Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

On the way home from MINIsOnTop this past Sunday, my MINI finally hit 100,000 miles! (You may have spotted it at the end of the MOT video) It’s hard to believe that I’ve owned it for over six years. The MINI was my daily driver for the majority of that time, through every season and condition. It’s been very reliable for the most part. In fact, if I can ever get the time to give it its yearly polish and wax, it’s still looking pretty much like new. Not many other cars can say that. And of course no other car has offered so many smiles over 100,000 miles.

If I had not slowed to driving the MINI for two days a week after getting the 1-Series, I probably would have hit 100,000 back in November. After so many long commutes building the majority of the miles over just the last three years, I had to give the MINI some rest. It is still in good shape for the most part, and once I can afford to do some maintenance, hopefully I can get it back to better-than-new condition (probably due for new suspension, better brakes, etc). Sadly what is feeling even older is the MINI community in general. The forums have died down, the twice-monthly drives have disappeared, and my own spare time has vanished. I wish I could go back to washing it every weekend as I did in the fist few years. But what a great time it has been over these years and miles, so much fun was had, and I did not regret a single thing with my MINI. More significantly were the many great friends made because of it. I only hope it continues for years to come.

Another successful MINIsOnTop this weekend, where we were long overdue for some nasty weather like 2004. Visibility was almost zero, winds gusting to 60mph, wind chills at freezing (and I was in shorts). When I was affixing all the past MOT clings to my mini last week, I realized this is now my 7th MOT! Crazy. My MINI had a break last year, but was back on top this year, successfully braving the conditions.

I will eventually be posting my photos as usual, but I made a quick video to hold you over. The clips were taken at various moments when I realized photos could not communicate the extreme conditions; the near blind drive up and down the auto road, and the summit with winds so strong you could hardly stand on the rocks. The video is embedded above, or click through to YouTube to view in hi-def.

While driving in Peabody this weekend, I noticed a “Coming Soon” sign for the new site of MINI of Peabody, and demolition of the existing property has already begun, so I stopped to snap a photo (above-click for larger).

It is right next to BMW of Peabody, directly across from the Northshore Mall on 114. If you think the one-direction-only access to MOP on Rt. 1 was bad before, prepare for it to be much worse. Not only can you not turn in from the other direction, but it is right in between two of the busiest intersections and the main mall entrance. I had to wait well over five minutes just to turn right out of the driveway thanks to non-stop traffic. Hopefully the back will be connected to BMW so you can exit from its driveway, which is just slightly better. Though the location is much more visible commercially, it doesn’t look like there are any real improvements as far as space or location. I guess we’ll see soon.

I promised in the original MOT post that I would let you know when my pictures are posted. Sorry for the very long wait, but the gallery is now fully online. Thanks to the amazing clouds, sunset, and rainbows, there are some spectacular photos from this summer. Perhaps they will help warm you up from this winter’s frigid temperatures!

If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, not only did we get the aforementioned new car, but we’ve also moved to a new house in the fall, and then the holidays hit. I’m just coming up for air now!