| I picked up my MINI on Thursday and have almost 300 miles already.
On Saturday, Chris & I went on a fam ride to the East County, looking for twisties. We got on Wildcat Canyon Road (love that name) in Lakeside and headed north toward Ramona. There was a fair amount of traffic on the road, but they all turned off at the Barona casino, and the remaining stretch to Ramona was wide open! It was a great opportunity to test the handling and shifting of both car and driver.
We drove through Ramona, and the Julian road ahead looked enticing so we stayed on it. We spotted a newly-opened restaurant in the shade next to a creek and stopped for a burger. We asked the proprietor where more twisties were and he recommended Old Julian Highway which runs through Hatfield Canyon that nowadays only locals use. Lots of hairpin turns.
Switch drivers and head on out to Old Julian Highway. He was right! We must have gone 12 miles without encountering a single car. Once back in Ramona, we got back on Wildcat Canyon for the return trip, and made it almost all the way to Lakeside before caming upon a wildfire in the Indian reservation. Tribal police were turning motorists around, so we had a third pass through the canyon and made our third visit to Ramona. We took the 67 (Julian Road) to El Cajon and I-8. The 67 is a nice 4-lane twisty route which the MINI also handles superbly at freeway speeds.
I recommend this circuit as way to get to know your MINI.
I posted a few photos in my gallery.
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