Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

This weekend was the best MOT yet thanks to the spectacular weather, despite making the trip all the way back from New Hampshire in a tow truck!

This was the first year that I went up Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning. We met up with several other MINIs in the Area 51 caravan to drive up, and drove the Kancamagus and Bear Notch before heading to the hotel. Friday night was a lot of fun with a great beer swap, and some super fast-paced and challenging trivia! My team tied for 4th.

Saturday went like the past few years, first meeting in the Loon lot, then heading on some curvy drives and a late stop for lunch. Then, we all met again at the base of Mt. Washington for dinner and raffle prizes, before hundreds of MINIs ascended the Mt. Washington Auto Road.

Unlike MINIsOnTop 2004 and MOT 05, the weather was sunny and warm every day. Even on top of the mountain you could still wear shorts and a T-shirt. Of course it was still foggy so no good views but that was a million times better than constant rain or 96-mph winds and freezing temperatures. The only complaint that I had was the area had unusually low winds, so I again could not fly my Kite Camera that I had been working on all week.

Also new for me this year was the Observatory Tour. A few dozen MOT attendees are randomly selected, and head up about an hour before the others to we get a very detailed tour of the weather observatory on top of Mt. Washington. This included an explanation of all the instruments, meeting the resident observatory cat, and even climb the observatory tower all the way to the top next to the wind instruments. It was very interesting and one of the highlights of my weekend.

Afterwards we headed down the mountain and back to the Town and Country Inn for some drinks at the bar. Sunday morning, after packing everything into the car, my MINI would not start! At 10:30, the majority of MINI guests had already departed, but I did find a few to help me, and we determined the fuel pump was blowing its fuse. Unfortunately there was nothing more we could do but call MINI Roadside Assistance and get towed to the nearest MINI dealer: almost all the way back to Boston, to MINI of Peabody! I can’t complain as this is the first time my MINI has ever met a tow truck.

After a long, hot (The OBC read 96!) wait of 2 hours the tow truck showed up and we were on our way for a long trip back to Massachusetts, made even longer by the bike week traffic. My MINI is now getting repairs, and a long overdue service II and oil change, at MOP.

My photos will slowly be added as I edit and post them. I have also started a MOT 06 group on Flickr for everyone to share their photos. A big thank you goes out to all who were involved in the incredible task of organizing and running MINIsOnTop, and also the many who helped me out on Sunday. It reminds you that our events are even more about the great people than the great cars.