Welcome back to Milkweed and Monarchs. I’m Dawn Klem, and today I’m taking you on a drive through one of the most unexpectedly joyful traditions my family ever stumbled into — all thanks to a little 2009 Mini Cooper S we never planned on buying.

This episode begins in Hillsdale, on an Easter weekend filled with family, church, and the kind of simple holiday happiness my mom always loved. But tucked inside that weekend was a surprise that turned into a decade-long adventure: a tiny car that opened the door to a whole community, countless memories, and ten years of crossing the Mackinac Bridge with more than a thousand other Minis, all of us chasing a Guinness World Record together.

Today’s story is part nostalgia, part celebration, and part farewell — a look back at the laughter, the rallies, the costumes, the friendships, and the magic of belonging to something delightfully quirky. So settle in as I share the ode to our Mini Cooper, and the joy it brought to our family from the very first unexpected moment.