We invite you to join us for a ride up and down the Missouri River valley on Sunday April 25th. 11AM start time. We'll be driving through three states, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. We will start in Nebraska City, and we'll end near the Omaha metro area.

We'll meet at the Lewis & Clark Visitors Center on the south edge of Nebraska City, near the river, in the parking lot. From there we'll head south to Brownsville, then Falls City, then down to St Joesph the hard way, then back up along the opposite side of the Missouri River in Missouri following the scenic Loess Hills back north along the river valley through Iowa. Hopefully we'll find some of the tasty roads we hit on the last trip along the Hills. We will pass many wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, and state parks. So the scenery should be great! We'll probably pick a few of the scenic spots to take a pause at along the route.

We need your suggestions for dinner this week. We'll be coming up through Council Bluffs, so from there into Omaha, let's hear some dinner ideas. The route shows a time of seven hours on Google Maps. We blew the last route time projected by Google Maps by an hour. So...we'll be testing the run to confirm times. But we need ideas on where to have dinner back around Omaha.

276 Miles. About the same mileage as the last ride, so we expect we'll run it in about the same time.

Suggested items to bring: Your cool MINI Cooper, some road snacks and drinks, a full tank of gas, your camera, and some cash for dinner. Sunglasses and suntan oil are possible options... But then so is a jacket in April around here.

Who's ready for some MINI Motoring!?



The above map shows the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitor Center. We'll meet in the parking lot. It is open at 9AM, so if you want to tour the center, go early. It does cost to go through the Lewis & Clark displays inside, but we can use the parking lot. On the map, mid right side of the map, green flag is in the parking lot of the Visitor Center. Address is:

MRB-Lewis & Clark Center
100 Valmont Drive
P.O. Box 785
Nebraska City, NE 68410

Here is the route below!

 

I'd have already left for the Dragon by then.

 

Amarillo is always a good place to eat but that would require heading back south on to Bellevue. They can squeeze a group of 20-ish into their main dining area. They even insisted on penciling me in when I called to get info - despite my plea that nothing was definite.

 

We could try that for sure! Simple to get to via our route.

Let's see what other ideas pop up, and we'll decide on tuesday.

 

The route looks great! Sign me up! I think it will just be me, since my wife is no more excited about riding quickly around curves and over hills than she ever has been.

Amarillo sounds good; a friend raves about their food, and I've always meant to go sometime.

That stinks that you will be gone, Ray. But, you'll be having your own bit of driving fun!

 

I plan on going and I am trying to convince my wife for this one. I also posted pics from the last outing

 

Well, ...we're working on dinner plans this week. We will post when we know for sure more information.

So tentatively we are 7 souls and 4 MINIs thus far...

I may post in other local groups' forums too.

 

If anyone else is going down that morning from Council Bluffs/Omaha, we could hook up for the drive down to Nebraska City. Depending on how early people are leaving...

 

I'm in.

 

We have dinner reservations at Amarillo's in Bellevue NE.

Texas style BBQ!

 

I'm in. So far will probably just be myself again.

Something to think about. Depending on how we want to cross back over to the Nebraska side, using the Bellevue or the Plattsmouth bridges, are both toll bridges. So one extra thing to bring is just a couple dollars for the toll bridges (unless we are going all the way up to I80 and then back down to Bellevue. I haven't been across the Bellevue bridge for some time but the last time I was over it, it was $1 per car (no discount for 'Mini' cars). I believe the Plattsmouth bridge is $1.25 per car.

 

Noted about the bridges back into Nebraska JMike. When I spoke to Rainman this week about Amarillo's we talked about this.

I guess we'll leave this up to the group. The old bridges are cool, but there is the interstate too, very easy to wrap around to the restaurant.

 

I'm good either way. If we are coming through Council Bluffs we are right at the I-80 bridge, otherwise, if it saves a few miles, we can pay the minimal toll and cross one of the toll bridges. I vote for whichever bridge is closest to our route.

 

Looks like my wife will be joining me this time, so that's two of us for me.

