2013 Twists & Turns Rally

Wow! What a fun motoring adventure!
 

A while back, we joined the Puget Sound MINI Motoring Club  because we wanted to support the club, meet other Mini owners, and take part in the fun stuff offered by the club.

The first event we were able to attend was the 2013 Twists & Turns Rally. Major kudos and thanks to Rally Masters Roy and Beth and all the helpers for a well-organized and fun event.

 

This being the first rally we have attended, and as this rally required a navigator, there was a bit of stress on my part because Steve would drive and I would be the navigator. Would we work well together? Would Steve actually follow the directions I gave him? Would, would, would….Gah! Too many unknowns.  Enough already! This is supposed to be fun and not stressful so take a deep breath and don’t worry about it. (HA! Can you tell I tend to overthink things?)

Since we spent the night in Redmond, it was a short drive to the 8:00 am start in Kirkland. We checked in and were handed our rally packet. After perusing the contents thoroughly, I was now more apprehensive but comforted at the same time by the step by step directions I would have to feed to Steve to keep us on course. Also, there were these fun trivia scavenger type hunt questions that were thrown in between the course directions that counted towards the final score. How in the world does that work? Oh, by the way, I get car sick if I read in the car. How could I forget about that!

As it turned out, once we started, it was easy to keep track of the directions and the trivia questions. Our Rally Masters were very good at explaining the directions, score sheet & answering any questions  before the start at the drivers meeting.

We didn’t even think of taking any pictures along the way, so the only ones I have are of the start in Kirkland and ending in Issaquah, which are below.

So we set out following the directions, looking for the answers to the trivia questions, and we actually had enough time in between to really enjoy the scenery. The route lived up to it's name with twists and turns, taking us through many places I had never been before so I was very please to see more of our beautiful PNW. We started in Kirkland at the Fred Meyer and ended up at the XXX Root Beer in Issaquah, which is approximately 17 miles via 405 and 90, but our twisty route was 69.5 miles! Much more fun.
 

I am kind of directionally challenged and I sort of have an obsession with maps, and my most often used cell phone app is Google Maps. I had to let go of the need to have the map app going all the time to check the directions, and am proud to say I only needed to check the map one time when I goofed on the directions. The trivia questions were well done and we did miss several, although we did see a pink flamingo and a live squirrel and chicken! We finished in Issaquah still talking to each other, not needing a marriage counselor and with our sense of humor intact. It was great fun and we can’t wait to do it again.

We saw lots of cool Minis and met some great people. It’s nice to be among people who “get” the Mini experience. We are looking forward to the next event!

If you don’t have a smile on your face, you’re not doing it right.  J

Happy motoring!

 

Start of 2013 Twists & Turns Rally in Kirkland



Finish of 2013 Twists & Turns Rally at XXX Root Beer in Issaquah along backside
 



Finish of 2013 Twists & Turns Rally at XXX Root Beer in Issaquah along the side



 

 

 

 

LEAVENWORTH

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a Saturday golf tournament at Leavenworth Golf Club so we jumped at the chance for a quick, fun getaway.
 

We took off about noon on the Friday before and headed off to the Edmonds Ferry. Once across, we decided to head towards Lake Forest Park and catch Hwy 522 and go through Kenmore & Bothell and on up to Monroe. It’s a nice change from the frantic pace of the freeway and the larger highways and we know how awful Friday afternoon traffic can be. Once we were past Index on Hwy 2, there were hardly any cars on the road and it was a very pleasant drive through Stevens Pass. I always forget how long of a drive it is to Leavenworth. For some reason I picture the town on the west side of the pass instead of the east side and you know how kids bug their parents with “Are we there yet?”, that was so me this trip.

 

 

 

Saturday the weather was sunny and the scenery was spectacular. Leavenworth Golf Course is such a great place to play, it’s absolutely beautiful and for a high handicapper like me, not too frustrating. A fun time was had by all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I played golf Steve hiked around the various trails and at one point was close enough to wave to us from the trail. He also found a cool salumi shop in town named Cured by Visconti (it’s an Italian Market) and he stocked up on lots of yummy things for us to eat.

 

Our golf tournament and prize awards ran a little long due to unforeseen circumstances, so we didn’t leave Leavenworth until around 5 pm. After all, we were together and it was a beautiful evening, what more could you ask for? We motored on down Hwy 2 and again had hardly any traffic. We chose to go the 405, I-5 route this time and were at the Edmonds Ferry before we knew it.

