We’re back from Winona and the EIM Mini-MINI Meet at Mini Meet East Meets West!

A great time was had by all! There were so many highlights; here’s a short list of a few that immediately come to mind:

- Unexpectedly meeting up with new EIMers Sandy and Denny at our Garvin Heights Park picnic
- Even more unexpectedly discovering that new friends Peggy and Steve from Council Bluffs were also renting a cabin at the Waumandee House Resort and their helping the Iowa MINIs take over the place
- Running into Gary and Linda from Moline at the Show and Shine
- The great meals together at the Monarch House in Fountain City, WI and the Jefferson’s Pub and Grill in Winona (oh, and breakfast at Perkins too!)
- Watching Bill get his fanny handed to him by Linda playing pool
- The scenic motoring in SE Minnesota, along the Root River Valley, and on the way out to and back from the nice cabins at Waumandee
- Getting to check out all of the awesome classic Minis up close (and the new MINIs too)
- Joining up together for the panoramic event photo
- Lots of great conversation and laughs with good MINI friends

Check out our Gallery for some pictures of our time in and around Winona.

The companion NAM thread at EIM Mini-MINI Meet at Mini Meet East Meets West 2009 has links in individual posts that will take you to even more online photos from this event.

A special shout out to Daryl for the superb planning and execution…thanks much!

See you all soon!

EIM plans to participate in A Wisconsin Alphabet Soup Twisty Drive being led by the Chicago MINI Driving Group on Saturday, July 18th. Yes, the picture to the left is the abbreviated directions…that’s how this drive gets its name!

The southwest Wisconsin roads that will be traversed during this drive represent some of the best MINI motoring available in our region. The landscape escaped the brunt of the glacial bulldozer during the ice age resulting in a plethora of twisty curves and rolling hills. It’s also a big plus that Wisconsin chooses to pave (rather than gravel) most of the quality tertiary roads. The result is a combination perfectly suited to the MINI!

Sign-ups for this event may be made here: NAM Calendar Entry

The following link takes you to our companion planning thread on NAM: A Wisconsin Alphabet Soup Twisty Drive

Should be a great drive…hope you can join us!

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We extend an enthusiastic and well deserved EIM congratulations to ball and sagespot and their respective navigators for their top 25 finishes in this year’s Des Moines 3rd Annual Cornball Run!

Event results: 2009 Cornball Run Results

NAM Discussion Thread with links to pics, event recap, and other stuff: EIM Cornball Run Thread

We’ve posted a few pics in the Gallery from our EIM Meet and S-cream, Part Trois event held on Saturday, June 6th. Check ‘em out!

Thanks to everyone who came out. The ice cream and conversation were superb!

Here’s a link to the specific photo gallery: Photos from EIM Meet and S-cream, Part Trois

The companion NAM thread: EIM Meet and S-cream, Part Trois on NAM

See you soon!

Pictures are now posted from our Eastern Iowa MINIs Eat-n-Greet at Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack in Iowa City. You can see them by going to the Gallery or directly via this link: Photos from EIM Eat-n-Greet at Jimmy Jack’s

Thanks to everyone who came out and joined us. We had a great time, and the BBQ was fantastic. It was great to see all the folks and their MINIs — especially the two Clubman that are new to the family! A special shout out to deanman for the Happy 50th Mini Birthday Union Jack flags!

Here’s the link to the reference NAM thread: EIM Eat-n-Greet at Jimmy Jack’s

See you soon!

This had to be one of the all time great motoring events!

The Eastern Iowa MINIs contingent that participated in the High Plains Motoring Event 2009 in and around the Black Hills area of SD on May 14-17 had an absolutely fantastic and thrilling experience. The weather and scenery were great, the mountain roads amazing (can you say “540 degree pigtail twisty?”), the wildlife abundant, and the monuments inspirational. The dozens of MINI enthusiasts from CO, NE, MO, MN, IL (and even NC and NM) that came resulted in many new and lasting MINI friendships (”What’s your NAM name? Oh, I know who you are!!”)  We reveled in the variety of cool looking MINIs that motored with us.

We will be posting for your viewing pleasure about a gazillion cool pictures in our EIM at HPM 2009 Gallery over the coming days so be sure to check them out.

Additionally, there are links to additional pictures and video clips in the MINI5280 club’s NAM event thread here: High Plains Motoring …

…and more in our own NAM event thread here EIM in the Black Hills 14-17 May

We enjoyed the company of 15 MINIs and 30 good friends at the Second EIM River Views Run on  Saturday, April 25th.   Thanks for joining us everyone!  Even though we had gray skies and a bit of drizzle later on, no one seemed to mind as we still managed to conjure up some spirited twisites, beautiful countryside, and good times together.  The views from Lookout Point at Mississippi Palisades State Park were incredible, and lunch at Charlie’s Place in Hanover, IL was great too — the restaurant staff really seemed to enjoy the MINIs!

We’ll keep adding pictures to the 2009 River Views Run Gallery and you can also pop over to our NAM thread to check out the pictures that folks have posted there — it’s accessible at the following link: 2nd EIM RVR Event Thread

The wonderful folks over at Our Iowa Magazine are sponsoring their free MINI Cooper give-away again this year!

The ignition key to the new MINI is hidden in a public park somewhere in the State of Iowa. All you have to do is find it and the MINI is yours! In the spirit of the contest, we join the magazine in encouraging seekers to take a trash bag with them and do their part to keep Iowa’s parks clean by picking up litter during their search for the key.

Additional details are available in each issue of the magazine and are updated with a new clue at each publication. See the latest clue at this link: Contest Page from April/May Issue
[Page posted with permission of Our Iowa Magazine]

If you’re not already a subscriber do yourself a favor and consider becoming one — check out the information at the Our Iowa Magazine website (http://www.ouriowamagazine.com). It’s a great publication!

Happy MINI hunting!

Thanks to all of the EIM MINI folk for coming out for the Second Annual EIM “Spring has Sprung” Meet-n-Eat at the Granite City Restaurant this past Saturday in Cedar Rapids. The weather couldn’t have been better, the food was awesome, and it was great fun getting back together with everyone!

A warm EIM welcome to our newest EIMer lstanek!

Here’s some pictures from the event for you to enjoy: Gallery