Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

A few weeks ago was my favorite annual MINI event, MINIsOnTop. After the last two years of great weather and visibility, we were bound to get a different taste of New England weather this year. We were instead inside clouds and experienced some scary auto road driving in zero visibility. The crowd was a bit different this year as well as there seemed to be a higher percentage of newer mini owners, which just added to the excitement. It was also the first year for Clubmen to ride to the top. Though not as conducive to photography, the climb to the clouds still produced some great shots. Please visit my gallery and step through the descriptions to experience the story of the day.

Gas prices have been skyrocketing lately, resulting in some noticeably jealous looks from others while filling up. I drove to CT this weekend, where prices are 25 cents higher than here in MA. I filled up at this Citgo, at $4.17 the cheapest I could find for 93. The Mobil around the corner was a whopping $4.39!

Which brings me to my other point. While some only want to feed their MINI “quality” name-brand gas, I’ve almost always sought out the cheapest stations I could find. Around here, that usually means Hess or a private name. Last week however I was stuck and found a Mobil that wasn’t too overpriced. Many have heard my dislike for Mobil, who jack up their prices and still have lines of stupid people while the cheaper station next to them sits empty. For that price, you are NOT getting better fuel. Mobil is NOT a member of the Top Tier alliance of other quality brands. After filling up there last week, I had cold start issues throughout the whole tank. The proof is in the pudding, and the larger hole in your wallet.

On Friday, I had my third windshield installed. The above crack had been growing all winter long, but I wanted to wait till the sand trucks and potholes were gone before putting on some nice fresh glass. This time I brought it to Sublime, who personally look over the glass guys who install it, and they did a great job. I was sure to quickly apply Aquapel this weekend, which I discovered just after getting the last windshield.

Today MINI of Peabody had their annual Poker Run around northeastern MA. And just like each year, it was another rainy day. This time we headed north around the Newburyport and Merrimack area, and as usual following the route was quite a challenge. If you did so correctly, a playing card was given at various points, and by the end you had a full hand. It proved even more of a challenge to me as I showed up just as the last MINI was departing and had no directions, then again later in the run when I was running on fumes and had to detour to buy the most expensive gas ever (yes, I still keep track). Of course this still meant some fun driving, beautiful sights, and working with other MINI drivers to find missed turns and to make sense of the directions.

Afterwards we returned to the dealership where the best poker hands received prizes as well as a raffle drawing, and the best prize of all, an always excellent catered lunch. Hopefully this will serve as a kick off to yet another great season of local mini runs. The biggest and best of which, by the way, is coming soon; MINIsOnTop registrations must be mailed in tomorrow!