well this isnt the first time that I have made the trip, but the first time in the mini. first of all I would like to ask who in their right mind orders a car now days without cruise control? but other than that and a few small mishaps it was a great trip. started off by working wed. (only 9 hours) going home and packing washing the car and mapping out my trip, made it to bed at 12:30 wife wakes me up at 5 says I was snoring so got up and ate a cup of coffee and was on the road by nov. 10, 5:30am. was uneventful diddnt see too many minis saw a white one in I belive indiana that really stood out. saw alot of cops, drove about 1600 miles, averaged about 31mpg spent $114 on gas, and finally arrived in zip code 69147 at about 7 am friday the 11th, a sore and tired boy. was going to spend a couple of days out there deer hunting and driving around visiting people that I have lost touch with. have a late night out friday night when I decide to go home the bars are just closing at 1am so am on the way home to my parents who live in the country when all of a sudden as I go from 5th to 6th gear the transmission stops doing what it is supposed to in neutral. coast to a stop and call pops to come get me as its still another four miles and about 38 deg. raining with a 20mph wind. next day go out hunting start calling mini after lunch. tell them what the problem is and they tell ( that I am on a trip and shift cable has come off or broken, I know this as this is the second time this has happened) they were very nice and said that they would have to tow the car and that since I was so far from home they would also bring it back to me. did I happen to mention the closest dealer is about 260 miles from me. total time on the phone to arrange picking the car up about 20min. FAST FORWARD monday morning 8 am call from dealer, goes good got the problem found letting you know if you need anything else done, and said they would let me know when car would be done. about noon I get the call that car is done when do I want to come get it, so I spend the next 3 hours on the phone with mini roadside assistance talking who insisted that it was my responsability to come and get the car eventhough it was agreed that they would bring it back to me I even called to confirm it. she was also insistant that nobody other than a mechanic at a mini dealer knew how to work on it, when I hinted that had I know that I would have to go get it I would have just done it myself at a local mechanic here for free. so we get it straitend out and by this time it is just after three. when the tow truck company calls me and informs me that it is starting to snow and asks if it would be alright if they bring it first thing in the morning. me being the good guy I am say what the hell why not so my car shows up about 2 the next day. so I spend the rest of my time waiting for my deer to get processed and some time seeing friends got bored one night and found out the mini really will only go 135mph sat morning pulls around go load the car with my crap which consistes of : 120qt. cooler with about 130 lbs of deer salami, one westen saddle maybe about 80lbs, one 50lb bag of clothes, and about another 100lbs of misc crap. left about 10am mountain time and made it back to GSO at 3 eastern time on sunday. my only complaints with the mini is the bolster right in the middle of your back and not being able to let the car run while stopped at a rest stop as it will over heat. but over all it wasnt a bad car to spend 30 hours straight in over all. maybe next time I wont have to do it by myself.