having had Labor Day before so not being able to get a certified check out, I had to visit the Wells Fargo for a withdrawal.. Not such a big issue, one would assume, but lo and behold the nearest WF is in the beautiful town of Rushville, Indiana!! Thomas was nice enough to drive us out there with his girlfriend and Melissa following behind so we made it there and to the bank before closing time... All done, paperwork and finances squared away, let's Motor!!

The route we planned was fairly straightforward with some scenery taken into account as well as a visit to some of Melissa's family in Des Moines, below is the route roughly mapped out:


So up north we went, of course it wasn't 3 minutes outside of Rushville when a Sheriff's car appears out of nowhere and starts to tail us for a bit Not sure if this was because of the cardboard tag we were sporting or because I felt the uncontrollable urge to "test" our new addition to the family as soon as we passed the "Thanks for visiting Rushville"-sign, but either way he turned around after about 5 minutes of causing some severe cracks in our otherwise rather strong relationship foundation

Back on the freeway, we made some good progress and nearing the end of highway 65, we started looking for a place to stay the night and rest up. I opted for Portage, IN as it seemed to be a quaint little town on the side of the lake however Melissa preferred Gary, IN as that was more in line with the direction we were eventually heading. So Gary it was, we left the freeway, got to the edge of town and learned it was the hometown of Michael Jackson (RIP) so that looked promising, must be a tourist attraction, right? Another couple of blocks in, neither of us felt that confident or comfortable anymore (it was around 10 PM by now) so we U-turned it and went back on the road... We ended up in the quieter Tinley Park for the night and had a looonngg night of sleep to prepare for the next day!!

The next day saw some running errands before making it out on the road. We had to stock up on munchies, lots of water, some stuff to take care of the internals of our new friend if needed and a new, fairly innovative solution to our cardboard tag. The Sheriff car had freaked me out a little and I wasn't comfortable traveling another 2500 miles with it, so I searched my computer for a nice pic of the back of the MINI that Thomas had sent earlier and, once I found one, enlarged it, cropped out the tag, enlarged it again and printed off a couple of copies at the local Staples (where the attendant gave me some suspicious looks ). I then glued this to the cardboard piece and stuck it behind the tag cover!! I was quite impressed with my work and it holds up even as I'm writing this..

Once we were back in "legal" mode, we made our way back on the 80 West and carried on the whole day into Iowa and eventually Des Moines. Having never been to the Midwest, I was quite intrigued with the little towns, endless cornfields, windmills and trucks carrying windmills-to-be:


After about a 100 miles of the same though, I was ready for a change of scenery, unfortunately that wasn't in the books until we hit South Dakota.. Regardless, interesting part of the trip and undoubtedly some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered!!

 

Part 2: After spending the night at Melissa's family's horse farm (great fun and again, super-friendly people!!), we were back on the road bright and early-ish after a good, hearty Country Breakfast and we had the longest day of the trip ahead of us. From Des Moines up north to South Dakota and join the 90 West all the way across South Dakota for an overnight in Rapid Hills, SD.
Interesting landscape changes as you go north and it gets dryer and dryer. The transit through South Dakota is rather uneventful, it is incredibly stretched out and it's not too exciting.. Fun gas station stops, lots of interest in the little MINI (from "what kind of gas mileage" to "I thought James Bond was gonna step out of that thing" ) I was, however, a little disappointed as despite the place being so stretched out, I found there was still quite a large number of people on the freeway in both directions. It wasn't exactly Downtown Seattle in the middle of rush hour, but I didn't get a feeling of solitude either which is what I had expected and kinda looked forward too
We did have some good backgrounds to photograph a very sexy silhouette:


Great sunsets as well, but watch out for deer!!


