Travel Buddies

By Tamara Warren

David and Laura Knight are making friends with their MINI mechanic. They’re taking the States with Chad Miller, from Detroit Tuned MINI Specialists, based in Clinton Township, Michigan. Miller’s added rally lights and cold-air intake to their brown 2008 MINI. They met on MINIs on the Dragon, and are forming a friendship over the many miles to Denver. After all, enduring bonds are formed on group trips, on long drives, pondering life in the middle of somewhere, sharing off-the-beaten path experiences.



The Knights live in Covington, Kentucky. “We’re a two-MINI family,” Laura said. Laura works in the manufacturing field and David works at the Northern Kentucky University. MTTS is their vacation time. They joined the group in Chicago. When I met them, Laura was behind the wheel in Indianapolis at the driveoff point, enroute to St. Louis. “It’s awesome seeing the land for what it is,” Laura said. “When you fly you lose perspective of the landscape.”

The three new friends will get to know each other even better on the drive back. They plan to drive straight through for 19 hours to make it back in time for work on Monday morning. This is what the Knights call maximizing a MINI vacation.