Thanks for the info...do you know where they will be stopping exactly and for how long?

The events for each day are being posted, they're not all up just yet, on the MTTS 2012 website.
That will give you a good idea of daily start and finish times and driving distances as they will vary from day to day.

Your question about DC is tough as the time for the National Mall has not been posted as of today.
Seeing other things along the way is strictly up to you but sometimes there is not alot of extra time.

Some people stick to the daily hand-out route for their day while others will detour along the way as they see fit.
That is one of the nice things about MTTS, you can do as much or as little of the planned events as you want.

As far as traveling in a group you can go at your own pace or run with others, always your choice.

We did the west coast route of MTTS 2010, San Francisco to Denver, and basically followed the plan of the day and had a great time.

Will this year be the same? Hard to say but I've never been disappointed by the previous MTTS events I've attended
and I certainly do not expect to be disappointed this year.

Hope this helps...

The evening event:

7:00 to 10:00 pm
NC Music Factory
Uptown Village
1000 NC Music Factory Blvd
Charlotte, NC

The host hotel:

Aloft Charlotte Uptown
@ the EpiCentre
210 E Trade St
Charlotte, NC

That's all I know for now...

Thank you sir...we will be there...

I see there's gigantic parking lot next door...cool...
http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=Z9LH4...NzEzMDg4OTg4NQ==

I'll answer based on my experience with MTTS 2010, and what the MTTS 2012 itinerary looks like.
You'll get up, head to the start point, where someone will help guide you on where to park or line up. There will be snacks, water, maybe coffee. They'll hand out route sheets. There may be some folks from MINI selling shirts, mugs, etc. They'll leave at a pre-determined time, and head out of the city.

There may be stops along the way, or detours off the beaten path. When you get to the destination, there will probably be some sort of welcoming committee, maybe snacks and refreshments, and whatever evening events are planned.

It sure looks like it, based on some of the legs. DC to Charlotte is ~7.5 hours by interstate. The short driving days seem to coincide with the autocross events. Or, they may have some interesting drives up their sleeves.

I seriously doubt it, but it really depends on you. If you take interstate from place to place, you might get into town with time to explore. My suggestion is, if there's a city you really want to check out, like DC, then you may want to stay in that town for an extra night, and catch up along the way. During MTTS 2010 we skipped Dodge City and went straight to Denver. That was a long haul (11 hours IIRC) but worth it to us.


I think it was around 8-8:30AM each morning, for MTTS 2010. Gives you time to shower, have breakfast, refuel (if you didn't do that the night before), and get to the starting point / line up.

This depends on you. If you want to be part of a group, then tag along or talk to a few folks, to see what their plans are for the drive. My wife and I tried to keep up with Jim McDowell and the head of the pack, but usually we were left behind (sudden turns, missing a traffic light, etc) and ended up being part of a smaller pack. But each night, we joined up with with a couple we had met early on, and shared our drive experiences.

BTW, if you own 2-way radios take them, and tune to ch 7 / sub 21. That's the typical channel most MINI groups use. You may hear chatter there from other MTTS participants. Also, if you use Waze add the MTTS group, to keep up with stops / traffic / etc.

Hope this helps.

Thanks guys, That all helps get a clearer idea of what the event will be like, I imagined it would be something along these lines but wanted to hear from someone who has done this in the past. Now I know that this is all subject to change but we'll have to wait and see.

Thank you !! Thank you !! Thank you !!

Of all the "roadside America" things I want to see on a cross country drive, the Field of Dreams site is, well, in about the top two... Just give me any option of seeing that and I will be there. It will certainly be a high point of my MTTS 2012.

JZB

We're surrounded by corn fields here in Iowa , old baseball players come walking out of them all the time. Most of the time we just shoot bottle rockets at them.

Let me give my limited perspective on this. I ran MTTS 2010 from NJ to Pittsburgh and observed that the hosted events at the Baltimore and Pittsburgh overnights were very nice (Pittsburgh had a private party in a bar / dance room / outdoor deck at the Rivers casino) and a lot was covered in terms of food and drink. The events were probably supported by a lot of contributions from local MINI dealers. I would have paid more than $30 for the Pittsburgh event.

The other thing to think about is your swag bag at the outset and other swag available at the overnights. A lot more than $30 value to be realized there.

At the beginning, MINI opened up its HQ facility for tours of its engineering bays - and a chance to talk with the people working on new technology for MINIs. That tour is worth something to me....

MTTS gave participants access to the Indy Motor Speedway for a few laps and to the Bonneville salt flats for the same. What is that experience worth?

