Here’s hoping everyone made it home safe and sound. Was that a great weekend or what? So many great photos out on Facebook and Flickr and Photobucket and wonderful comments from all of you, looks like you all had a really good time. I know I did. Well, grab a cup of coffee and your favorite pastry, here goes…
Started off a little shaky, as Mother Nature threw one serious tantrum on Wednesday. She quickly changed her tune though, and the rest of the weekend was great. After getting settled in, we watched as the attendees started wandering in. Our first event of the weekend was The Early Bird Slots Tournament. We lured 40 attendees to the one-armed bandits and 15 players placed. The top 5 were:
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$150 David Shelly
$100 Jocelyn Thompson
$100 Neil Taylor
$75 Nancy Myers
$50 Brenda Fromhold
Thursday dawned cool and clear and started with a couple runs: Agro and Kerry took lots of you out on the Route 66 Run – with stops in Laughlin, Oatman and Kingman; while John took a group out to the Shelby Museum to drool over some sweet rides. A little bit later, we managed to fill two buses with Dam tourists. From the sounds of it, you all had a great time. After the busy day, we wandered over to The Hofbrauhaus and had some good German beer and wienerschnitzel.
Friday things really warmed up. I watched as Mike, Fernando, Toni and Larry led car after car after car in the morning out to Pahrump, for a date at Spring Mountain. The club cars raced around a bit, then turned the stage over to you for some parade laps around the track. The folks at Spring Mountain were very, very impressed with the way you conducted yourselves out there. I’m thinking we can go and do this again 
After that, many of you headed to the Pahrump Valley Winery for lunch and wine tasting. Afterward, the group split and many of you braved the ride out to Death Valley. I saw some great shots down at Badwater. The rest of you wound your way back to Vegas, some with a detour through Red Rock.
Friday afternoon brought the AMVIV8 Poker Tournament. Competition was fierce among the 22 competitors but the final bragging rights went to:
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$420 David Kim
$252 George Marsh
$168 Mike Francks
As the sun went down, the MINIs and Minis rolled out for the ever popular Strip Cruise. We tried something a little different this time, and avoided all that in depth planning that usually drives us crazy. We staged at Palace and rolled out at 7:30, heading down Sahara straight to The Strip. The lighting was perfect, and the ride was great. We managed to ride all the way down to the Welcome sign then turned around and came straight back. I saw folks counting the cars and waving as we rode by.
When we got back, the Mayhem on The Midway was just kicking into gear. Our AMVIV8 Vendors hosted a great Mixer. A big thanks to all of them – 1904 Photography, Auto Glass Authority, Caboose Trailers, coolministuff, CravenSpeed, Custom Mobile Detail, The Dent Guy, JV Car Wash, Kensington Motor Cars, NM Engineering, Prima Car Care, ShowCarDetailing.com, Stuck On Minis, TCE, toddsmods/Motoring Badges, Turtle Factory, TwistyBitz, Vinyl Styles & Way Motor Works – for making the trip and setting us up with such a great spread Friday night.
During the Mixer, two of our special friends made some AMVIV history of their own – Larry Simpson of the SCMC proposed to Dee Motored of the DMC in Arizona. That wasn’t the only love in the air – David Shelley and Jocelyn Thompson got married. Congrats to all of you!!!
Saturday brought the Show & Shine Benefit Car Show for S.A.F.E. House out at Cars and Coffee. While there were lots of exotics and classic cars rolling around, all eyes were on the MINIs and Minis. Mike and Manny had a blast setting everyone up and getting photos. What a great lineup this year – although, how could it be any other way? Competition was tight and judging was fierce – but only a few went home with the prize:
Best Classic Mini – Ron Dickinson |
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Best Cooper – Reannon Dame |
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Best Cooper S – Patrick Muilenburg |
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Best Clubman – Kathy Finn |
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Best Convertible – Lisa Surber |
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Best Countryman – Kayla Sintz |
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Best in Show – Reannon Dame |
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After the car show, some of you followed Bob and Elaine out on the 95 and up to Mt. Charleston. It turned out to be an excellent day – I saw lots of great photos. The rest of you stayed at Palace and braved the Vendor Scavenger Hunt and turned in all of your poker run sheets. I hear those poker runs were a real hit too. Regrettably, I’ve looked everywhere and cannot find the winners of our poker run. I remember the first placed hand had a Diamond Royal Flush (with a joker) and was the very first person to complete one of the routes – and they won a $100 Station Casinos Gift Card. This is a blog, so if you remember what you had and your prize – please post it
Sometime during this day and again in the evening, some of my SCMC MINIons ran amuck. I was warned about a panty raid sometime over the weekend – foolishly I thought I’d be exempt. You’ve seen the evidence right? Sheesh! Made for a very interesting evening, that’s for certain.