Rapid City is a nice little city, stayed in a Motel I can't remember the name of with a simple dinner at Applebee's (surprisingly good ribs and Fat Tire Ale on draught, so all good).
The next day was when things really started to get interesting in regard to scenery and the roads getting more and more twisty as we were now in the midst of the Black Hills and on our way to Mount Rushmore!!
Mount Rushmore was incredible to see and, even though me and my Dutch heritage initially found the $10 parking a rip-off, you sure get your money's worth with the great visitor's center and the tons of information on the Presidents and, of course, the sculptor. Definitely recommended, make sure you factor in enough time (we didn't) so you can take the Ranger-guided tour to the sculptures and the "document-cave" in the mountain!!


We had to get back on the road to make our way to Yellowstone and the whole way is pretty much scenic from here on to Seattle. I don't have many pics to post as we wanted to keep driving as much as possible so as to maximize time in the National Parks. We ended up in Cody, Wyoming and if one little town made an impression this trip it was this one. It's a great little Wild-West type of town, somewhat cheesy really with all the Buffalo Bill relics etc. (the town is named after William Frederick Cody aka...... exactly!! I never even knew he traded bison meat for a living after his army-time, I thought he was a bad-*** marshall , never too old to learn).
The highlights for us though were at the very back end of the town. Being unable to find lodging in town (lots and LOTS of tourbuses with retirees on a Yellowstone-tour), we were forced to go further out and found a room in "The Cody", a great lodge and very reasonably priced!! They recommended "The Terrace" for dinner, a mere half mile away, right by the Rodeo (every night from June 1st until August 31st, making it the longest-running rodeo in the nation and giving Cody the nickname "Rodeo capital of the World"). Anyway, the recommended "Terrace" looks like a barn, nothing more and nothing less. We must've contemplated turning around back to the hotel at least 10 times during our 10 minute walk but decided to just go with it, being tired and hungry!! Anyway, we open the door and where we expect a Saloon-style type of deal with the thirsty cowboys from the rodeo hanging at the bar, we walk into a modern, incredibly well-decorated and thought out restaurant with one of the better menu's, wine lists and draught selections I have seen to date (and coming from Seattle, that is no easy feat). The food and service really were great, we decided to make it our 5-year anniversary dinner (which was 9/9/9, coincidentally) and had a fantastic night!!

 

Great way to start a relationship (the Mini) and great way to celebrate (your anniversary).

 

Part 3: So after a great night in Cody, we were off to a bit of a late start the next day, great breakfast of course at "The Cody" and off we went into Yellowstone!!
While the park entrance fee is somewhat steep at $25 (did I tell you I am Dutch ), it is well worth it both for the awesome roads made for the MINI (careful, speed limit is 45!!) as well as the simply astonishing landscape and scenery.
It really is beyond description, so I'll just post some of the better pics (some taken with my iPhone after my camera battery died..) and let you choose your new desktop






Some Oldies motoring all the way from WA State:


Hot!!:


Hotter


Even though we only had a day at Yellowstone, it truly was the highlight of the trip which is what we had expected beforehand, but I have to say it was well beyond all expectations.
From here on, it was pretty much back on the road with one more night in the good old Thunderbird motel (think red and blue neon, awesome!!) in Missoula, Montana and the next day back into Washington state and back in Seattle by Sunday afternoon (started on Tuesday).
It was a great trip, an awesome experience, the MINI exceeded all expectations and I really can't imagine doing something like this in a different car as it simply wouldn't be the same (if only because it is just plain fun keeping a lookout for other MINI's to wave at, we had an average success rate on the return)!! I should also mention that we had an extra set of rims in the backseat (we had the backseat down at first, but for those that are interested, the rims fit much better in the backseat with some sheets and Walmart pillows for protection), extra set of springs and luggage in the boot.. I, for one, shall not be told the MINI is impractical!!
I just brought the MINI in for an oil change and factory inspection II and, other than a minor issue with the OBD Port, she's in great shape and ready for action here in Seattle (where nobody waves back, by the way ).
Well, that's about it folks!! Hope you enjoyed the read and the pics (wish I took more now in hindsight) and there's some good tips for those planning a trip in one of the areas we passed!!

Motor On!!!
Michel&Melissa

 

Nice long trip, thanks for sharing

 

Wow, sounds like a great trip! Thanks for sharing it with us.