 

The ride home was uneventful, but nice. We had the windows down, the sunroof open, and the stereo cranked up all the way home. When we got to Port Angeles, the sky lit up with the sunset and I tried to capture some of the magnificent colors. The timing was just right on this day, if we hadn’t been delayed with the golf tournament, we would never have seen this amazing sight. Life is funny that way.

 

Happy motoring!

 

 

CANADA, HERE WE COME!

Steve and I were married in the month of May almost 20 years ago, and his birthday is also in May so we decided it was time for a quick three day adventure getaway to one of our favorite places to commemorate both occasions.

Warning- I’m going to be longwinded on this one so grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the ride.

Salt Spring Island is one of the Canadian Gulf Islands and is located just off the east coast of Vancouver Island. For us to reach Salt Spring Island, it takes two ferries…one from Port Angeles and one from Swartz Bay, which is just up island from Victoria.


After unloading in Victoria we thought it would be fun to retrace a favorite bicycle route to see it all from a different perspective. Besides, this was Coop’s first Canadian adventure and we wanted to make sure he saw the island! We motored south on Douglas by Beacon Hill Park (which is a must see when you have time) and out to Dallas Road where we headed east. Winding around on the coast roads there are gorgeous views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and so many spectacular houses it will make your head spin!
 
We eventually found our way out to the Pat Bay Highway which took us up to Sidney. After a quick, delicious lunch of chicken from the grocery store in Sidney, (and why can’t our grocery stores make chicken that good?!) we were back on our way to Swartz Bay and the Ferry to Salt Spring Island.

 

Can you see Coop?

The BC Ferry Terminal at Swartz Bay is an amazing sight to see. It’s like an airport, only for ferries. BC Ferries go to many different places from here including mainland Canada, so you have to pay attention when they tell you in what lane you need to park. The trip to Fulford Harbor on Salt Spring Island is a quick 35 minute ride on an open, one deck Ferry.  
It sort of sets the tone for being in the Islands. And here is a tip: When in the Gulf Islands, try to relax. Shake loose the fast pace of where you came from and enjoy a slower, gentler atmosphere. The people are nice and the scenery will knock your socks off. Things happen in Island Time here and to avoid unnecessary frustration, just relax!

If you like tent camping, Ruckle Provincial Park is the place to be. It’s out on a point of land with fantastic views and you can see all the boat traffic glide by. It is a bit in the middle of nowhere, so make sure you have adequate provisions.

Motoring in to Ganges, we had

to stop at the bakery. Embe Bakery is THE place to pick up some breakfast goodies or just a snack.
There used to be a great little campground at Mouat Park just up the road from Embe Bakery where we have stayed before, but they no longer allow camping there.
Bummer!



For this trip, we decided to stay two nights at the Wisteria Guest House and booked The Cottage. This is a really lovely place and our hosts Len & Beverly were wonderful. Let me tell you, Beverly’s breakfast alone is worth the trip. The Cottage is a cute, rustic place to stay and if you don’t expect high end furnishings, it is perfect for a nice get away.

The Gulf Islands are full of artisans, many of whom work out of a studio at their home. Salt Spring Island has a map of all the places who welcome visitors and as you motor around exploring the island, you can stop in and check them out.

 
One of the main reasons we wanted to stay in Ganges is because if the weather was nice, we wanted to drive over to Tofino which is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Saturday rolled around and the weather was, shall we say, unpredictable. We didn’t really know what it was going to do but decided we wanted to make the drive anyway. So off to Vesuvius we went to catch the Ferry to Crofton (on Vancouver Island). We landed after a 30 minute crossing and motored up the 1A until just before Chemainus where we met up with the Trans-Canada Highway (Or Hwy 1).


Side note- Chemainus is a great place to visit and needs a day to explore, we skipped it this time because we had been there so many times before.


Up Hwy 1 we went past Ladysmith to Nanaimo where we continued on Highway 19 to Parksville and then turned off to Port Alberni. Once through Port Alberni, the scenery really starts to get good. If you need a potty break, there is a campground off to the right at Sproat Lake Provincial Park and the bathrooms are nice.

 
Sproat Lake is also home of the Sproat Lake Mars Water Bombers, and if you get lucky you will see one of the coolest things ever…a gigantic Martin Mars water bomber scooping up water from the lake. We saw this on a previous visit to Tofino and it was so amazing, I will never forget the sight!

A word of warning to anyone motoring in Canada. If you see this road sign, really pay attention. This means slow down, scary, rough, bumpy road ahead and you had better tighten your seatbelt!


