It's an epic 9-day road trip that only happens every other year.

The Mini Cooper car rally will make its way to Union Gap on Sunday, July 21st.

The caravan, with over 600 Mini Cooper cars and 1,200 riders, took off from Albuquerque, New Mexico and will end its enormous journey in Seattle, Washington.

MINI TAKES THE STATES (MTTS) 2024 is an epic 9-day road trip from Albuquerque to Seattle.

The bi-annual event's goal is raising money and awareness for. funding summer camps around the country with efforts from the American Camp Association and Keep America Beautiful organizations.

Right now, the Mini Cooper caravan is coming into Washington state from Missoula, Montana. They will arrive in Spokane on Saturday then drive over to Yakima.

The car rally will make its final road trip departure from Fulbright Park in Union Gap on Sunday.

BE A SPECTATOR AT THE MINI COOPER CARAVAN RALLY

The live "Rise & Rally" event for the caravan riders on Sunday is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. You can be a spectator and check out the customized cars!

Mini Takes the States 2024, Canva
Mini Takes the States 2024, Canva
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"[Mini] hosts the rally every other year for people to celebrate their love for Mini and their love for driving the backroads," says Rob Duda, the on-site contact for the rally. "The Rise & Rally event gets going every morning with announcements, interactive games, and breakfast before everybody gets on the road."

Duda says that all Mini car owners in the rally are responsible for their own housing, whether they choose to camp out, book an Airbnb, or stay in a local hotel in each stop along the voyage.

This event will bring hundreds of visitors to the area, some as far as South Florida and others from international countries.

"We've had this event since 2006, every other summer, and we skipped 2020, of course" for obvious reasons due to the COVID pandemic.

 

If you want to watch the Mini Cooper car rally drive-off, it starts at 9am. The ceremony will include waving flags as each of the car owners drive off to Seattle.

Duda says he expects it will take about 1 hour to get all the cars out of Fulbright's parking lots. Fulbright Park is located at 4508 Main St in Union Gap.

For more info, visit minitakesthestates.com.

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Gallery Credit: Sarah Jones