we are winners!!

Did the MINI of Mountain View "One Warm Coat" pie plate rally today with MyFriendJen...about 50-60 MINI drivers and passengers got together, donated coats for charity, and then headed out on a three-hour drive down 17, through Watsonville, through twisty-turny roads, and back up, all the while watching for pie plates nailed to posts on the side of the road. Each plate had a symbol or word on it; find enough of them and you might win a prize. And....

....WE WON!

Well, we came in third...but that gave us what I thought was the coolest of the prizes: a women's MINI watch [valued at $140!!]. On top of that, each car got a free MINI hat [the Che Guevara kind that Jen had been coveting, so that totally worked out] and a "MINI Motoring Heart" pin [commemorating MINI's charity work].

The drive itself was long, and it took a surprising amount of concentration to watch for the pie plates, and then figure out what was on them once you found one. Jen rocked...she had serious eagle eyes. We missed one sharp turn, but no harm...on turning around, we found a pie plate. Towards the end, after about 2.5 hours of focusing and watching for plates, we missed a turn [the map said "continue on <blah> road", when it should have said "bear right onto <blah> road"]. We ended up on this tiny dirt road heading into the hills...a fun drive, but not the right way. Luckily a gate barred the way not too far in, so we *knew* it was the wrong way. Back we went, found the correct turn, and even caught up with another MINI. We weren't the last ones in, so our egos remained fairly whole.

After everyone made it in, the dealership had a barbeque for us, and we all stood around guessing how many donated coats were stuffed into the MINI convertible [answer: an awesome 266...and they are hoping to break 300 before the end of this week]. Then we found out who won [THIRD PLACE, BABY!!! Awesome MINI watch...w00t!!], chatted a bit more, got a group picture taken in front of the MINI stuffed with coats [for MC^2 magazine...watch for us in the March/April issue!], and headed off into a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

Wheeeeee!!!!