Highway 4 to the west coast of Vancouver
Island is one of the most beautiful, wild,
rugged, twisty, scary roads I have ever been on. You can tell mother nature objects to having a road cross that region and takes every opportunity to ensure everyone who drive it knows how much work it takes just to maintain it in some semblance of drivable form. The scenery is truly magnificent, and I didn’t mind so much that my hand was cramping from holding on to the door bars so tightly. :-) After a time you come to Kennedy Lake, mind you this is after 50 some miles from Port Alberni, and there is a sign across the road-a really nice electronic scrolling sign- that said something like “Narrow Twisty Road Ahead”. We looked at each other and started laughing. Thanks for the timely warning!


As we made our way to the junction where
you either head left to Ucluelet or right to Tofino, we decided since it the weather was not really nice and we had been to Tofino before, we would go into Ucluelet and see what it was all about. The drizzle became wetter when we stopped for a photo op at a beautiful ship that had been made into a hotel and restaurant, and we found ourselves not really keen to explore further.


We made a stop at a nice little grocery store where we stocked up on Pellegrino sparkling waters (Blood Orange, Yum!) and Steve found a candy aisle with all the different, nostalgic, Canadian candy anyone could ever want. It was enough to get us back across Highway 4 and safely back on the ferry at  Crofton.  All in all, starting from Crofton, the round trip took us about 7½ hours. If we had gone into Tofino, it would have been longer.


Once back in Vesuvius, it was dinner time so we stopped at the SeaSide Restaurant, which is just several hundred feet from the ferry dock, and had some really good fish & chips then it was on to our little cottage and a nice stiff drink!

 
Our Sunday was spent motoring our way back to Victoria in time to catch the afternoon ferry home. Sometimes logistics suck, but it’s all a part of the great adventure and we had a wonderful three days.

 
Happy motoring!

 

HOOD CANAL & LAKE CUSHMAN

The next installment of our motoring adventures took us to the Hood Canal and Lake Cushman area on a sunny Saturday. When you live on the Olympic Peninsula, Hwy 101 on the Hood Canal is one of our very few driving options to escape the Peninsula. It is a pleasant drive with some spectacular scenery along the way and enough wiggly road (yes, it’s a technical term!) to keep the driver happy. 

After passing through the burg of Quilcene, the road goes through ONP for a bit then dips down to the water and the town of Brinnon. You can find Whitney Gardens here, and if you have a bit of time, makes a great break. They have beautiful Rhododendrons and so much more. 

As we were motoring down the Canal, we saw hundreds of motorcycles heading the opposite way. We finally pulled over at Lilliwaup and just watched them pass by.

There were also many, many, many boats, (mostly on the water) due to it being the official opening day of boating season. There were pickups and boat trailers crammed into every conceivable place possible. 

At Hoodsport, we turned off to Lake Cushman…uncharted territory for us. We wandered up the road and eventually found ourselves at Cushman No. 1 Dam.

Since we didn’t know the area, we just motored around. We found the Lake Cushman Resort, which has RV spots and a nice little store with a huge deck and dock area.

  
Then we found a terrific view point.

    

We also found Skokomish Park, which we thought was a State Park, but is actually privately owned. It has two campgrounds and a lovely boat launch area. We toured around one loop of the campground, and Coop had to pretend he was camping!

After we ran out of paved road, we decided to turn around and go back down to see if we could find a place to have lunch. After looking around for a bit, we decided not to try any local diners and went to the IGA store instead. The roast chicken looked good so we got some to go and headed out to Potlatch to have a picnic in the park by the water. The wind was pretty strong, but the sun was still out, so we claimed a picnic table and had our lunch. Food definitely tasts better when eaten outdoors!

We finally packed everything up and started heading back North. Since it was so windy, the boats were coming off the water as fast as they could and as we motored up the road, we saw long lines of pickups with boat trailers waiting to pull their boats out of the water. Fun day. 

On a more somber note, on the Canal we came to where there had been a fatal accident involving a motorcycle and a sedan, and they were letting alternating single lane traffic get by. Kind of put a damper on the day. It also served as a reminder that you may think you have the road to yourself, but just around the corner might be someone else, so stay in your lane.

Drive safe & happy motoring!

 

HURRICANE RIDGE BOUND

Hurricane Ridge is in Olympic National Park and accessed via Port Angeles. The road starts at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center and continues up 17 miles, with a gain in elevation of over 5,000 feet. Also a mecca for serious bicyclists who want to test themselves against nature. Silly, I know, but I must confess to being one of those bicyclists a time or two myself thanks to a husband who has done that ride more times than anyone can count!

