The 2012 driving season for Central Iowa MINI Club members began on Saturday, April 14, with a poker run. For those not familiar with the concept, participants followed a specific route and found specific stopping points along the way. At each stop, they drew a card or cards from a deck. Upon completion of the run, they had enough cards to make a poker hand. The person with the best hand won – and the worst! – won while also having experienced central Iowa’s criminal past!

Participants checked-in at their leisure between 11:30am to 1:30pm at Willis Auto Campus’ MINI of Des Moines Dealership and drew their first card before starting the drive. Even better, everyone in the car could play their own hand. The poker run was 128 miles long and took roughly 2.5 hours without extra stops. The weather threatened and tried to put a stop to the fun, but there’s no holding a MINI down. We saw the scene of a bank robbery in Adel that nearly took the life of an Iowa governor, checked out the site of Bonnie and Clyde’s last bank robbery in Stuart, and learned about Jesse James’ train robbery in Adair.

Although the start was somewhat flexible, everyone had to return to MINI of Des Moines by 4:00pm to draw their fifth and final card to be eligible to win. Willis was been kind enough to provide refreshments for all our road weary historians.