A Travato 59K is waiting for us in Texas

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June 1 we flew to San Antonio, Texas. We were chauffeured by Rick, cousin of Barry Gorden (Motown Music Founder), to KerRVille where our van was waiting. We learned so much about how to operate it from Keith, for which we are very grateful. We also appreciate the small town service of Otis, Todd, Shannon and Keri. Thank you so much!
We bought a Winnebago Travato 59K which is a converted RAM 3500 high top extended cargo van. This is the layout of the 21′ length – everything we need!
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We did not linger in Kerrville because of the intense rains forecast. We drove to Fredericksburg in the rain and spent the night there. We had a pleasant evening but it did rain all night – so we know our van is waterproof!
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Our first National Park with the Travato is LBJ childhood home. The Texas White house is closed due to flooding but we enjoyed our time here very much. Good movies on both LBJ and Lady Bird – seemed like a good start as they did much to preserve some of the beauty of our country.
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We took a ranger led tour and sat on the front porch.

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We left early and drove to Ft Stockton to skirt all of the storms. We were successful!
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Our first purchase was this fresh water hose. Newbies trying to figure this out. We love that the Travato is fully self contained and that the solar panels recharge the “house” battery.
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The little kitchenette, 2 coach seats swivel with airline type trays, overhead cabinets have lots of storage, 2 twin beds that can push together and also tilt for reading/TV viewing. Sliding screen door and lots of windows – good cross breezes.
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After a visit to Ft Davis Historic Site, and the local library, we headed up into the hills and found this The Nature Conservancy Trail and picnic area.
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Seemed like a good spot for wine o’clock and then to spend the night.
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Guadalupe National Park with Chollas blooming.
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Our camp site for 2 nights. Interior of van is 6′-3″ so Henry does not hit his head.
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An automatic awning over the picnic table. Wine O’clock in style!
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We got up early and hiked Guadalupe Peak. A 3,000′ elevation gain!
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This formation of El Capitan from the top reminded us of Michigan lower peninsula.
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What lies ahead? We wander into New Mexico.
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The Mexican Trestle Bridge hike in Cloudcroft where we spent a night.
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We went to the space museum in Alamogordo. This was the moon model behind Walter Cronkite when he gave all those updates on the astronauts. Pretty interesting that it is preserved here.
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Capitan is home of Smokey the Bear and they have a museum to him.

 

2015 FIA Formula E Miami ePrix Grand Prix

Thanks to PAMM (Perez Art Museum Miami) and family who are members for this new Electric experience.

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The inaugural Electric Formula E in the United States – how green!
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The favorite Pit-girl next to one of the super quiet cars: FIA Formula E
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All you can hear are the cars braking – Oh! and some clueless DJ over-cranking the tunes. The Sounds of Silence are not an option in Miami…
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Mr. Race Fan and The hall of fame – with the current drivers 😉

 

Utah Sights

Ready to do some MINI fun raising camping and hiking in Utah
Ready to do some MINI fun raising camping and hiking in Goblin State park
Caught in the narrow slot of Little Wild Horse Canyon
Caught in the narrow slot of Little Wild Horse Canyon
Gorgeous blue skies to hike White Canyon in Bridges National Monument
Gorgeous blue skies to hike White Canyon in Bridges National Monument
Admiring the petroglyphs and reflections under Kachina Bridge
Admiring the petroglyphs and reflections under Kachina Bridge
Cactus bloom in White Canyon area
Cactus bloom in White Canyon area
Awesome campsite near Bears Ears Pass
Awesome campsite near Bears Ears Pass
Enjoying the Panorama of Goosenecks State Park
Enjoying the Panorama of Goosenecks State Park
Moki Dugway!
Moki Dugway! Those are some serious Twisties!
Motoring towards Monument Valley
Motoring towards Monument Valley

Florida Delights

Sun Rise over the Atlantic at Bal Harbour from the Lido Deck (ie – condo pool)

Family time in Florida March 27- April 4. Waves lapping on the beach, wind in the palms, moonlight over Miami, Cuban pork marinated in mojitos, Argentinian steak, Paella, Vino Tinto on the balcony, having the pool to yourself in the morning for some lap swims, an awesome classical concert at the New World symphony and the following events…

Across the inland waterway from Haulover Beach
In front of the Key Biscayne tennis grand stadium listening to the cheers
Watching the Sony Ericsson Open grand court match on the big screen
Catching up with Roger Federer after the match
Ready for the women’s doubles action to begin
We enjoyed two matches – the second pair went on to win the tournament!
The ride we wanted to motor…but caught a match winning tennis ball instead.

