Scavenger Hunt Mission #1: A Diner

Ok, so the mission said to find an old fashioned diner and take a picture of your mini in front of it. Seemed simple...at first. I developed a picture in my mind that I wanted to get. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted. Unfortunately as I begin the actual planning I realized I didn't have the first clue where to find what I want. Right.

Well there's got to be someone around work who would have a suggestion. So I sent out a few emails. I did get some suggestions and hopped in the Mini to take some shots. Here's where I say "I appreciate their help, but nothing really fit the bill of what I was looking for" and then move on.

Let's try the internet...the internet will know. I figured that there MUST be a website that would be a good resource for this. I've seen coffee table books with nothing but pictures of these old diners. Surely someone has moved to the internet to share this information. To my surprise the answer to that is "Not so much." Oh, there are a couple of sites, but not at all what I was expecting. There was a fairly decent one called Diner City. This is where I learned that the closest thing to what I wanted was in either Truckee or Laguna Beach (according to the information they have). Damn. I also learned as a result of this, that the East Coast has a TON of diners.

Note to self:
Things to do with the Mini: find more diners in CA

At the same time I was sending emails to people I work with, I also sent out a couple to friends in the area. My good friend Clayton had the suggestion I ended up using. (THANKS CLAY!) His suggestion was "The Mini Gourmet". While it didn't have the look I wanted (but clearly nothing in the area was going to) the name was PERFECT.

Some have asked me if there is a prize for all this. Personally, I think getting asked to go out and take pictures of my Mini is prize enough...but, yes...there is a prize. The winner gets a trip to Misano, Italy for Mini United.

While it would be very cool to win, I don't stand a chance. They post new missions at 1 am Tuesday mornings. Yes, the odds are that I am probably up at that time, but so are a few others. I've seen people on the Mini forums participating in this that apparently either don't have to work for a living -or- have taken Tuesdays off for the next 8 weeks to participate in this and they are chomping at the bit for the next mission...and will likely start it the second the mission is posted. These are some very serious people.

This also probably explains some of the very dark and out of focus pictures that have been submitted so far. Note to self: always read the fine print at the START of a contest.It doesn't have to be a GOOD picture. This is a scavenger hunt, it's all about getting a picture of your Mini in front of the location in the shortest amount of time. It's true, I was so excited about going out and finding these locations and taking pictures of the Mini I didn't think that there would actually be TIME involved. Clearly I've never participated in a scavenger hunt before. Even if I had realized it I wouldn't stand a chance (for the above reason), but also because I would rather take my time and try to find the shot that I want not just one that will fill the bill.

There's just one problem: I can be a very competitive person at the same time. Odds are I'm going to find a "compromise" of some sort between to the two. It will be interesting to see what happens next Tuesday!

Note to Cori: Don't worry if you wake up at 1:05 Tuesday morning and I'm gone. Just went for a quick drive in the Mini. Will be back soon. Love, Sparky
P.S. Just go ahead and save this note for the next 8 weeks!