Wow!!! What an event!! I hope by now, everyone has made it home safely – that your MINIs and Minis have been cleaned up and are ready to go on their next adventure. The AMVIV Facebook Page has been jumping with all sorts of AMVIV posts and lots of wonderful pictures. If you’re not active on Facebook – an alternative for you to share your photos is through the AMVIV9 Group on Flickr. It’s a public group, so join up and share your AMVIV9 memories.
Before I get too deep into this I wanted to give a hearty THANK YOU to the vendors and sponsors that both came out to share the weekend with us, and those that couldn’t make it but sent us some great stuff to hand out to all the attendees. We truly appreciate your support, we hope you had a good time and successful experience! In no particular order… THANK YOU to Cooper Crap… Todd’s Mods… Way Motor Works… Craven Speed… Detailing Innovations… Desert MINI… Eurotek Tuning… New Image Auto Glass… American Polishing… Twisty Bitz… C & K Designs… Prima Car Care… Sew Extreme… Custom Mobile Detail… The Dent Guy… MINI of Ontario… Show Off! Show Girl Costumes… Deja Vu Love Boutique… Fremont Street Flightlines… Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix… Stuck on Minis… Fabulous Freddy’s… Mini Mania… TCE Performance Parts… First Republic Bank… The Krazy Booth… Pooch Style… World Class Driving.
Sometimes they were swamped over the weekend. Other times they looked to be enjoying themselves while socializing with everyone. We’re very glad so many of them made it to the event – If you missed your chance to buy stuff – go check out their websites! Lots of great stuff to be had!!
This is a long post… go get some coffee or something, then read on…
Wednesday was the early bird kick-off to our weekend. After getting the booths set up, we started checking folks in – seems like each year folks get here earlier and earlier. Our first event of the weekend was the Slots Tournament. Final numbers for the night were 42 attendees, with lots of players getting back some cash. The top winner was Stephanie Holden of Todd’s Mods.
Thursday Andrew ‘Agro’ Ross led the Oatman run. It was a blast, as usual. We had 23 cars in Oatman and ran across a MINI on its way to AMVIV from AZ when we got there. There was a donkey shortage (only 1 in town) till just as we were leaving when they all came wandering in. The drive from Oatman to Kingman was fantastic, might’ve been the 1st time we’ve done it where we didn’t get held up by a 20 mph Toyota. We stopped for lunch at Mr. D’s in Kingman, where we joined up with a couple more AZ cars who were waiting for us to arrive, then had a nice cruise back to Palace with no incidents.
Also on Thursday we took the first of our two trips to the Shelby Museum. Twelve cars went out on Thursday, 15 more went on Friday. Bittersweet visits, in light of Carrol Shelby’s recent death – but as usual the Museum did not disappoint. Gorgeous cars on display – it was a big hit!
Thursday afternoon brought the Stripper 101 Class. Stripper 101. Nine sexy minx’s went on the Stripper 101 excursion and these women were pleasantly surprised. This class makes every woman feel attractive and sensual while teaching some basic moves that will unleash the inner kitten. The class lasted a bit over an hour and a half and we all got the opportunity to learn a few moves while giggling like girls do! We left with our official Las Vegas License to Strip with our assigned stage name, and a new found confidence after our sexy graduation walk! Almost all of the husbands were patiently waiting with big smiles and cocktails in hand. Our group stayed behind for a photo shoot with Pony our instructor, and if you have these photo’s please post them to the AMVIV Facebook page.
Later Thursday night we had our Motor In and Bootleg Brew Swap. I spied over forty MINIs at the Blue Ox, and that was early on. I think we may have overwhelmed the poor staff, as I heard several people moping over the slow service. I actually thought that was kind of nice – it really forced everyone to just slow down and enjoy the moment and each other’s company. The Brew Swap was just a test run, a last minute addition. It really wound up back at Palace Station, and judging by the interest, I think the planning committee for next year needs to work on that. I tried out some very tasty beverages, and would definitely love doing that again.
