On the Road

The Biennial Cross-country rally known as MINI Takes the States (MTTS) is here again. And it's Rory's first time. I purchased him just after MTTS in 2010. MTTS 2012 began in New Jersey last week and is heading west. I've decided to join the rally in Albuquerque and finish at the endpoint in L.A. Many of the Sin City Minis are going to join in Phoenix on Friday, but it seemed too dull just to do the last leg. I had time off coming to me, and it's just enough of a trip to get the full MTTS experience without spending too much money. The downside, I have to get to Albuquerque on my own before I'll likely encounter anyone familiar. Last MTTS, I was a co-pilot, and our group went all the way from here to Denver. I'm kind of looking forward to the time alone though. I can take my time, and relax on the way out. Then all the MTTS craziness will be a good contrast on the way back. I'll be leaving tomorrow, probably with a stop in Flagstaff, and then on to ABQ by Thursday night to meet the rally. Then we'll head to Phoenix, then L.A., then home.

Coincidentally, I was actually in L.A. twice last month. First I went to see a live taping of the Nerdist podcast with Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. Kind of spur of the moment since my trip to New York got cancelled. Then three weeks later, Dad and I went down to see the Mets play the Dodgers. It was his Father's Day present. George was supposed to come too, but he had to beg off at the last moment. It was a good time though. I took my Dad to the ballgame, the Mets won 5-0 (another gem from Johan!), Ike Davis hit a home run just for me, and we had a fun little road trip. There was singing along to Neil Diamond. I was surprised that Dad was happy to go in my car, but with just the two of us it was perfect. So one trip on my own, and one with Dad. And now the main event. I still hope to go to New York to see Hina, but we'll have to figure that out after the rally. 

On the bus home from work today I was thinking about the sort of symmetry that's coming into play here. MTTS 2006 traveled west to east. After it hit Vegas, it headed for Flagstaff, then Albuquerque before continuing on, ending up in Connecticut. MINIfir was just 3 years old. When I started, I knew no one in the MINI community. Now 6 years later, I'm a veteran of the MTTS scene, travelling in my second MINI (a nearly two year old youngster), and after two other variations of the route, we'll again be hitting some of the same cities, but east to west. It also puts me in mind of another road trip I took, a little over 10 years ago, in a foreign land, unravelling spools of string as I went. This time, I'll have GPS.

It also happens to be the All-Star Break for Major League Baseball. Two Mets made the squad, R.A. Dickey, whose phenomenal 12-1 first half should have earned him the start, and David Wright who was cheated out of his starting slot by some overzealous fans in San Francisco. They both got in the game at least. The Mets finished the first half at 46-40, six games over .500, just 4.5 games back of the 1st place Washington Nationals. It would've been nice to win that last series against the Cubs. The Braves were able to just squeak into second place ahead of us by 1/2 game. But it's all good. We start the second half against them, and maybe some bulllpen help will be on the way before the trade deadline. We can only hope...

In the meantime, GO FORTH. GO WEST. GO MINI.