Signed up for the Bridge thing, MINIONTHEMACK :)
 

https://www.minionthemack.com/index.asp#

Me too. We did it in 2013 and had a great time.

I think this just became the official EIM planning thread for this event. :)

Hey EIMers, if you click on the sign-up link in our Event Calendar Entry (<-link) we'll know who might be joining the caravan up on Friday, and who we should be on the lookout for once we're there!

Reservations Made
 

We've already had our hotel reservations for a few months now. :razz: Might be just a *little* excited about it....

Received an email from our friends DDayKid from Rochester, MN...they plan to be there. :thumbsup:

I looked back at our itinerary from two years ago, refreshing my memory that the local folks who joined the EIM caravan to the Mack agreed on a 6:30 am rendezvous in Dubuque. For lack of a better idea, it makes sense to plan similarly since it seemed to work out well and got us up to St. Ignace in good time to check in, beat the crowd to the car wash, have a nice meal, etc.

Barring alternative proposals, those who want to travel as a team can plan to meet up at our favorite rendezvous spot on 7/31 in Dubuque at 6:30 am -- in the Wendy's parking lot on East 16th Street, just prior to crossing over the US-151 bridge into Wisconsin (take the Kerper Blvd exit to the right from northbound US-151) - Location Map <-- link. The Wendy's will be closed at that hour but there is a BP station right next door with ready access to premium fuel, snacks, libations, and restrooms.

Color Me Stupid...
 

:confused: I can't find the sign up link in the calendar... boo hoo....
Thelma & Louise will be motoring North & may be able to meet up with you Friday morn. Got the local but would also know whom we should be looking out for, either Fri morn or during the festivities.

Peggy and I are looking forward to the trip and seeing everyone again.

Yeah, NAM seems to have eliminated the links on the calendar entries. :cry:

I'll be sending out an email this week to see if we can figure out who's going, and who will be meeting up in Dubuque. I plan on joining up with the Dubuque bunch as they pass by Dodgeville, WI on US-151.

I have a friend motoring over from Topeka on Thursday. Our plan was to drive up for MOTM together, so we'll just plan to join in the caravan, as well.
+2 MINIs for us!

Pam and I will be joining the group in Dubuque to caravan together.

We are going, but will be leaving on Tuesday the 28th or Wednesday the 29th. Will have radios and my cell phone will be on. Do we have a meeting spot for the crossing?

Haven't got that far yet. My guess is that a group of us will be departing the HIE in St. Ignace fairly early Saturday morning (~7:00 am) to transit in the south direction over the bridge and to the staging area.

Two years ago they parked everyone in rows at the staging area and then directed the departure in columns, so an early arrival doesn't necessarily equate to an early departure. It also means our group became split up during the bridge crossing and we had to reconstitute upon arrival at Little Bear Arena for lunch. Bring your cell phones and GMRS/FRS radios!

Expect porta-potties only at the staging area so ladies, if you're squeamish better take care of business before you leave the hotel in the morning!

The provided lunch was superb but the later arrivals had to wait quite a while in line to get their food. The earlier you can get in line to get your food, the better. We grabbed an EIM table back and off to the side; will try to do the same again.

Our photos from the 2013 Mack might give you some insight into the staging area and lunch logistics (the Saturday photos begin with the sunrise pics. :) )

Do we have a count as to how many are meeting in Dubuque on Friday morning? Peggy and I will be there.
This thread is pretty quiet for being a little over 2 days from departure.

True. Anymore it seems the conversation gets spread out on FB, etc. and dilutes these threads a bit.

Looks like 7 MINIs at Wendy's on Friday morning, with unannounced additions possible. Jan and I will hook up with the group ~45 minutes later, as you pass Dodgeville. Looking forward to seeing you folks again. :thumbsup:

The weather forecast for the transit up and the event looks absolutely superb. :thumbsup:

I won't be able to attend so would someone be willing to pick up my swag /t-shirt (xl) for me ?

we are taking off Thursday, this afternoon for Dubuque, staying overnight there, as the 630am rendezvous would be a very early start from Clinton!

I'll give it a whirl if you email me a PDF of your event ticket. :nod:

Spent the night at the Julian , watched the moon come up outside on the deck, beautiful night!

Bad weather on Sunday
 

Sunday , mini took hail damage, fixable I think , it was really bad, 3 hail storms ,had to pullover,it was deafening , before that ,got stuck on the Mac bridge, 2 campers flipped over, had to drive over the road divider, it was made out of steel grating, dragged the minis undercarriage bad, I don't think it's hurt too bad,it still ran! I think I'll just stay home for now on,this travel sh** isn't what it's cracked up to be

That just sucks. :sad:

Here are my pics from the Mack trip:

https://flic.kr/s/aHske3NwZV

Glad I got out of there before seeing the weather that Jim experienced. We spent a couple of days in the U.P. motoring along the coastline of Lake Superior; checked out a couple of amazing B&Bs, and visited several antiques stores of course... :wink:

got a real good dent guy that lives nearby fix the Mini. about 12 dents( I only counted about 6 , he's got a real good eye for them:eek2:) , the ones on the top are hard to do but he got them . Fixed one I had since I had the car, so its better than it was!


BTW the dent guy is probably going to travel north to help fix all the cars that were damaged( at one point there was a Mini snuggled up behind us under an overpass, in one of the hail storms, wonder how well he survived )
He said something about the hail storm being one of the worst they ever had up there

The scrapes underneath are superficial , one on the oil pan , sent an photo of it to my favorite Mini SM, he said that they see worse examples and they have no problems