Up the road, Heart O’the Hills is the real entrance to the National Park and you will have to pay a per vehicle fee of $15 or if you have an Olympic National Park seasonal pass, it’s good for any ONP entrance.

Once past the entrance, the road twists and turns with amazing views around each corner. There are several viewpoints where you can take a photo op, and also three tunnels to go through. When you finally arrive at the top if it’s a clear day, the view of the Olympic Mountains is simply jaw dropping. The Ridge is a fantastic winter sport area, with skiing, snowshoeing, sledding and x-country skiing. The only drawback is road closures due to weather conditions…they don’t call it Hurricane Ridge for nothing! In summer, the Ridge is a great place to go for a picnic and a hike on the many trails in the area. The snow doesn’t leave until about June, but the road usually clears enough to safely navigate up without chains after April 1^st.

We had a great time motoring up the road, going through the tunnels and seeing the pretty lights on the dash, and looking up the mountains through the sunroof. Oh, I almost forgot…Coop turned 27000 miles on the way up!

It’s funny, motoring with Coop has opened our eyes again to the wonderful place we live. It’s like having a new car also gives us new eyes to see things through.

Once at the top, there really was not much to do but enjoy the view as we were in between seasons. Skiing is over for the year and there is too much snow to do anything else. An impressive amount of snow. Really, REALLY a lot of snow!
 

After taking many photos of the scenery, Coop, each other, and Coop in the scenery, we headed back down the road. We had great sunshine so had the sunroof open all the way, and I was taking some pictures out the sunroof at the mountains to the side when I noticed it looked like it was snowing. I  told Steve it was snowing and how cool is that? Then we realized it wasn’t snow, it was hail. Now those of you with a sunroof know the dilemma…do you close the sunroof then open again after the squall, or do you just go for it and leave it open? Well, we happened to be equipped with a sunscreen (what I call our screen door) so we closed the screen door and let it hail.

 

It never hailed so hard that it accumulated much, and only the tiniest of hail got through. The screen door was dry by the time we wound our way off the mountain.

 

Coop is an awesome car. We are constantly finding ourselves amazed by his cornering ability and the way he handles the road. Now, this sometimes is not a good thing for the driver because when you have to go the speed limit and Coop corners so well, it’s just not as exciting as when you are able to race around. At one point motoring up the Hurricane Ridge Road, Steve turned to me and said “Coop corners so well, I’m bored driving!” HA. Any other vehicle we had to brake and slow down for the corners. Ah well.

 

To get his fix of exciting driving, Steve headed Coop out to Piedmont Road where we still had good weather going for us. After navigating that frightening, ahem, exciting road, we turned east on Hwy 112 to head back home. On the way we realized we had not been to Freshwater Bay in quite some time so down the road we went. Freshwater Bay is a wonderful little place with a boat launch, a beach and a picnic area that’s open in summer. I have many vivid memories of picnicking on the beach, beach combing, kayaking, and so much more. It was one of my grandma's favorite places and you know how some places awaken a sense memory? Well, I can still taste her fried chicken and potato salad. Yum!

 

 

Over the years it seems Bachelor Rock has gotten smaller, but maybe my imagination is just larger than life here.

Life may not be perfect, but it sure can be fun.

Happy motoring!

April 14th



Well, here we are again! Motoring out on another adventure.

 

This time, we found ourselves chasing the sunshine. We planned our route and took off, only to find we had to change our plans quickly due to humongous black rain clouds. Silly us, planning a route! We know better now.

 

We headed west on Hwy 101 and dove off onto Hwy 112, where it looked like there may be some sunshine. We were looking forward to opening the sunroof and being in the country. As it turned out, we made a good choice. The route along Hwy 112 has some spectacular scenery, but sometimes you have to hunt for it. We love the drive through Salt Creek and on further through the Agate/Crescent Beach area. It's a really beautiful place. You can park for free at Salt Creek and enjoy the beach with all the other people, or you can pay a small fee at Crescent Beach and enjoy an empty beach all day long if you want to. Either way you can't lose!

 

Onward we went. Hwy 112 is the scenic route for the Olympic Peninsula. At times it dips down to where you can see the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We happened upon such a place and it pretty near took my breath away, the light was so perfect.

 

I love the beauty of the water and beach next to the gnarled, mossy trees.

