Last time we were in Nebraska, so what happened between football & home?  A lot.  Lincoln to Boulder, Boulder to Albuquerque, Albuquerque to Phoenix, Phoenix to L.A., L.A. to Winslow, Winslow to Amarillo, Amarillo to you get the idea…  When I started this I thought it would be easy- easier said than done.  I thought I would take a couple of weeks hit the highlights and then resume with regular storytelling.  Reality & life got in the way.  I still have the stories to tell and wonderful characters to include somewhere.  I still have in my mind a long line of MINIs stretching out to the horizon with radio conversations about Cretins.  Time with Blue Leader, Red 5, Dee, Bob, Stella, Emily, Don, Lizzie, Dallas, Ellen, Todd, Jim… too many people (& MINIs) to name.  Old friends and new who made the time on the road wonderful.  All the people from MINIUSA & TPG who treated everyone like royalty (even a crazy guy with a stuffed monkey), I thank you.

I started off this journey joking about “What do you mean, your car company doesn’t do stuff like this?”  Where Jim McDowell feels lucky to have so many people loyal to the MINI brand, I think those loyalists feel so lucky to have a brand like MINI. A brand that takes time to acknowledge that you , as an owner, are their most important asset.   Is the car perfect? No car is perfect, but after 7 years with Penfold, I see Alfie around my garage for many years and many more MINI Takes the States, MINIs on the Dragon, Mickey & MINIs, MINI Uniteds.  Is a MINI for you?  Maybe not, I have found my joy in owning a car that, to me, makes getting from point A to point B fun, as they say “Your mileage may differ.”  So I finish out my rather pitiful MTTS coverage with a simple (long winded) thank you to everyone who made it the best, epic road trip ever. Here’s the sadly monkey free summary video, but it does help in understanding the MINI Community, even without Cecil. Then again you always check out Cecil’s Flickr pool of photos.

If you have been reading My Geek Odyssey simply for MTTS I invite you to stay and keep going for a while, I promise that once we get back into these simple strips they will keep to a schedule.  AND since when I look in my garage I have the choice of a MINI, MINI or Mini to drive, there will be a MINI of some variety in the strip on a fairly regular basis.