Welcome fellow MINI lovers,

This is Jon with the first 2009 drive event.  We will start at the Park and Ride on Parmenter Street in Middleton at 11:00 a.m.

We will travel north to drive along the Wisconsin river past Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells to Castle Rock.  Then come back down to Wisconsin Dells and eat at the MooseJaw restaurant.  Moosejaw serves a variety of dishes in a interesting atmosphere.

Please comment or respond to the email if you can attend.  Hope to see most if not all of you there.

For those members who were unable to make it to the most recent planning meeting, a bunch of new and old ideas were put forth.

They included in no particular order:

Drive: Northwest towards Wildcat Mountain State Park.

Drive: Northeast towards/around the Fox River valley.

Drive: Galena, possibly meet up with and stay for the weekend with CMDC 9/19-9/20

Drive: East to Kettle Moraine State Forest area.

Drive: Annual City drive visiting various parks in Madison.

Drive: Winery - Brewery tour.

Drive: Central - Upper Wisconsin river tour

Community Volunteer Activities

Icecream / Dinner socials (may include Quaker Steak & Lube Car Cruise Night)

Hwy 18 Drive In Movie Social

Mini East meets West participation

Weekend Visit to the Mall of America

Join up with Milwaukee MINIs for an Ice Cream night.

Attend some of the local car shows (Botham Vineyards - Vintage Celebration, British Car Field Day, Albany IL Car Show, British Car Festival in Des Plaines IL, Cary IL Cruise Night, etc…)

The events which are not planned or hosted by Mad City MINI are currently listed on the Regional-National Calendar.

Join us on Saturday October 25th at 10:30 AM for our 2008 Fall Drive as we go on a day trip to Galena, IL.
It should be a nifty drive there with a couple of interesting stops, followed by fun activities**
and dinner at Frank O’Dowd’s Pub, before returning to Madison in the late evening.

You are welcome to take the drive only, or stay for the entire day of activities.
We need to have an accurate count, so if you will be a part of this event on Sat 10/25, please email us or post a reply on the site.

The starting point will be at 10:30 a.m. at Star Cinema in Fitchburg.  6091 Mckee Rd.
The drive there will take just over 2.5 hours with 2 stops planned along the way.
The return trip will be direct and will take about 2 hours.
Feel free to join us no matter what vehicle you may be driving, as the roads are nice and fast.

**Alpine Slide: (Weather Permitting) Ride a sled down 2,050 ft. of tailored track to the banks of the Mississippi at Chestnut Mountain Resort. The scenic lift whisks you back to the top where on a clear day the three-state view is as much the attraction as the slide down.

**Shopping: A huge variety of shops to browse, including a winery and Poopsie’s, which has some of the wackiest stuff you’re likely to see.

**An evening with photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen
Meet Tom as he premiers 18 new-release, limited-edition images from Antarctica, Argentina, Kenya, and other locations. He is recognized as one of the world’s premier nature photographers and will sign his books and share stories from his recent travels from 5 to 9 p.m. at Images of Nature Gallery, 421 S. Main St.

If you wish to explore further, here are a few additional links to information on Galena.
http://www.galenachamber.com/
http://www.galenadowntown.com/
http://www.cityofgalena.org/

Milwaukee Fall Foliage Drive & Poker Run.
Sunday, October 19, 2008 at 8:45

Drive 9 am - 1 pm. Lunch at 1 pm.
Starting Location: Meet at Cooper Park near Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI at N. 87th St. & W. Chambers St.   Map

Milwaukee MINIs has brought back their Fall Foliage Drive & (Non-Alcoholic) Poker Run by popular request with a revised route, and virtually all right-hand turns! They will have a pre-drive meeting at Cooper Park, and then begin a 65-mile adventure including rustic roads in the Holy Hill area and the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive in the Lake Country area to enjoy the fall colors.

Afterwards, the group will eat lunch in Delafield, WI at your choice of Wells Street Tavern or The Loaf & Jug. Both of the Delafield restaurants are next door to each other.  Map

The Poker Run for those who are not familiar with it, is a drive which includes a number of stops along the way where each driver collects a playing card. The driver with the best poker hand at the end of the drive wins!

Please let Theresa Nemetz know via an email response by Friday Oct. 17th at 9AM if you & guests plan on attending, so that she will have a potential head count.  They have requested an advance RSVP.

I will be leading my first drive and it will be a longer than usual one. I have planned a route to Prairie Du Chien and back with a picnic stop at Lawler park in Prairie Du Chien on Sunday September 14th. We will leave from Rex’s Inkeeper at 301 N Century Ave in Waunakee. The trip will leave promptly at 11:00.  We will follow the scenic Wisconsin river most of the way.  Please bring a picnic lunch to have at the park.  I have invited the Eastern Iowa MINI group also.  Please consider joining the drive and Reply to this post. Hope to see alot of yes I will be theres.

Keep motoring

JonneyO

Mad City MINI members!

Join fellow MINI enthusiasts from Iowa & Illinois for events this Labor Day weekend. Some of the members from the Central Iowa, Eastern Iowa and Chicago groups will be traveling to Madison to enjoy the Taste of Madison and a winery drive.

On Saturday the group from Iowa anticipates arriving in town around 3:00, Meeting up with the Chicago MINIs, checking into the hotel(s) and heading downtown to the Taste. If you would like to meet up with them on Saturday they plan to rendezvous at 04:30 in Marshall Park. The park is along Allen Blvd. in Middleton. They hope to get some nice pictures with Lake Mendota in the background.

On Sunday the group is planning on a tour of local Wineries. The event will be led by Dustin of the CMMC group and it should be a nice way to conclude the summer. People who are planning on attending should meet in downtown Middleton at Hubbard Avenue Diner, 7445 Hubbard Avenue.
You are welcome to join up for Breakfast at 9am — or at 10am meet up for the street-side drivers meeting before heading out. They plan on visiting 4 local wineries in a tour of 160 miles. The 2nd and 3rd vineyards are near the Iowa state line, the 4th is half way back to Madison. The group should arrive back in Madison in the late afternoon. There will be a stop for lunch TBD.

You can link through to the NAM thread, if you wish to read all the individual posts concerning the event.

Please reply to this post if you’ll attend… Mad City MINI will go on a leisurely country drive to the fun auto-themed Dairy Queen in Delavan on Saturday 8/23. Meet at American TV (2404 W Beltline Highway, 53713) at 2pm. The drive is about 90 minutes one-way, ending at 5576 State Road 50, 53115.

It’s time for a nice summer “cruise” in southern Wisconsin:
Saturday, July 19 starting at 3pm at the Shopko off of Aberg Ave.

The route will take us about 1-1/2 hours north and east through the local farm lands with a stopover
in Portage. Then another hour or so along the river and through the hills takes us to Prairie du Sac for
dinner at the original Blue Spoon Cafe.

If you only want to take the route until Portage, you can jump on I-39 or I-90/94 to get home. If you follow the entire route, we will return home from Prairie du Sac on Highway 12.

Please post your RSVP if you’re coming and whether or not you’ll be at dinner so we can make a reservation.
Jim & Laura