 

Mini in The Mountains 2011 returns to Winter Park

Ready for some High Altitude Adrenalin Fun with the MINI Cooper as we wind our way up Berthoud Pass to Winter Park with our bikes on the roof…We joined up with over 200 MINIs  bringing over 300 participants to this FUN Raising EVENT.

Twists

The MINI gets washed and waxed at the special Car Wash set up by sponsor Prima Care, who also lets you demo different products for an awesome shine.

The MINI parade on Thursday evening to downtown Hideaway Park. There is Henry waving while driving in at #86 in the lineup.  All the cars looked beautiful until that dark cloud came our way…sigh. The shower was brief and didn’t interrupt the good concert by Slopeside. We brought a nice picnic dinner complete with a bottle of red wine to enjoy while the sunset over the mountains.

105 MINIs got to park on Main Street…that is Highway 40 with one lane closed just for the Coopers, Clubmans, and Countrymans. Seriously, no two MINIs are alike.

Everyone smile for the group photo…Friday after another little rain cloud wet the pavement.

!NUF car show in the Village on Saturday…the 30 cars attracted quite a lot of attention.There was even a classic MINI this year with the Union Jack roof.

The final brunch Sunday was at Sunspot with the scenic ride up the lift. Great food and company…

A really nice week with time to hike and bike. To walk and talk and have picnics in the park. And to meet people from all over the USA with their MINIs. We are glad all made the effort to be in Colorado and to enjoy the beauty of the mountains.

MINI Takes The States with MINI In The Mountains 2010

A MINI Invasion to Colorado in August 2010! The third annual Mini Takes The States, motoring from various points in the USA, had their grand finale in Denver.

The fifth annual Mini in the Mountains was held in Winter Park and was a meet up point for the west coast route. And what a blast to see so many Mini Coopers…we are pretty sure we did not see any two identical as there are so many ways to personalize them. There was a !NUF show (that is Fun! backwards) that showcased a few very creative cars. So here we are are in beautiful Winter Park early Thursday morning: the Mini fueled, polished, revved up and ready to head to the hills. Henry: keep both hands on the wheel…

The Mini is ready to Motor

All kinds of fun concerts, picnics, parties, booths with stuff for your car, opportunities to meet other drivers  – we talked to people from all over the USA and Canada.

The Driver is ready: Let's Motor!

Hanging out the window to get the view behind our car. Some sort of MINI traffic jam! This is a chain of us rallying up Trail Ridge road in Rocky Mt National Park. We turned around at the top, enjoyed the scenery, a picnic and spent some time in the park before heading back to Winter Park.

Trail Ridge Road Rally

Thursday evening was a MINI Parade to downtown Winter Park – then a picnic and concert in the park. Over 200 Minis parked on Main Street – very fun to see!

Mini parade in downtown Winter Park

After a great BBQ lunch on top of the mountain, all the cars met at the ski area parking lot for this group photo. That is us lower left hand corner – Pam sitting in front with her arms up in a V.

MTTS 2010 Group Photo in Winter Park

Friday night we went to a fabulous party in Denver with great food and drinks provided by MINI. We did not party so hardy that we couldn’t make the early Saturday morning meet-up and breakfast at Red Rocks – another group photo followed by a rally to Nederland for lunch. We are the MINI to the top left corner of the 0000 van: this was The Destination for all the cars from across the country.

0000 Miles to go:All the Minis have converged on Red Rocks!

Back in Denver, there was a circuit set up to race a MINI – both of us got a turn on the course in an Electric MINI – very fun to drive. Pam also got to go on a lap with a professional driver – it felt like he took some of the turns on two wheels. Now we know how much we can push the MINI…no more wimpy driving! We finished up the day with a dinner, concert, massage, and other event booths. Saying good-bye to our new friends: Until next year.

Pit Girl at end of the Rally