 

Hey look JMike, we have exactly the same number of posts! And congrats on getting your wife to join in; you'll have to tell me your secret.

 

Here is the route from the intersection of Hwy 2 and 4th Corso in Nebraska City to the Amarillo in Bellevue as a playable map. For some reason Google Maps doesn't show the road into the Visitor Center.

The route!

 

Thanks Tancred!

The shot I have posted for the meeting place is off Bing Maps. I had to switch to aerial view to see the L&C Visitor center. It's there...

Edited Map

 

My wife and I will be having breakfast at Johnny's Corner Cafe at 8:30 if anyone would like to join us. We've been there for lunch a couple of times in the last couple of years. Good food and generous portions at a reasonable price. I'm hoping that hasn't changed. ‎

600 Central Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410-2449
(402) 873-3585‎

It's on the north west corner. Purple balloon supposedly marks the spot. I think it's a little off but it's on Central Ave so it still gets you in the general direction.



Also of note is that there's a Phillips 66 (91 Octane) on our way leaving Nebraska City. It's on the north east corner as we turn south on 75.

 

Two shots of the entrance into the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitor Center. These shots are from across the entrance. If you follow Highway 2 through downtown Nebraska City, the roads winds around to the entrance to where we're meeting. So the view is from Corso or 4th Street as it's shown on the map in the first post. Just watch for the statue as you came down the hill on the new highway that crosses into Iowa.

 

Rainman, I'm going to plan to join you and your wife for breakfast at Johnny's, but I reserve the right to bail out if I stay up too late Friday night! If that happens, I won't be down until the 11am starting time. But for now, count me in on breakfast.

 

I hope you meant staying up late Saturday night; otherwise, that must be one heck of a party!

 

Well, we test drove the route this weekend. Learned a few things, found a bridge out, found some nasty paved roads, and a few other oddities and mistakes. However, we did find a route, and scout out some interesting places to stop.

1st Tip for the Ride. Have a full tank of fuel at Nebraska City. We ran ourselves empty almost. Probably because we were not full at Nebraska City, we backtracked around 100 miles, several wrong turns, and an unplanned bridge out that caused an hour of backtracking. We had to settle for some 89 octane fuel late in the route. So make sure you have a full tank of fuel, and we think you'll be fine for the route.

For our first stop, we'll hit Main Street in Brownville Nebraska. Some charming 1800-1900 buildings line the street, great chance for some photography. No restrooms at this stop, no fuel.

Second stop will be Falls City, restrooms available at the Phillips 66 we will pass on our route through town. If you would like some lunch, grab it here is our suggestion. There is a Runza, Subway, and Sonic in town.

Third stop will be for a bridge over the Nemaha River at the junction of the Missouri River and the Nemaha River. We hope to get some shots of the MINIs on the bridge. No restrooms, just a stop on the side of a road here.

Fourth stop will be Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri. Restrooms available. This is one of the top migratory bird refuges in the mid west USA.

Last stop, Brickyard Hill Conservation Area. This is a lake nestled in the Loess Hills. Restrooms available, privy style. That means outhouses for you city folks...

Then we'll make tracks for BBQ in Bellevue!

We were very surprised at how interesting and scenic the route is. Rolling hills of Nebraska, a few winding highways, down through Kansas just feet from the Missouri River on a great two lane road, over into Missouri for some great scenery, roads and stops, the woods, the wildlife...this should be a good ride.

Bring a camera for sure!

 

Yeah, I forgot the run is on Sunday! I would have been waiting in that parking lot for a while! Sunday works better for the late night Friday Forza and Call of Duty playing. Count me in for breakfast for sure, now.

Thanks WildThang and everyone else that scouted the route for us. Sounds like a fun run in the works. Here's hoping the weather is cooperative.

 

I think I sold her on describing what all I saw the last time. Hopefully she won't regret it this time. The more stops and sightseeing she can do, will make up for 'her time in the Mini. Her back and hip just don't get along with the Sport seats since they are not that padded.

 

At this point, we are six cars, and ten souls for dinner.

If anyone else would like to join us, just post and we'll add you in for dinner!