Sunday, May 29, 2016

Purdey Gets prepped!

Purdey, Linda's MINI, spent some time getting checked out at the local dealer and having a few gaskets changed. Linda spent lots of time getting Purdey all polished and shined for the road trip, including 3 coats of wax so the bugs and dirt will just slide right off.. .. She looks Great!

The Mini VTEC also got a good detailing and waxing, along with the trailer. Why I spend so much time cleaning before we go I am not sure, as after 5 days on the road we'll have to start all over again!

Monday, May 23, 2016

Return Route

Here is the return route we will be taking. We are using inland highways instead of returning back up the coast as lots to see along the way and some nice roads.

Date Starting location Ending Location Distance Miles, KM

Fri June 10 San Diego, CA Lone Pine CA 294 473

Sat June 11 Lone Pine CA Quincy, CA 339 546

Sun June 12 Quincy, CA Bend OR 389 626

Mon June 13 Bend OR Leavenworth WA 312 502

Tues June 14 Leavenworth WA BC Ferry 206 332

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Preparations Under Way

During the week I grabbed some new fuel filters for the car and installed them one evening after work. Today was spent gathering up tools, parts and cleaning stuff that will get tucked into the car and trailer for the trip. I bring a bunch of tools and spare parts that are not easy to get on the road. More than once I have used something, but mostly for someone else! The seat cooler 'poor mans air conditioning' will be coming along as well.

A bunch of tools!!

Some Spare Parts

Some cleaning stuff

Good thing there is a lot of room in a Mini for all this stuff!

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Previous MMW or EMW Trips

You can check out earlier trips to Mini Meets at these Blogs..

Mini Meet East Meets West 2014 - Victoria to Milwaukee

http://emw2014trip.blogspot.ca/

MMW2011 Trip - Victoria to Lake Tahoe (and back)

http://mmw2011trip.blogspot.ca/

Mini Meet East Meets West 2009 Trip to Winona, MN

http://mmew2009trip.blogspot.ca/

Mini Meet West 2008 Trip Victoria to Irvine

http://mmw2008trip.blogspot.ca/

Getting the Mini VTEC ready

The Mini spent a day with Richard Ford at the Elk Lake Napa shop, where he went end to end on the car checking everything out before the trip. He found a light bulb, and a broken exhaust bobbin mount, which I have now fixed both of these. Richard also treated the car to an oil and lube.. Thanks Richard!

Yesterday was spent washing, polishing and waxing the car and trailer, to try and keep the bugs and dirt sliding off on the way down. A pack of tools and other supplies will be the next weekends event. Looking forward to a fun drive down the Pacific Coast Highway!

Terry and Linda Hogan will also be on the road with me, and have been prepping their beloved MINI as well.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Well, we are headed out on another Mini trip, this time to MMW2016 in San Diego California. The trip as planned will take us down highway 101 and highway 1 taking in the coastal scenery as much as we can. We are taking 5 days down and 5 days back. The return trip is via an interior route so we can drive another set of roads on the way back. Total trip should be about1600 miles, plus what we spend at the meet running around on drives and the rally. Here is the proposed route down with approx distances. I will update actual distances each day.

                      Starting Location to ending Location                       Distance, Miles, KM

June 2 Day 1 Victoria BC to Seaside OR via Port Angeles    225m, 362km
June 3 Day 2 Seaside OR to Crescent City CA                              347m, 558km
June 4 Day 3 Crescent City to Novato, CA                                    328m, 528km
June 5 Day 4 Novato, CA to San Luis Obisco, CA                        280m, 451km
June 6 Day5 San Luis Obisco, CA to San Diego CA                    312m, 502km