HRMINI

I got home about 30 minutes ago. Route 55 from Seneca Rocks was a nice drive. It was great meeting all of you and I look forward to our next encounter  :wink:

Dale you did a hell of a job with the run and I will see you at the Beltway Charity run.

I will post the best of photos when I have time to review all the one I shot.

See Brian aka Hypr Blu

Thanks for all the efforts that went into planning this event. The Saturday Run was Very enjoyable for both wife and I.  We didn't have enough time for the sunday run, so had to leave early. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next event. Heidi & Mike

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Here are some photos from the weekend  :038:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14941376@N05/sets/72157622538149125/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14941376@N05/sets/72157622538149125/)

WOW! :038: What a blast!  Where to start?

First and foremost, thanks to everyone that came out to Monterey and participated in the Fall Colors Run '09. (Anybody know what anniversary this is? 4th annual, 5th annual???) I'm not one to brag a bunch, but DANG this event went pretty well. Well, except having a dead radio battery for the big Saturday run (Thanks Dave and Kathy for the radio, tho this left you without one.) and the rain Saturday AM that threatened to make a washout, or at least a good dampening of the Main run. That's after is DID wash out the Friday night Darkness Run. Also, the 1 hour delay on on Rte 33 heading back to Harrisonburg from Seneca Rocks. Dang tractor trailer tried doing a U turn on a bridge on a two lane road. 46' long trailer, 44' wide bridge. And NO, it didn't work. Dave has pics. Just wait.

Now, for the things that went right and things I need to acknowledge. First. Highland Inn, the staff were super helpful. What a wonderful old place. It is so stately I can't explain. The 100+ year old building just has a personality and Lisa and Debbie and their staff are great. To the town of Monterey, you have a great little town. Gang, you wouldn't believe a town in the year 2009 can be so quiet. Talk about a retirement place! The folks at Cass railroad and the Last Run Restaurant did a great job at getting us lunch. Even if we did have exploding ketchup. Again, back at the Highland Inn, the staff fed us dinner on our schedule. An hour behind their normal seating time! And I saw A LOT of empty plates! YUM! Oh by the way, Saturday's weather cleared up to give us a great day! Sunday was beautiful, too. As crappy as Saturday dawned, Sunday made up for it! Cool, but sunny and NO clouds! The run up to Seneca Rocks was beautiful. Even though I drew up directions on a route I didn't plan to take (y'all couldn't tell could ya!!) it was spectacular. Maybe I need to screw up like that again. Sorry for Brian and the flat tire he suffered on the boulder in the road. I caught part of it, Marty Bongers behind me missed it and Brian didn't. He then made the call on the radio he had damage. We all pulled over, grabbed tools, Jeff grabbed his spare and we were on our way in less than 15 minutes. I was impressed! We had a great time at Seneca. I had planned a few pics and then hit the road. That stop went absolutely fantastic. I could do it again tomorrow!

Now for my last thanks, a big one to My buddies Steve &  Elaine Shell. They had Lil Stinker bringing up the rear most of the runs. It made life so much easier knowing we had a tailgunner that would look after everyone. Thanks to everyone that went to Wright's Dairy Rite. Was that great food or what. And if you didn't go, you don't know how good a wheelie is! And you're missing something great! And my biggest thanks to everybody for coming in the first place. I hope we have twice as many or more next year. If that happens, we'll seriously outgrow the Highland, but we should absolutely try to keep them in the loop somehow. They really were great to work with. And last, but certainly not least, thanks to all the donations you brought to the Highland County SPCA. We collected nearly 300 pounds of food and litter and at least $105 in cash. Great job Gang!

As I sit here totally worn out, I had one of the best times of my life with some of the greatest damn people I could possibly be so lucky to know. Regina helped out a lot with planning also. And no matter how much planning I could ever do, without such great people as y'all, this event would have never been the success it was. I humbly thank each and everyone of you that came out and played.

Now for next year.........