Friday morning brought the Death Valley Run. Eighteen cars left Palace Station and headed to Death Valley via Pahrump. We stopped at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch and after a brief safety briefing and overview of the facility we ran three to four laps around the 1.5 mile track. Everyone really enjoyed the laps. After that we drove into Pahrump for lunch. Seven cars went to Sheri’s Ranch for lunch while the rest of us went to a sandwich shop for lunch. After lunch things got weird – which is sort of typical for us 
The Sheri’s Ranch bunch were delayed getting served so nine of us took off and told the others to try to catch up at Badwater. When we got to Badwater the temperature was HOT- 115 to 116 degrees. Needless to say we only stopped for a short time and headed out. On the way Toni took us on a short detour. It was an amazing road! Only about three to four miles but enough twisties, dips, curves, and narrow canyon walls to satisfy any MINI driver. A couple of the drivers who went to Sheri’s did catch us outside of Pahrump. The return trip was uneventful. Like Barry the ‘caboose’ driver said, it was a good run since we got back with no accidents, damaged cars, or unhappy drivers. Everyone enjoyed the run – the only complaint was the heat. Well, they don’t call it Death Valley for nothing.
Chris would like to give a special thanks to all those who went on the Death Valley Run. With the last minute route change to Spring Mountain and the delay at lunch the run could have gone bad and fast. Thank you all who went for rolling with the punches and glad we were all able to have fun.
About an hour after the Death Valley run left, I took my little group of 27 MINIs out on the Lake Mead Run and Perry took his second group of 15 MINIs out to the Shelby Museum. The first leg of the Lake Mead ride was a 53 mile straight north drive along I-15 to the Logandale exit. Regrettably we got split up, which always happens, but the last group caught us in Logandale, where we stopped for gas. After that we had a leisurely ride through the rather surreal farm country out there in the desert. We stopped in Overton next, for ice cream at The Inside Scoop. After satisfying my Huckleberry ice cream fix, we were off. Perhaps we could have rode faster, but it was a beautiful day, and I had this incredible line of MINIs stretched out behind me, so we went cruising. Stretch of 1904 Photography rode along with us and snapped lots of fantastic photos of the day and we stopped twice for pictures along the way. Our noonish return ended up a little closer to twoish. Oh well – I think most folks had a good time along that windy road. I know I did!
After getting cleaned up it was time to get downstairs for the Poker Class and Tournament. All in all we had about 12 players in the Poker Tournament. Competition was fierce, but in the end, a local did not prevail. Congratulations to our big poker winner Tim Winger!! He won $300 in a knock out drag out with Agro who won second winning $200 and Dave “not sure” Nunley who won $100. Excellent job guys. Thank you for joining us we had an excellent time!!!
Friday night was the infamous Pajama Strip Cruise – I got my duds on and made it down to the garage by 7:15 which I thought would be plenty of time to get in my car and get staged, only to discover everyone already leaving. I love Vegas! I jumped in line and off we went. This was probably the best cruise yet for me down The Strip. I managed to hang with a cache of at least 20 MINIs (and Seth’s Classic) for most of the ride there and back. In past AMVIV’S our focus was to stay together.. this year our focus was to have a good time. We did not have the NASCAR budget to monitor the drive via LV Metro PD so we did the next best thing, made it a party and those who got it ….. loved it!! It was a great cruise – lots of laughter and honking and waving. Just what we were hoping for.
After the Cruise, revelers made it back to Palace Station for the Vendor Party at 5B. Two cash bars, lots of snacks provided by our great vendors and plenty of mixing and mingling. Lucky for those of us that may have imbibed a bit too freely, no more driving was really required in the evening, just the ability to press a button or two to make it back to our respective hotel rooms. We all had a great night. As I understand it, plenty of photos can be had to commemorate the event. Not sure I want to see those
Saturday dawned a wee bit too early and very clear for the Show & Shine Car Show. Before the sun made its climb, MINIs and Minis were shined up and positioned for the judges’ inspections. More than 50 cars signed up for the show, but there were only a handful of lucky winners. Competition was fierce, and kudos to our winners:
Best Classic Mini, Jessie Nelson
Best MINI Cooper Hardtop, Joan Berkwitz
Best MINI Cooper S Hardtop, Gary Chez
Best Convertible, Jeffery Dame
Best Clubman, Kathy Finn
Best Countryman, Larry Simpson
Best Coupe/Roadster, Julian Chavez
Best In Show, Kelli Viselli
Also on the agenda – the infamous Dunk Tank! Quite the list of Dunkees… Kellen from CravenSpeed, Richard Lin from Show Car Detailing, Don Burnside of White Roof Radio, John Paulson of Motoring Shirts & Lost Coffee, Larry Simpson, Evil Twins Chris Tunison and Lisa Surber, and of course yours truly. Don’t let anyone kid you – it may have been hot outside, but that freaking water was cold! The biggest draw was DB – I believe he raked in more than $200 in donations all by himself. The big winner of the day was S.A.F.E. House – the day’s activities garnered $1731 in donations and contributions to this very worthy organization.
