We’re also looking for write-ups of the event! Autoblog sent a reporter (Jeff Glucker, I believe) so keep an eye on their site for coverage soon. If you’ve found other articles or posts (or written your own!) let us know. We’ll have a summary post soon.

After a long day of driving (or maybe even several days of driving) you’ll have a chance to chill out at Attitash on Friday night with the return of a perennial favorite, Sundae on Friday! Our friends at MINI of Manhattan have stepped up to bring you the best sugar high this side of Vermont. Grab a scoop and party like you’re in Times Square! The ice cream starts getting served in the MOTORoom at 7:30pm, but don’t wait too long, ’cause everyone screams for ice cream.

Nobody likes to motor on an empty stomach and let’s face it, Saturday’s a pretty big day of motoring. Once again, we’re happy to bring you the Saturday morning breakfast, courtesy of local MINI powerhouses (yes, you can be small and big at the same time!) MINI of Peabody and the opening-soon MINI of Bedford. Follow your nose to the source of the bacon, once again at the MOTORoom from 6:30 to 8.

By the time you make it back to Attitash on Saturday evening, you’ll have seen one of the most spectacular sunsets of your life and/or experienced some truly epic weather at the top of Mt. Washington. There’s also a chance that some of you will need help releasing the grip-of-death from the steering wheel, door handle, or the driver’s right arm after the exhilarating drive down the mountain. Well, get ready to unwind and turn this mother out with the mothership connection, the folks responsible bringing those funky little cars we love so much to the USA, MINI Eastern Region! So put a glide in your stride and a dip in your hip and come back down to the MOTORoom at 9pm for the party on the mothership. Dig?

1. Make sure you have your registration packet, especially your dinner tickets and auto road tickets.
2. Take a few minutes and put your name on your raffle tickets; it’ll make picking you out of the seething crowd that much easier.
3. If you’d like to go on the Mt. Washington Observatory tour but haven’t signed up, yet — well, what are you waiting for? It’s fantastic! Drop Pete a line; there may be spaces left, but they’re first-come, first-served.
4. You don’t have to pick a driving route for Saturday, but we’d prefer that you do, and if you know what they look like on the map you’ll be ahead of the game.
5. Plan to grab a bag lunch on your way to the Loon Lot in the morning. There are lots of places with good grub in nearby Downtown Lincoln (Gateway to the White Mountains!)
6. You do have your camera, right?
7. Sunday’s officially après MoT but there’s still time to check out some of the great stuff that the Whites have to offer; be sure to grab a tourist guide and local map!
8. While caravan signups have officially closed, a kind word and an appropriate-denomination bill go a long way.
9. Make sure you put on your window clings and antenna ball.
10. Bring rain gear. And sun block. And a jacket. And shorts. Don’t like the weather? Wait 5 minutes, it’ll change!
11. Have you read Theo and Kevin’s 8 Tips for MINI Drives? You should. It’s awesome.

(And yes, our list goes to eleven.)

Bike Week

Another note: this year finds our event coincident with Laconia Bike Week. Despite the obvious differences, we actually have quite a bit in common with our two-wheeled brethren. I’ll let MoT Old Timer Theo capture the essence:

I was reminded that for the first time in 3 or 4 years, MINIs On Top is happening in the same week as the Laconia Bike Week.

As a motorcyclist and MINI-ist, it seems appropriate for me to tell our MINIs On Top attendees about the unique association that exists between Bike Week and MINI rally-goers. With the Caravans en route to NH on Friday, MINIs are bound to closely intermingle with bikes heading up for the weekend.

I just wanted to remind folks of the unique kinship that exists between Bike Week rally-goers and MINI folks, and to urge kindness, courteousness, and care toward our fellow motoring enthusiasts!

Oh, one last thing:

Wave to other MINIs!

I mean, you can wave at whoever you darn well please (including motorcycles, if you can muster that bored, tough-guy drop-your-left-hand-to-knee-level-with-two-fingers-out greeting which are awfully hard to see with a door in the way…) but it’s just good karma to wave at other MINIs. Even if you’re not at a MINI event!

While I’m sure we could just pass around a bucket that says “for a couple of good causes” and collect a substantial donation for these organizations, it’s always more fun if giving gets you a little in return, too. Once again, we’re proud to have individuals and companies supporting these causes through their generous contributions to the raffle. This list will likely change as last-minute donations come in, but here’s what we’ve got so far:

Individuals

Companies

MINI Dealerships

Pete and his son Matt, MoT 2003!

A small number of spaces are still available. Each one costs $5 per adult in addition to the cost of other MOT events.

If you’re interested, send an email to NHRef@aol.com with your name and the name of the others who will be riding in your MINI. Indicate which people are age 12 or over.

Whether this will be your first time on the tour or you would like to go again, send that message ASAP.

Everyone who submitted their name by the June 9th deadline will be going on the tour. The remaining spaces will be allocated on a “First come, first served” basis.

Theo and "mini" Cooper