Coast-to-Coast "Paix et Soleil" - Autumn 2008

[pappillon]

What a trip! To Jon, Carl, Gemma, Chris, Beth and others who didn't make it: we missed you and thought of you and hope that one day you do your own road trip in the States. And NoNo and Dakini, sorry it didn't work out meeting up It was an amazing experience

We've been back a couple of days but the jet lag hasn't worn off. I know Stuart's already posted a link to some of the pictures and hope you've enjoyed taking a look. There's a collection for the Magical Mystery Tour event in San Francisco. If this event is organised again, I'd urge anyone to make a special trip to San Francisco to join in. It's worth crossing the Atlantic for! The whole weekend was brilliantly organised: there were runs around San Francisco and the mountains around the city, a barbeque, a Beatle's tribute band which played as the sun set across the bay, and lots of MINIs (over 350 at the last count). The MINI owners in the States are still relatively few and far between so that initial enthusiasm and excitement that we all felt here when the MINI first came out, that buzz around the car and that special atmosphere and closeness between MINI owners, well that's all still alive and well in the States They haven't become jaded or complacement about the car or the community as some of us old timers have

And what can I say about the rest of the trip. Can't believe that we saw and did all the things we did in such a short space of time. Shamster was spot on about Death Valley being as amazing as the Grand Canyon. Such a vast, desolate, beautiful place. Took us the best part of the day to drive through and we didn't even touch the tip of what was there to see and do. A 5 mile loop called Artists Drive was one of the highlights. A narrow, bendy single track which ran alongside multi-coloured cliffs... wow! QQJ & QQJ got their picture taken there (as well as a dozen other places across the country.)

Beale Street in Memphis was something else too. Every night is party night apparently and we were there on a Saturday night and a game was on. The police were there in large numbers with blockades at the entrances to the road because they expected so many people. The atmosphere was electric, and we spent the evening in the beer garden behind the facade of an old building in an Irish pub (there's ALWAYS one) called Silky O'Sullivans listening to a local blues band

Another highlight was being in a boat INSIDE the Niagra Falls on Maid of the Mist. They're not kidding when they tell you you're going to get wet Being at the foot of the horseshoe falls looking up at the awesome sight of thousands on gallons of water falling down a few feet away from you is truely magical. QQJ & QQJ nearly went overboard at that point but I thought Cathleen and the rest of you would kill me if I had let them go (but they would have loved it, right?)

I could go on and on but I'll spare you The pictures and a proper write-up is being worked on and I'll post a link when it's ready for anyone interested in having a read. But, I must say that the best thing about the whole trip is all the people we got to meet and spend time with in San Francisco and New York (thank you Norm, Peter, David, Susanne, Jeanette, Allen, John and Cathleen and the rest of you) Strangers put us up in their homes, picked us up from hotels, dropped us off, offered us seats in their MINIs for runs and showed us such warmth and hospitality. Nothing was too much trouble. And what a fun bunch of people to be with! Having QQJ and QQJ in the back of the car added something special to the trip and, as Stuart has said elsewhere, we genuinely felt that Ed and Ruthie were with us (and were having a great time too) And all of this is thanks to this special little car and this forum

One final thing: there's an album in the link (MobileMe Gallery) called Tiles for America. It's something we happened upon by chance as we were walking around New York and it's a moving tribute to the victims of 9/11. Something set up spontaneously by the people for the people and if you get a chance, take a look at the pictures and maybe look it up on Google

This was an ambitious trip and it worked out well. The only regret is that we had such little time in each place but the country is so vast and so beautiful that a dozen lifetimes wouldn't do it justice. I'm sure we'll be back, and soon We have The Wave to see yet...