 

 

 

 

Hwy 112 is not a boring drive, it twists, turns and goes through lovely forest and over many rivers. The road ends at a T where you have the choice to go towards the Makah Reservation or South to Forks via Hwy 113 or what we locals call Burnt Mountain Road. Since we were already most of the way there, we decided to head on to Forks. Burnt Mountain Road meets Hwy 101 at Sappho, which used to have a little store and gas station and was a landmark. The store burned down years ago and now all it has a cardlock gas station. Kind of sad. We took a spin through Forks and were headed back towards home before we even blinked.

 

Heading East on Hwy 101 back toward home, we found the rain and were even snowed on in a couple of places. When we were motoring around Lake Crescent, I found it quite beautiful in all its gloominess. You have plenty of time to enjoy the sights around the Lake because it is very long, the road hugs the Lake most of the way around and this is one place you do not want to speed. It's in the National Park and the Rangers take their job very seriously. So just relax and enjoy the view.

 

Happy motoring!

April 7th

Sunday was our second day with Coop. We took some time to become better acquainted then we were off again...motoring where our whims took us.

We went up over Black Diamond to the Elwha River and Coop handled the road beautifully. It's a great paved road up in the foothills of the Olympics where there is not much traffic and the scenery is beautiful.

Then we headed West to Piedmont Road, which is a notorious road in our area for it's twisty & narrow unruliness. Add the facts that it's on Lake Crescent, which is a large lake and people actually live along there, and the road is used as a "shortcut" (which is a relative term around here) from one side of the mountain to the other side, and you have quite an interesting driving experience. The road is closed to commercial vehicles, but that doesn't mean large LARGE 4x4's don't use it, so sometimes it's a squeeze on the corners. Anyway, one of the main reasons we bought a Mini was because it was fun to drive, right? Well, driving at least keeps the driver busy, but being a motoring passenger I found myself closing my eyes with fright in a few places! Needless to say, the driver had himself a lot of fun with that road.











We ended up at Salt Creek, where we paused for a fashion shoot because Coop looked so good. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but he really is purple. The metallic undercolor is blue though, so that color shines through in the sun.

We headed off once again, but East this time. We were not ready to head for home yet, so we motored over Sequim way and explored places we had not seen in quite some time. The whole Sequim/Dungeness area has grown so much over the past ten years, it's hard to find some of the old landmarks we used to navigate by.

As we were on our second adventure with Coop, we began to notice a cool phenomenon. When people see us, they stop, smile and wave. More so than with any other vehicle we have owned. We have also found that when telling people we bought a Mini Cooper, the immediate reaction is a huge smile, then they want to talk about it. It's nice to share the Mini Cooper vibe!

April 6, 2013

Our Mini adventures begin with the new addition to our family...Coop.
He's a 2005 Mini Cooper in Purple Haze Metallic, with 26,500 miles on him.
The interior is Lapis and Gray Gravity leather with blue carpets and black mats and has a panorama sunroof.

We begin on my birthday, April 6th, with finally deciding to go car shopping. Not that we don't have any cars, but because the cars we do have are very, very tired and probably wouldn't make it very far out of town. Anyway, we girded our whatever's and headed out to do battle with any car salesmen we ran across.

It was just our luck we decided to check out a car we had seen online in our town before heading towards the bigger cities. We pulled in and headed towards the cars on the lot when Dave swooped upon us and took us under his wing. He soon ferreted out of us what we were kind of looking for, which was to see and sit in the Mini Cooper Convertible they had on the lot so we could judge if we really wanted to pursue that avenue of cars.
Dave excitedly informed us he had a "cherry of all cherries" on the lot that had just come out of detail and had been taken in on a trade a few days before. Out through the shop we went and to the back of the lot. Then we saw Coop. He was magnificent in all his purple glory, sparkling in the sunshine. He had me at Hello, but I was trying to stay cool and collected. Opening the drivers door I could not help but smile at the interior colors, blue and dark grey. What a wonderful combination!

So, we actually did go look at the other Mini on the lot and decided as we would be using the car we bought as an every day driver, that the visibility out the back factor in the convertible would be problematic to deal with every day. Besides, it wasn't purple.

Ok, so next came the test drive. We took separate test drives so we could compare notes after. I was first, and it was not long before I knew I could not go home without this car.

When thinking up a name for our new addition, I mentioned the name Coop and found out that Dave told DH, Steve, that I "drove it like I stole it". Since D.B. Cooper is so famous in this area, and after all, Coop is a Cooper, we had our name.

After paperwork was done, we took Coop out for a drive and really started feeling how much fun we were going to have on our coming adventures.

There ends my most awesome birthday ever!!