Greetings!

Hello all!


My name is William and I live in (VERY HOT right now) Phoenix, Arizona.


Recently, I purchased a new 2008 MINI Cooper S Clubman. Some say, "William's in a mid-life crisis..." Family members comment, "Are you sure you want a vehicle THAT small?" It's actually scary sometimes when I think about it - how fast this all happened. But you can read all about that on my other blog:

http://aminiexperience.blogspot.com/


This blog's goal is to document my journey as I pick up my new car (named Edgar) and travel across the US back to Phoenix.


At first, I'd been told by several people that a cross country drive is not a good way to "break-in" a new car. However, after several long talks with the MINI Service Manager here in AZ, I'm no longer worried about it. He stated, "Just keep the speed below 70mph and RPMs below 4,000) for the first 1,500 miles.


All along the way, I'll be taking lots of pictures and some video. I'm planning on posting the pictures to the blog each evening - network connections permitting! The video will be posted once I get back to Phoenix and can do some editing.

Here's what I have planned so far:

Day 1: 8/24
US Airways Flight leaving Phoenix (AZ) at 10:15pm and arriving at JFK (NY) at 6:14AM.

Day 2: 8/25
From JFK, I take a cab to the Cineplex Odeon theater in Queens to catch the Hampton Jitney Bus line. This bus will take me to somewhere in Southampton (NY) where the MINI dealer will come pick me up.

Once I take possession of Edgar, we're off to North East (MD) to stop for the night.

Day 3: 8/26
I'll take back roads to Front Royal (VA), drive Skyline Dr through the Shenandoah National Park heading on my way to my Parent's house in Fort Mill (SC)

Day 4: 8/27
Spend some time with my Parents and Brother. I'm also planning picking up some Cocomats for Edgar and getting the oil changed in Charlotte (NC)

Day 5: 8/28
On the road again through Kings Mountain National Park (SC/NC), Shelby (NC) to Fontana Village Resort at Fontana Dam (NC). The "Tail of the Dragon" is here. Will spend some time seeing how Edgar really likes twisty roads!

Day 6: 8/29
Travel through Tennessee and spend the night in Little Rock (AR)

Day 7: 8/30
Will spend some time on US 40, passing through Oklahoma City (OK) to Amarillo (TX). Will spend the night in Tucumcari (NM)

Day 8: 8/31
Continue on US 40, head up to Santa Fe (NM) and then backtrack back down to Albuquerque (NM). Then to Grants (NM) where we'll take a hard LEFT to Ramah (NM) across the reservation to Zuni (NM), into Arizona to St Johns (AZ) then stopping at Show Low (AZ)

Day 9: 9/1
All familiar territory here... take US 60 to Globe (AZ), Miami (AZ), Superior (AZ), Apache Junction (AZ) to HOME in Phoenix (AZ)

Feel free to post comments as you like as well - I look forward to it!

William