Dale and Regina,

 Thank you both for your hard work on this event.  Weather be damned, I had a ball!  I enjoyed the runs and the company immensely!   :icon_mrgreen:

Thanks to Dale and Regina for organizing a excellent weekend.  :023: I'm sure there was much more time put into this than we can guess and it sure paid off. :045: From the high quality and designed shirts/hoodies, very nice Highland Inn stay and dinners, to the interesting and fun well planned routes we all traveled :044: together.  This was one of the best organized events I've attended.  :038: Thank you to all who had their hand in making this weekend a very rememberable MINI experience.  :023:

I'm sharing most of my photos for those who didn't have a camera.  Enjoy and copy what you'd like...

The password to view these photos is FallRun2009

http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc74/doniaduck/Mini%20Fall%20Run%202009/?start=20


I have many miles of video to sort through.  :105:  Bill was having trouble with it last night so I'll give it a shot and post later.

I tried viewing the photos but the site wants a password. Am I doing something wrong?  :104:

Thanks Brian

I just thought of another Thanks I need to throw out. J.P. Alonzo, who is from the WV area attended the event. He had a wealth of knowledge and was extremely helpful. AND...the lucky bum gets to drive those roads ALL THE TIME!!!!! I'm sure I'll have more thanks to throw out as they come back to me. Dang gettin' old is tough!

Oh, I'm of course viewing them from my computer so they come right up.  My Photobucket account is private.  Let me see if I can make this one folder public without the rest of my account.  Thanks for the heads up.  :023:


Okay, the password to view my photos is...  FallRun2009  (all one word, no spaces)

Looks like you guys had a blast, sorry I couldn't be there. I would have loved to have joined you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice Pics Brian & Donia!

Keep 'em coming! :023:

Great pictures.  :038:

Sure wish we could have made this one  :088:

Somehow I took like 75 pictures.  :017:  I didn't think I was that big of a shutterbug.  :102:  Enjoy! (They are still uploading as I post this)

http://s179.photobucket.com/albums/w304/warped_07/Fall%20Colors%20Run%202009/

Speaking of empty plates...  I was just sitting here thinking about the pecan chicken that I had for dinner at the Highland Inn on Saturday night and I think that I need to go find that recipe.  That was really good!  Chef Lisa really put out some great food!  :icon_mrgreen:

What a time we had!

Pammy and I just want to thank all of our new MINI FRIENDS!  We had an absolutely fantastic time, though we are brand new to the Mini Community we were welcomed like old friends!  Dale and Regina thanks so much for organizing the run it was a first class event.  Looking forward to the next event.

Motor Happy,

Marty and Pammy

Had a blast hanging out with everyone this weekend!  Thanks again Dale and Regina!  Have a few pics that turned out on my face book.  the link is below


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036587&id=1074767732&l=86fe85f8ef (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036587&id=1074767732&l=86fe85f8ef)

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2505/4047601769_1d49d23af3.jpg)

Thanks Dale and HR MINIs for a great event.  Sorry I had to bug out early on Sunday -- I was on the road at 6:00 AM heading for Atlanta.  Got in around 4:00 PM yesterday.  The Highland Inn was just as I remembered it from my childhood -- with the addition of the TVs and internet.  The roads were excellent and the rain didn't dampen things a bit.  I am already looking forward to next year's Fall Colors Run!

Marty, We're really glad you and Pammy came to the event. It was a blast hanging out with y'all too. It's always great seeing new faces and meeting new people. As corny as it sounds, MINI owners know no strangers. Only people we ain't met yet! And we glad we met you two.

Quick story, I was at another local MINI clubs event back in '08. My first one with them actually. It was at a little pub. There were probably 20 cars there, but no one I knew. We hung around for probably 25 minutes, tried to listen in to a few conversations, but felt like we were butting in and were never welcomed or even acknowledged. We left feeling like we were imposing on "their" event, even though it was posted on their site. I went to a couple of their later events, but only with people I knew. I wonder how many others had the same experience and NEVER came back? So that's my philosophy: talk it up amongst the regular guys, but make ANY new face feel like they've been there all along! Sooner or later the old guys may leave and if you aren't attracting the new blood, the club will wither away. Ain't gonna happen at HR MINI while I'm here! We're friendly!!!!!

