My Bluebonnet!

My Bluebonnet!
Originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Why Cooper Chronicles eh? Well, it all began in 1972. My sister had a friend who was in to small cars. He had an Isetta and a Mini Cooper. We all loved his cars and I became hooked on them. In 2001 I saw the new MINI Coopers at the NY Auto show and said "I WANT ONE!"

I called MINIUSA and found out where I could go to get one. It involved, getting your name on a list. Once the dealerships were assigned they would pass your name along and then get you a car. I waited and waited. Finally in Mar of 2002 a dealership out of Irvine called me and the exact car I wanted. Yay! Yay! I could go get my car! NOT! The number one reason is that they wanted to charge an "opportunity" fee because MINIs were in short supply. A 15% opportunity fee! Ouch!

It was at that time that our daughter called and asked if we would support her while she went on a mission. She would be a missionary for 18 months and asked if we would support her on her mission. We said yes, and the dream of owning the MINI was put on hold. I began looking everywhere to purchase a MINI with the "opportunity" fee. The only place was outside California. So when our daughter mailed us a date she'd be returning home, I called MINI of Manhattan in NY and ordered my car. Note "opporunity" fee, just a shipping fee to get it to California. I still saved $2200 in the process. Our daughter and my car arrived within a week of each other. I haven;t stopped smiling since!

So I motor about and go on special events surrounding this great community of people called MINI owners/motorers! I belong to a club too. It is the C3 club. C3 stands for Cooper Clubs for Charity. Each time we have an event whether it's for detailing or a fun run we have a fund raiser with it. The money we raise goes to support good causes in our area. We have a great time and help others less fortunate than us.

Be ready to read more about these fun things long the way!