After everyone went out and had dinner we all converged for one more big gathering – The Party at The Palace. Sponsored by MINI USA, MINI of Ontario, White Roof Radio and the SCMC – this little soiree was just what we all needed after a lively weekend. Live DJ, photo slide show, lots of hors d’oeuvres and mini desserts, merriment and mingling among the MINI/Mini throng – a good time was had by all. Karaoke performances by SCMM’s Derrick Morris and SCMC’s Karen Day were the big highlights! During the Party we also announced the winners in the Attendee’s Choice Car Show. Here they are:
RABBIT – Most Likely To Get a Ticket: Ricky Aguilar |
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SPIRIT – Person That Most Embraces The Spirit Of MINI: Brenda Fromhold |
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When morning dawned, some of us recovered enough to head out to the SCCA Autocross. Others ambled out to Amboy for a ride with Stan, Fernando and Toni. I really wanted to take that ride, but had a heck of a time getting moving. Again, I saw lots of photos from this trip and it looked like a blast. Then there was brunch at Shakespeare’s, which is always a good choice for us locals. There were the few of us that just could not get our motors running. You saw us limping around the garage and stumbling into the cafe. You also didn’t holler any greetings to shatter what was left of our skulls, which was very nice of you.
All in all this weekend was an amazing time. I saw lots of my old friends, and made many new ones. I loved everyone’s rides, even though you wouldn’t park up on the roof so I could snap some pics of all of you. Maybe next time. The hours flew by so fast, there’s just never enough time to do all the things you’d like. Judging by the grins and all the happy comments – I’d say we can chalk AMVIV8 – The Ocho as one for the record books. Thank you so much to everyone for coming!!
Looks like a lot of thumbs up from the Pahrump/Death Valley Run today. Dave at Spring Mountain did a heck of a job doling out thos parade laps. I hope everyone had fun.
I actually got a break and lazed at the pool – I’m thinking next year we’ll include that as an official event.
Another trip to the Shelby Car Museum, to ogle some sweet rides was a nice trip.
Finally, a huge congratulations to all the poker players who braved the AMVIV Poker Tournament today but a special shoutout to our winners: 3rd place – Mike Francks, 2nd place-George Marsh, and the one that came out on top – David Kim. WAY TO GO!!
Off I go to stage for that Strip Cruise. Have fun folks!
Hi Everybody!!!
Hope everyone is having a good time! Pardon our interruption, we’ve got a few updates for you:
We need an “official” representative from SoCal MINI Maniacs, Dynamic MINI Collective & West Coast Minis to come to the registration booth, at your earliest convenience. We need to talk about the Saturday car show
Remember to upload your AMVIV photos to the AMVIV8 Group on Flickr. Need help with that? Come to the Club Booth.
If you’re going to Hofbrauhaus for dinner tonight (6:30pm-8:30pm is the window), call and make a reservation – 4510 Paradise Road, at Harmon (702) 853-2337.
If you’ve got the “North Side” Poker Run, you might want to come to the registration booth – there are some issues. We’ll give you another route.
Don’t forget – we’ve got two detailers cleaning cars. They are both on the 4th floor of the parking garage waiting for you and your MINIs/Minis.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled MINI vacation.
Its time to finish detailing your car, and start cramming that boot. I wanted to give you some reminders before you hit the road (or in some cases, while you’re headed here).
First off – The AMVIV8 Event Booklet is now available for downloads. Everyone that pre-registered should have received an email with a link to the ebook. If you didn’t get it, let us know.
