Travels With A Mini Named Coop: 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!