After the car show, Barry & Elaine led over 20 cars up and out of the heat to Mt. Charleston. It turned out to be an excellent day – I saw lots of great photos. The rest of you stayed in and around Palace and many of you managed to get your poker run sheets and Attendees Choice Car Show ballots turned in by the deadline. I saw a few dozen poker scores – so I’m guessing those runs were a hit again. The winners in this year’s Poker Run were:
First Place – Sandy Bouchier with a 4 of a Kind (Tens) $75 for the lucky winner
Second Place – Paul Sutton with an Ace High Flush (Hearts) $50 for the lucky winner
Third Place – Karen McClune with a Full House $25 for the lucky winner
Last Place went to Alan Busch. Poor Alan could not get a break! I won’t repeat his hand, trust me, it was truly awful. We couldn’t let him go away empty handed. He got a pair of official MINI Driving Shoes, donated by MINI of Ontario.
In honor of AMVIV The Naughty 9, we also had a Naughty Poker Run. I hear this run was actually the more popular run. Scott Battles won the Naughty Poker Run, with a Pair of Kings. He got quite a gift basket from the Deja Vu Love Boutique. Oddly enough I couldn’t find him later to hear what he thought of his prize.
The winners in the Attendee’s Choice Car Show were:
Epic (the people’s choice Best In Show) was Jesse Nelson
Project X (the most modified MINI) was Gary Morgan
Wrapcity (most loved graphics) went to Norman Nelson
Swagger (most outrageous badges, stickers and flair) went to Chris Tunison
Muddy MINI (the dirty little piggy) went to the Evil Twins collectively – Chris’ Red Baron, and Lisa’s Bulldog
The Spirit Award (created in honor of Luther Shields) went to Chris Tunison
The Miles Award belongs to Dallas Wisehaupt… 1,858 miles from Noblesville, Indiana to Las Vegas. Well, that’s a straight shot here from Noblesville. Dallas tells me he traveled 4,000 miles to get here, and another 3,500 to get back to Indy. Wow, what a trek! Thanks Dallas!!! Honorable mention goes to The Johnsons – they flew out from Anchorage Alaska (again) and showed up in a rented MINI. Now THAT’S dedication – and we appreciate it!
President’s Choice was a tough decision for me. Eventually, I decided on Ron Dickinson’s Classic Mini Limousine. Seriously? Never got a ride though Don Burnside and Alia Gebelin snapped these photos of it, still looking for others.
Our vendors and sponsors sent us a lot of goodies for giveaways, some went in the registration goodie bags, and many were given away in our Saturday drawing. MINI of Ontario was particularly generous to us, and gave us a lot of really great stuff. We had a special drawing and awarded our grand prize to Alex McNamee. An official MINI folding bike. Dang lucky, too. I almost commandeered that for myself.
The finale of the evening was the Pool Party Spectacular. And it was pretty amazing, if we do say so ourselves. Lisa and I donned some feathers, sequins & rhinestones in some showgirl costumes and mixed and mingled with the crowd in the late afternoon. If we didn’t get a photo with you, we apologize – there were a few moments there where we lost our equilibrium a bit. Lots of socializing going on by the pool as the day turned to night. Kerry did a great job as emcee, but the night belonged to Karen’s friend – Kitty Kaboot. She was amazing! I have a heard a few recorded tidbits from her performance, but they didn’t do her justice. Her performance was incredible – we are very lucky to know her here in Sin City, and were thrilled she agreed to do some numbers for us. Thanks for these photos DB!
AMVIV may be over, but the fun memories live on. To help those who had attended relive the weekend and those who didn’t to live vicariously through those who did, we’re running a contest for the best short recap of the 2012 AMVIV. Post your silly stories and photos here. Please remember the WHIVSIV policy. The best recap submission (with most likes and Organizer choice) will win a brand new set of CARBONMINI Carbon Fiber Door Handle Overlays ($180 value). In addition, the top five AMVIV photo submssions with the most “likes” will receive a choice of a CF Antenna, CF Tire Valve Stem Caps or CF License Frame Locking Kit ($25 value).
We’d like to thank CARBONMINI.com for providing the prizes for this contest. Winners will be announced on June 29. The fun lives on…
It was a great weekend – and I was so happy to see so many old friends, and even managed to make a few new ones. The final tally showed 212 cars registered for AMVIV9, bringing 345 attendees – with 14 vendors and 14 sponsors represented. We know there’s a lot going on in the MINI community this year, and are humbled that so many of you made the decision to make the trek out for the Naughty 9. We only hope that you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. Thanks for coming!! We’ll see you at the next big MINI event!
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