Tag: San Francisco

Cecil awaits the the start of MTTS 2014
Cecil sits on Alfie awaiting the the start of MTTS 2014

Bright an early in San Francisco more MINI Coopers than I could count showed up for the first leg of MINI Takes The States.  It all started with a photo, breakfast, and Tony Hawk jumping over some MINIs as we headed out.  I was wonderful, but we ran into one small problem… We got lost.  Not really lost because we knew where we were going (Sacramento and then Reno) but we lost the group.  One of those things you learn on a trip like this- don’t always follow the MINI in front of you.  How could this happen?!? Being somewhat techie I’m always for trying something new, this time MINIUSA tried an app to help push out directions and updates instead of printing out route sheets as they had done in the past… I learned a long time ago that the minute you put your faith in technology, it will fail.  A large group followed a some people doing some wine tasting in Napa. Another group tried to follow the original route, and we just ended up driving straight to Sacramento to the dealership for lunch.

After lunch we headed out with the MINIons (Cecil’s group of followers) on our way to Reno… and some bowling.

Cecil at the California State Capital building in Sacramento
Cecil at the California State Capital building in Sacramento
One of my other prjects "MINIfigs Take The States" the Lego Mini Cooper and over 30 minifigs.
One of my other projects “MINIfigs Take The States” the Lego Mini Cooper and over 30 minifigs.  Here they are in Sacramento.
Cecil enjoying his lunch in Sacramento... He had asked for a gluten free, vegan, roast beef sandwich... I don't know whether I filled out his dietary restrictions correctly when we registered.
Cecil enjoying his lunch in Sacramento… He had asked for a gluten free, vegan, roast beef sandwich… I don’t know whether I filled out his dietary restrictions correctly when we registered.
sfparty
Cecil looking dapper at the Launch Party for MTTS 2014
One of the things that is kind of funny when you travel around with a monkey is how everyone wants to know about the monkey, and you fade into the background.  As an introvert, this doesn’t bother me.  During the party more people asked me where Cecil was, than how I was doing.  IN fact there was a group of people who just kind of screamed ‘There’s the Monkey!” and asked for a photo op.  Due to social media and newcomers to MTTS concerned about what they should wear (and thousands of other things), Cecil did decide to wear his tuxedo, to really mess with their minds.  Most people were in a MINI related t-shirt.  The lanyards were color coded to create a pecking order Orange for those going “all the way,” blue and green  designated staff and press, and then black for those who could travel a portion of the route. Now for those who have been following along before you get confused I feel (because I’ve had to do this numerous times in person) I should explain and I’m sure I will explain again, and again… There is only one Cecil, he has an army of cloned minions, but there is only one Cecil.  Minions wear fezzes (because Cecil thinks he looks like he’s escaped from an organ grinder when he wears one, but the minions look fine), they also go by a numeric designation not a name.  The minions are kept in Cecil’s lair in secret so we have no idea how many there are.
The first step for MINI Takes The States was a simple get together at San Francisco MINI just Sue, the monkey, me, and around 600 of our closest friends.  So how does this work?  We paid $45 each to register for the entire event, It didn’t matter if we went to one stop or all the way $45.  When we arrived we were given a badge that would be scanned at each stop, a lanyard, a button, and a drink ticket.  There were photo opportunities, and chances to buy things like the coveted MTTS 2014 grill badge.  There were waiters roaming around with food and basically it was a ginormous cocktail party.  Once we got in we ran into our old friends (and a few new ones) and chatted about the upcoming adventure.