MOUNTAINS OF MINIS!

By Erin 'Gigglechick' Bennett

Thursday we arrived in beeeeeeeeeeautiful Winter Park, Colorado... The combination of breathtaking scenery and the thin air in the mountains left me gasping.



Thursday night we were graciously invited by MINIs In The Mountains to join them on their cruise through Winter Park. Two Hundred and Two MINIs certainly made an impression on this town!











Along the route, I met BEAN, Vicki's yellow MINI and her adopted Bulldog, CAMI. Vicki is part of mini5280.org, The Motoring Society of the Rocky Mountain Region.



After the cruise, we parked downtown where they only allowed MINIs to fill the spots.



There WAS, however, a rogue Honda that was hoping that he could pass himself off as a MINI... kinda sad, isn't it?



At the social, there was a bluegrassy/Irish band that took the stage with the crowd of MINI owners relaxing on the great lawn. Hot Dogs, Ice Cream, MINIs and just all around great company!!





I was hoping that these two MINIs would have parked next to each other, alas, they were about 117 spots apart.





We ran into Kat & Brent on the way to the shindig... I'll discuss them in a future post!



Friday we were treated to a ski lift ride up to the tippity top of the mountain...



MINI owners live on the edge - I think this coupe was enjoying the Whiptastic Handling of the Ski Lift

My new friends, Vince & Paul, were "risking their lives" right behind us! The view makes the lift ride worth it!



At the top, we headed to the lodge where there was a wonderful BBQ lunch for all of us.



Some folks took the Alpine Slide down to the bottom --- I opted for the shuttle (No, it's not that I was a chicken... it's because I had my 2 cameras with me. No, really, I wasn't chicken!) It's the World's Largest Alpine Slide... it really did look like a blast!

70 miles left until all the MINIs converge on the Mile High City!

One last photo for this post... keep in mind -- BOTH are ACTUAL SIZE!!!