I think that the $30 falls in the category of your "skin in the game" - the MINI organization (national and local) is putting up a lot to make this a success - for both marketing and other reasons - and they are just asking participants to contribute a nominal amount, to commit them to the experience as much as anything. Can you get more nominal than $30 these days for an experience of this scale?

Just my two cents...

JZB

I went to the first MTTS in 2006 from Memphis to Nashville to St. Louis. I went by myself. I had one of the best times on that trip and I met some people that I still talk to today! This year, I will be going from Nash to Louis to Chicago! Like Jersey_Bill said, $30 is nothing compared to the scale of this event and the memories you take from it.

Driving Boulder to Phoenix. Planning to follow the MTTS route out of Colorado via I-25 and then explore different twisty roads once in New Mexico.

Rudebox -

I have a few friends in Albuquerque and probably one more flying in for a party when I arrive there - but from past experience I will probably be taking a detour after Santa Fe so I can roll through the town of Madrid just NE of Albuquerque about an hour or so out. Maybe halfway from Sante Fe to ABQ.

Quaint little hippie / biker / alternative town made famous from the movie "Wild Hogs" which had most of the back end of the movie filmed there. Great place for a food / saloon stop before the downward roll to ABQ...

JZB

MTTS starts in less than 17 days. Can't wait!

That's kinda scary I feel like I have so much more to do and so little time.

I hope the fires are put out soon in Colorado. I heard that the smoke is pretty bad in Boulder. That is where we will be starting. We are looking forward to the trip but we might have to arrive in Boulder last minute if the smoke continues. If so, we will just spend more time in other beautiful parts of Colorado.

Does anyone have an idea of what the parking situation is or will be like at the Wild Horse in Nashville? Wondering if we'll have to find parking on our own or if MINI will have a designated lot or garage for parking.

Boulder is in its own Valley, and the smoke in general is further North and has been blowing East to North East from Loveland /Fort Collins. The High Park fire was reported on the Local news at 50% contained as of this point in time this morning according to the local news @ http://www.9news.com
MTTS should be very safe and free of smoke from the fire.

Bill, you are totally right! This is my 3rd MTTS, and MINI organizes SOOO much that people take for granted. Bonneville 2010 was actually my second time there (did it for real in 2009; first chick in my club to hit 130 in less than a mile). Even THAT, for example; they had to pay a "salt preservation" fee to let us be there. And in Vegas? Someone paid to have a MINI carved out of ice. Two small examples. I worked as a MINI salesperson for a year, am doing the trip from Los Angeles and back out of my own pocket, and I still forked out the $30. Gotta support the MINpeeps!

Thanks for the information. The link was very good to see the latest. The California news doesn't have as much info.

For those making the transit from Chicago to Des Moines on July 9th, information on our club's recommended feeder routes is now available on our website:

http://www.easterniowaminis.org/2012...12-on-july-9th

We'll try to get this linked on the main MTTS 2012 website.

If anyone is looking for budget-priced accommodations in Nashville, near the MTTS events, the West End and Music Row, recommend checking out the "dorm-style" lodging available at the Scarritt-Bennett Center. Located on 10-acre campus of former Scarritt College, it is adjacent to Vanderbilt campus, very serene and peaceful, friendly staff and free parking. Rooms are priced at $62 plus tax. Wireless internet in rooms, but no television. It's our go-to place for budget trips to Nashville.

http://www.scarrittbennett.org/meetings/guestrooms.aspx

I am coming from Dallas, parking my Coupe in Nashville and flying out to NYC, I'll be riding with a fellow Coupe owner until we come back to Nashville so I can pick up my car and continue motoring until Chicago then is 15 hrs back home, I wish I had the time and money to go all the way but I am excited about the 7 cities I'll get to see.

How bad are the fires now in Colorado? It seems like the entire state is on fire. I know the media exaggerates though. I am trying to decide if we should completely re-route to get to Boulder. We were going to go through Mesa Verde, the million dollar highway, Garden of the Gods and then on to Boulder. It seems like there are fires in all those places. We will be coming from Southern California.

Thanks! I'd been camped on this thread looking for this very info, will be good to discover some eastern Iowa sights and get off the interstates. We've been to the Amanas a couple of times, but don't know much else around there.

update: Big fire conditions as of today (7/6)...

High Park fire (near Fort Collins)...100% containment.

Waldo Canyon fire (Colo Spgs)...expected to be fully contained by 7/6.

Weber fire (SW Colo near Mesa Verde)...9,729 acres, as of Tues 7/3, 80% contained

http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=275637