At last, the new Mini Cooper Clubman S has arrived! Welcome to the family, little Mini! We have it now.

We’ve been tracking the car online, watching the ship it was on (“Integrity”) sail across the ocean on the way to it’s new home. The weeks flew by as the car was built, taken to the dock, and loaded onto the ship, but as the ship approached North America, time seemed to slow and virtually stop before we finally got the call from our Motoring Advisor that it was ready to be picked up.

We said goodbye to our old friend, the Blue Beetle Bug. The beetle was the first new car I’ve ever purchased, and it has been a reliable and trustworthy pal for the past 9 years. We gave it a good cleaning and took it into the dealer for the trade in.

Goodbye, old friend – we hope you find a new home with someone who loves you as much as we did!

The trade in process went smoothly, although we did have to threaten to take the beetle bug home with us a couple of times – but we ended up getting what we wanted for it.

Then, happily, we got to drive the new Mini Cooper Clubman S home!

It’s really awesome:

And we love the interior – Piano Black, Chrome, and Red combination:

Each day’s question is “Where can we drive to?” just so we get the chance to drive it. I can’t wait for our first official road trip. Maybe Memorial day? I predict lots of driving this summer.

I love it because it’s fast. And because it’s really exciting to drive, and it’s comfortable, shiny, swift, and cute. I’ve gotta run – must go drive now.