THIS JUST IN…
The AMVIV App is up for those of you with an iPhone. It’s a great way to see what’s happening “at a glance”. Have a different smart phone? No problem. All of the information in the app can also be found on the website, and on Twitter (follow @mr_cone). Remember, if you’re tweeting about AMVIV, use the #amviv hash tag. Follow us on Facebook in the AMVIV Community and don’t forget your checkins on foursquare. Key locations have been entered into the app and all begin with “AMVIV8″. Let’s see how many swarms we can make
GOT FLICKR? Then use it! http://www.flickr.com/groups/amviv8/ Upload your photos! Let us see you during your trip out here. Show us your crammed boots! Take some shots on your poker runs. Snap your MINI by the Welcome sign. We wanna see it! We want to see you get your AMVIV on! We’ll be showing these photos during the Party on Saturday – so show us your AMVIV.
For those of you that missed it in the email:
When you arrive, you’ll get TWO bags when you sign in: a registration packet and a goodie bag.
DO NOT JUST TAKE THESE TO YOUR MINI AND THROW THEM IN THE BOOT FOR YOUR RETURN TRIP.
Meal discounts, discounts for a several local attractions, SURPRISES… Be sure to go through it right away. You’ll be glad you did.
Everyone will receive a POKER ROUTE MAP in their registration packet. You have until 2pm Saturday to complete it and turn it in to get your cards. You can even do more than one route (there are 6 altogether). Miss the deadline, and you won’t be eligible for prizes. Want to get together with other attendees and do your routes in a group? Use the white board in the SCMC booth to set up a time to meetup.
Have MINI parts or accessories you’d like to sell? The white board in the SCMC booth is a great place to list those so attendees are sure to see it.
Doing the Dam Tour and getting in late on Wednesday? Go to registration and get your packets (with your lanyards, then come down to the hotel lobby – the bus will be loading at 10:45am at the West entrance, through the doors to the right of registration. The bus will leave promptly at 11:00am. If you’re late, you’ll miss it and the tour.
Motor In with the Sin City MINI Club on Thursday night at Hofbrauhaus – 4510 Paradise Road, at Harmon. We do not have an official group there. We didn’t want to eat off a buffet, and pay more than $25 and not get free choice over the menu. You might want to call ahead and let them know you’re coming (702) 853-2337. The Club will be there at 6:30 and will probably stick around for an hour or two, maybe more. Depends on how much fun we’re having. You also might want to consider parking at the Hard Rock Casino parking garage, as the restaurant lot fills up quickly.
TRACK YOUR MILEAGE!!! Jot down your beginning mileage, and your mileage when you get here. This could be important later 
Saturday afternoon – Vendor Scavenger Hunt – Palace Station Parking Garage… just sayin’
Bring SUNSCREEN! Expect 80 degree temperatures.
See you soon!
Sign in for AMVIV in the Motoring Midway at Palace Station Hotel/Casino
To enter, show your AMVIV badge, pay your entry fee of $20 at the Slot Tournament area and pick your machine. Then ready..set.. GO! Push those buttons to your heart’s content. The most points wins!
Come to the 5th floor of the parking garage at Palace Station for the AMVIV Motoring Midway. Get registered and check out all the vendors – aftermarket parts and accessories vendors displaying, selling and installing their products. Don’t forget your great photo op – hundreds of MINIS on the garage roof!
Rally up promptly at the top of the parking garage – this ride starts promptly at 8am. Visit the cities of Oatman and Kingman, AZ, and ride some of the best twisites remaining along America’s Main Street, Route 66. This is a full day run with a lunch stop in Kingman, AZ.
Rally up promptly on the roof of the parking garage – this ride leaves at 9:30am. Visit the factory where the legendary Carroll Shelby’s team hand builds every Shelby Cobra and Shelby Mustang on the market. Tour the workshop area and learn some muscle car history.
It’ll be a great Dam tour of the Hoover Dam and the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (Colorado River Bridge) Dam Bypass Bridge – with lots of Dam cops, Dam tourists, Dam traffic, Dam hot dogs, Dam french fries… don’t forget your camera for your Dam photos
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