Saturday we attended the MTTS – Mini Takes The States Rally.

We’re new Mini Cooper Clubman owners, so we didn’t really know what to expect. We got up super early on Saturday, and drove down to Lincoln Park Zoo to start out the rally. Thanks to our new mini friend Dan, we got there in plenty of time, and were 5th in line for the rally!

Mini Cooper Rally!

It was a gorgeous day for motoring. After an unsatisfying continental breakfast at the Zoo, we gathered with over 400 other mini coopers and their owners for the drive up to Road America Wisconsin. It was quite a sight – hundreds of various-colored and shaped minis, all on the road together, traveling north. The only impediment to our driving fast, real rally style – was the stupid traffic on the Edens.

But we made it!

The festival was well-organized and pretty fun. The area was beautiful and the Mini-ambassadors made us feel welcome. We made Mini bumper stickers:

We also walked around, met some lovely people from Rhinelander, WI, made friends with Paul from Minnesota, talked to Steve from New Jersey, learned about teardrops from a fellow from Oklahoma, drank free vitamin-water, got swag, people watched, bought Mini t-shirts, met Todd from White Roof Radio, test drove the new Mini Cooper John Cooper Works car on a tiny track, got lots of sun, ate ice cream, and generally had a swell time.

The most surprising thing about the day was there were no two minis alike. We thought for sure that we’d find our Mini Cooper Clubman Twin, but we didn’t! There wasn’t any car that looked like ours. I love that. It makes us feel unique in this world of sameness.

The highlight of the day for us was driving on the 4.2 mile racetrack at the end of the day. It made me laugh – the sight of all these tiny minis, motoring around the track, and we were one of them! I giggled the whole time.

Sometimes, objects in mirror are smaller than they appear.

We did the wave, mini-style.

We finished driving on the racetrack and made our way back to Chicago.

A perfect day for Mini Friends, for Mini Togetherness, for Mini Fun and for a Mini Rally. The Mini owners we met were all very nice, and the event made me glad that we bought a Mini. I wish it happened more than once every two years – I’m ready for the next one!