That's enough of a consensus for me.

See you in the other room!

 

Hello!!

 

Thus starts the official 2011 spring/summer motoring season! Yeah!

 

Sweet!

 

Just returned home after five days and 177 holes of golf on some of the RTJ Trail courses in northeastern Alabama with some old friends. It was sunny and in the mid-80s most of the time (as was my game ).

My first time in that part of the country, and I was surprised at how rugged and wild the landscape was in that area between Birmingham and Chattanooga -- I guess it's the tail end of the Appalachians making their influence known. But what really jumped out at me was the quality of the road surfaces and all of the great twisties we came across. If I'd brought the MINI along, I'd have certainly played MUCH less golf!

 

Getting to Chattanooga is only 30 miles further than the trip to Rapid City, so.... it's something to think about!

 

I like your thinking! Especially since we seem to have gone from winter season to pot hole season here!

 

I'm on my way back from FL right now, and we drove my MINI down, along with a friend's who moved to Tampa. One the way down, we hit a MAJOR rain storm when we were driving through the mountains in eastern TN, and ended up putting in for the night in Chattanooga, because my nerves could not handle one more second of twisting winding roads, not being able to see very far because of the rain, and trying to deal with semis that were having a hard time staying in their lane/on the road. Just after we made the decision to stop, we saw a very small car that had hit the guardrail, and knew that we made the right decision.

My favorite MINI moment on the way down was actually the next day, when our MINI caravan picked up a PW Clubman for about 100 miles in Georgia. We were driving through, I saw the MINI, waved like crazy, and after seeing the two of us driving, she joined the pack.

I saw a TON of MINI's in Sarasota, and had an awesome time talking to some of them at various stop lights. I'm in Illinois, but we are cutting up through MO and eastern IA, so maybe I'll see some of you today

 

FL must be like southern California...seems like there's a MINI on every block.

Sounds like you had a fun trip. I love those impromptu MINI convoys.

 

I want to give a shout out to whoever left the "Motoring Citation" under my wiper in the Davenport Blackhawk Hotel parking lot! Thanks for noticing Was it an EIMer?

 

Been following oldsbear's posts over in the "Week 14 Support Group" thread. I know what he's feeling right now. That ship transit across the pond seems like it takes an eternity...

 

And it has only begun
I'm going to need lots of

 

Lo and behold, a friend of mine mentioned that he thought Bob's Standard Services (Clark Brands, LLC) over on College Drive sold non-oxygenated premium fuel. I've never stopped there and wasn't aware that any such thing existed locally; the next closest source is over in Wisconsin and 45 miles away.

So I popped over there at lunch to check it out. Yes! 91 octane and no ethanol. The guy there says the bikers love to use this fuel and are frequent customers. I filled 'er up, of course.

I am a happy camper.

 

Next time you are in Wal-Mart check out the seasonal Easter candy section.
I found 3 Easter MINI's loaded with candy their colors are Purple, Green and Pink.

 

No way! This I gotta see.

 

WHAT?!?! I am making a run to Wal-mart!

 

I'll send out an email to everyone, but I just found out from JDCMini that the Iowa Region SCCA had to cancel their event in Waterloo on June 5th. Evidently the Cattle Congress rented out Greyhound Park for some other purpose and now the SCCA folks are aced out. So, no EIM event on that day either.

We'll look for another autocross opportunity sometime later.

 

How is that snow in Decorah?

 

you can see the snow on the eagle cam

 

Heavy, wet, and more tonight...

 

Got an email from Steve over at the Chicago MINI Motoring Club. They've organized a drive to New Glarus, WI on Saturday and Sunday, May 21-22 and have extended an invitation to EIM.

He recognizes that being the week immediately after R4TH2 that the response is going to be limited from us. However, since we're not all going out to the Black Hills, I thought I'd get this out there just in case anyone might be interested in joining them.

Here a link to the announcement on their website:

http://chicagominiclub.com/2011/04/2...s-overnighter/

 

I received a newsletter from the Quad Cities British Auto Club (QCBAC) with some early information on the Heartland British Autofest Days scheduled for August 6-7 (on the EIM calendar).

One item is worth noting for anyone attending both the Saturday drive and the Sunday car show and needing a place to stay Saturday night. That weekend overlaps with the huge Bix Fest and with the RAGBRAI finish. That means Davenport will be a hoppin' place that evening, but it also means that hotel rooms will be a scarce commodity. If you need one, I recommend you book early.

Other than that, the event is planned to be similar to last year though the drive route and restaurant destination for Saturday are different. We'll put together a planning thread when we get a little closer to the event.

Also, note that these dates happen to overlap MITM, so those heading out for Colorado mountain motoring will have to attend the Heartland Fest in spirit.

 

Ragbrai is July 24-30th, so that shouldn't be a factor...

 

You're right...something's not computing...

Okay, I see my problem -- there is the Bix Fest from Aug 4-7, and there is another thing called Bix7 which is a run on July 30th...

Sorry for the confusion. I'm still going to get my hotel room early. I have a wedding on the 5th so I can't go to MITM this year, so I know I'll be at the Autofest Days.

 

Since I know I can't go to MITM this year () and I remember how fun Eureka Springs was last year with the EIM clan, I keep finding myself returning to ponder this...

http://www.ozarkmini.com/

Has this event cross any other local minds? I'm thinking of experiencing the scenic overlook of the Buffalo River Canyon (obscured by fog when we were there) at the peak of the fall color season.

No firms plans. Just stirring the pot.