Now, back to the FCR '09 action!

Photos!

http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/mistertripps/HR%20Fall%20Colors%20Run%202009/

 Nathan.

You have got to figure out some way to get away from work and attend some of our events once and a while. You would have really loved the Fall Colors Run !!   It was a TON of FUN !!  Best HRMINI event ever, in my opinion !!   WELL DONE DALE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

As  brand new members all that I can say is WOW!!! What a great time! Can't wait for the next event! Great people and beautiful sights!! Sorry we couldn't hang around for the day on Sunday! Thanks to all for organizing such a super weekend!

Well I ordered my new tire on Sunday, it was delivered today and it is mounted :038: I am ready to motor again  :026:

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj92/eshell5977/2009%20Fall%20Colors%20Run/

Here's the link for our photo's from this past weekend. Feel free to down load any you like.

Dale, Bill and I can ditto that story X3.  We kept trying with the same results.  :icon_frown:  As most noticed this weekend I'm a busy body looking for fun and good conversation.  I consider myself very friendly with everyone.  Glad we kept trying and discovered HRMini!!!  :023:  

I've saved a few pics that others have taken that were so much better than my own.  I've labeled them with the takers name so that they stay with me and I don't end up posted them somewhere without permission.  :023:

Remember when you're saving pics from others to click on the pic to view it bigger, than save it.  If you don't you'll end up with small pics to small to enjoy.  Ask me how I know?  :101:

Just a bit more publicity for the club and MINI owners in general, I finally got to do my interview on the radio that serves Highland county yesterday. Keith Carson called me and did the interview on the phone. Also, Heather from the radio station joined HR MINI as "Heather" so we have an official "in" at the station now.

Heather sent me a copy of the interview this morning and I think Keith did a pretty good job of it. I'll try to figure out how to post it asap.

Okay, anybody know how to post a mp3 file on here? :102:

It is hard to add anything to this post that has not already been said, but I think I have something.  The Highland Inn was a real joy to stay at.  Out of the 20 unique rooms, MINI people had 16 of them.  The place was more like a dorm of friendly classmates than a hotel.  Lots of people with their room doors wide open, inviting people to come in and see their unique room and ask about their arrival trip.  Old telephones in the hallways to call the front desk had cloth cords on them.  Squeeky wood floors and doors that blew open when someone else opened their door down the hall.  Some dogs and cats running around to say hello to everyone.  A friendly Tavern, comfy parlor and various rooms and porches all full of MINI people eager to say hello!  The dinners were five star, the staff was eager to please and they even called everyone "Honey".  The front porches were wide and full of rocking chairs to sit on and talk it up.  The tin roof was beating with rain and wind and there of course was the rumors of a ghost in room 26. Awesome place.

Of course it is about the cars, of course it is about the windy "hold onto the passenger seat handle" roads, of course it is about breathtaking vistas around each corner and the colors!!!  But most of all, it is about all the wonderful friends old and new that make this kind of event one that rates as one of the best weekends I spent all year. :052:

Thank you Dale and Regina for all the hours and travel that went into planning this event.  It could not have been more perfect.  :023:

It seems I missed a few photos when I originally posted.  Here are some more.  I may have doubled up, but who doesn't like looking at a few extra photos of some really cool cars and beautiful scenery.  Once again as everyone said, thank you Dale and Regina.  This was an awesome experience.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036608&id=1074767732&l=2a18bad386 (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036608&id=1074767732&l=2a18bad386)

I received a Thank You note from the folks at the SPCA in Monterey Saturday and I thought I'd share it with you fine folks:

Dear Dale and Friends,
Thank you for your donations of money, food and litter to the Highland SPCA. Your generosity and compassion is greatly appreciated.

May the Lord bless all of you in your travels and in your lives.

Carol Furr
Highland SPCA

What an appropriate name for an SPCA person!