What better way to celebrate new plates and a fresh bath than to go on a little road trip in the MINI. There’s nothing like a buffalo burger to celebrate a drive so we set out yesterday from our home in Brawley to the Rong Branch restaurant in Julian. Most of the route is State route 78 which blasts west through the desert, past the OHV area at Ocotillo Wells and then winds up and down through the mountains before Julian; perfect terrain for the MINI. The motoring gods were smiling on us – even though we caught up with many RVs and trailers we always had enough clear road ahead to go zooming by.
On the way back I decided on a scenic detour. Back down the steep twisties from Julian and then southbound on Imperial/San Diego County Route S2. I’d never done the whole of S2 before and its a great road, two lanes, lots of open road, some tight twisties and great great scenery. Cruising top down was a blast.
Round trip mileage was about 170 miles and to my amazement the trip computer was showing 29.4 mpg, probably the best I’ve ever seen it read on any road trip. A good day out.