We sure managed to take our events to new levels of excitement!

Great MINI friends, nice atmosphere in the historic Decker Hotel, good food, fun and games, watching Shrek on the big outdoor screen — and (oh by the way) how about an F1 tornado that managed to pass within a half-mile of our dinner location in Maquoketa?

Thankfully we and our MINIs emerged completely unscathed save for a previously anticipated rain washing, and the weather cleared dramatically allowing us great conditions for the movie. Our loitering at the hotel while waiting for the rain to pass facilitated an unplanned, rousing game of Apples-to-Apples (TM) in the hotel lobby!

It was great to welcome our new friends Leslie and Jim into the EIM fold!

Help yourself to our photos from this outing, posted in the Gallery or available directly via the following link:

Photos from our Dinner and 61-Drive In Theater Event in Maquoketa

Hope to see you all in Riverside next month.

Join us for an evening of Iowa MINI fun at the EIM Dinner and 61-Drive In Theater to be held on Saturday, June 5th in Maquoketa. We’re planning for a 5:00 pm dinner bell at the historic Decker Hotel and Restaurant followed by a short drive to the 61-Drive In Theater for the evening’s featured movies. Bring your blanket for relaxing, games, etc. prior to the movie, and a portable radio to listen to the show.

Those with NAM accounts please sign up here —> EIM Event Calendar Entry — or just leave a comment to this website posting if you don’t have a NAM account. We’d like to be able to give the restaurant an accurate count prior to our arrival.

More info available (more…). See you there!

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We enjoyed good fun, great people, and superb weather this past Saturday at the MINI-ssippi Eats & Sweets in Moline, IL.

Our sincerest thanks to Linda and Gary S. for orchestrating and hosting such a fun, engaging, and delicious day. Such wonderfully gracious hosts!

Feel free to enjoy our photos from the day, posted in the Gallery or directly via the following link:

Photos from the MINI-ssippi Eats & Sweets in Moline, IL

Finally, we want to congratulate our fellow EIM MINI-mate Maria C. on the occasion of her graduation and extend our thanks to Mike, Teresa, and the whole family for allowing us to share in the celebration.

See you soon!

It’s difficult to encapsulate all of the wonderful Eastern Iowa MINIs experiences during our participation in the High Plains Motoring Society’s Run for the Ozarks (R4TO) held in and around Harrison, AR on 13-16 May…

…but here’s an attempt to relate just a few of the many highlights:

- Two fun and exciting days of motoring on 450 miles of local roads with over 1,950 scenic Ozark mountain twisties
- Staying at the historic 1929 Hotel Seville in Harrison
- Great local cuisine of all varieties, including southern BBQ and piles of boiled crawdads
- Having the opportunity to rekindle friendships made at last year’s HPMS event
- Motoring with our friends Steve and Peggy from Council Bluffs, who we met in Winona last year
- Shopping and dining in beautiful Eureka Springs
- Hoppin’ and bobbin’ across the Beaver suspension bridge over the White River
- Fun Iowa MINI caravans traveling to and from Arkansas
- The EIM take-over of the local car wash
- That “Flippin” town – and all of the pit stops at those out-of-the-way places
- The Harrison Crawdad Days Festival – crawdads, funnel cakes, and the Kentucky Headhunters
- Time spent with local family members (David and Gary)
- Most of all, having the opportunity to spend the better part of four days with an awesome group of fun-loving and friendly fellow Iowa MINI enthusiasts!

There are a ton of great photos from this event for you to enjoy — they are posted in the Gallery or can be accessed directly using the following link:

Photos of EIM at the HPMS Run for the Ozarks (R4TO)

Eastern Iowa MINIs extends its thanks to Willis Auto Campus for hosting our group at their Corridor Premiere Event in Coralville on Monday, May 3rd. We had a great turnout of people and MINIs, a fact appreciated by both the Willis staff and the admiring public. It was fun showing off our MINIs and being an integral part of the event. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Thanks to all for coming out and waving the EIM flag for us!

Some photos from the event for you to enjoy are posted in the Gallery or accessible directly using the following link:

Photos from the Willis Corridor Premiere Event of 5-3-2010

Here is a link to Facebook photos and video clips courtesy of the Willis Auto Campus staff: WAC Corridor Premiere Event Multimedia

Stay tuned to news updates from Willis Auto Campus on their progress establishing the new MINI franchise at http://www.willisautocampus.com

You may recall that we posted here on the Eastern Iowa MINIs website almost 13 months ago about the free MINI Cooper give-away contest being sponsored again by Our Iowa Magazine.

According to independent sources, it appears that the hidden key to the MINI has been located in western Iowa…

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Thanks to Tony S. for sharing a copy of this article appearing in the Spring Grove Herald. It describes our visit to town during our Border Skirmish Drive on April 17th. What a handsome group!

(click on the image for a larger view)

Good eatin’ and fun times ahead in the Quad Cities!

The inaugural EIM MINI-ssippi Eats and Sweets will be hosted on Saturday, May 22nd and represents a great opportunity for our group to finally explore and enjoy downtown Moline, IL.  Sincere thanks to Linda and Gary S. for their great help in setting up this event!

Here is the list of activities:

10:30 am – Arrive at the River House Bar and Grill in Moline
(park together on east side of the block, take pics, socialize)
11:00 am – Lunch (private room upstairs for our group; order off the menu)
12:15 pm – Depart in groups for visits to the Deere Pavillion and/or Isabel Bloom as desired
1:30 pm – Riverfront stop for pictures
2:15 pm – Dessert and more socializing at Whitey’s Ice Cream Parlor

Those with NAM accounts please sign up here —> EIM Event Calendar Entry

All others may sign up here —>  Post a Comment.  This includes any new local MINI enthusiasts (who we warmly welcome!).

Other associated reference links, addresses, and phone numbers available after the jump. This will be a fun and relaxing outing. Hope to see you there!

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Willis Auto Campus is hosting a “Corridor Premiere Event” at the Coralville Marriott and Convention Center on Monday, May 3rd from “4:30 to 7:30 pm.

In their impending role as the very first Iowa MINI franchise, they will be spotlighting MINIs and will be arranging to have our MINIs parked together for display to the public.

Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres are included too. Nice!

A great opportunity to show off your MINI and let folks know about EIM at the same time. Hope you locals can make it out there and enjoy the event.

Thanks to all of the great folks who came out for a beautiful Spring day of motoring in the rugged bluff country of northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota!

Pictures from the day are posted in the Gallery or accessible directly using the following link:

Photos from the EIM Border Skirmish Drive of 4-17-2010

Looking forward to even more MINI company at our upcoming events.