As every MINI Cooper owner knows, it’s the little things that matter. Each of these masterpieces were constructed from the lowly match. Although you never need a reason to take a MINI out for a jog, it’s even better when you find something this surprising at the end.
MINI Coopers from near and far descended on Des Moines as we welcomed the Motoring world to Central Iowa. Starting with dinner and visiting the animals at Blank Park Zoo, drinks at Johnny’s Sports Bar, and a fund-raiser pancake breakfast the next morning served by and with a free-will donation to benefit the Waukee Fire Department. After that, the MINIs hit the road again on the journey to Denver and, ultimately, Los Angeles. But before we all left, those nice fire fighters were kind enough to take a few pictures of us all from high atop one of the cranes.
The Club’s second event of the driving season, thanks to James Flowers, was hosting a joint drive with the Kansas City MINIs on Saturday. The drive started in Bethany, Missouri, and ended in Leon, Iowa, after passing through Nine Eagles State Park. There were two separate caravans from Des Moines to the starting point in Bethany, Missouri. The first left early and took several twisty back roads to the south. The second left later in the morning and headed straight down I-35. Thanks for planning a great event, James!
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.
A little History:
Beginning in 2003, MINI owners state-wide have been invited to join the annual Fall Colors Drive – this year was the ninth consecutive year MINI owners have taken our cars out for some exercise amidst the glories of an Iowa fall.
This year’s route started in Pella, where everyone assembled for lunch. Following lunch, we meandered by way of several twisty and curvy back roads west to St. Charles to view the Imes Covered Bridge, then we headed over to Winterset to visit the John Wayne home (those who elected not to tour the home visited the Cutler-Donohoe Covered Bridge instead), and finally we ended our drive at MINI of Des Moines where the dealership will provided us with refreshments and some entertaining MINI-related challenges – as part of M of DSM’s participation in the national MINI “Motor-tober” promotion. The total distance covered between Pella and M of DSM was about 150 miles.
As this was a statewide event, we were also lucky enough to meet a number of Eastern Iowa MINI owners who came to enjoy the drive.
Roger put together a caravan for all interested CIMC members to the all-day music Brit Fest featuring a variety of music (folk, Irish, bluegrass), the Beatles Tribute Band – Abbey Road, Bells of the North, food, various activities for all ages, and, of course, cars. Members of the caravan had set-aside MINI club parking, 1/2 price admission, and an all around good time. The caravan left Des Moines at 10:30 am and arrived just in time for the festival to begin at 11 am in Brookside Park.
Roger Sitterly put together a catchy draw to bring out our MINIs for a little rural highway enjoyment. It started like this:
If you don’t know
Whose signs
These are,
You can’t have
Driven very far.
If you can supply the final line to the above jingle, you’ve already guessed what we did in July. If not, try this one:
Slow down Pa
Sakes alive!
Ma missed signs
Four
And five.
So you’ve been given a huge clue in the title, CIMC drove out to go find the Burma Shave signs. “Our Iowa” magazine was in the process of placing one complete set of Burma Shave jingle signs in each county throughout the state. At the time, the closest sets of signs for those of us living in Central Iowa were in Boone, Story, and Marshall counties as none had yet been posted in Polk or Madison counties. No other state in the country had any of these signs posted, though one original set is on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and Roger had seen a couple of sets in various car museums.
The drive took place Saturday, July 23, and again departed from Willis’ MINI of Des Moines.
It was a perfect chance to get some pictures of our cars next to some truly amazing Americana.
What do you think the signs we found said? Maybe…
Spring
Has spring
The grass has riz
Where last year’s
Careless drivers is.
Or perhaps
The one who
Drives when
He’s been drinking
Depends on you
To do his thinking.
Or perhaps it was something else? Come join us at one of our monthly meetings or drives to find out!
Starting at MINI of Des Moines, everyone left at 12:30 p.m for a full afternoon of driving, friendship, and just all around fun. The scenic back roads route provided lots of twists and turns so the MINIs could strut their stuff a bit in the sunshine.
The route included: an hour or so at the Balloon Museum, scenic byways to the Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, where we saw a short film describing the area and spend about an hour there as well.
There was the “absolute must” stop at Goldies Ice Cream Shoppe in Prairie City, before everyone proceeded to Trainland USA near Colfax. Most people had seen the billboards on I-80 advertising Trainland USA, but few had ever stopped to see it. We were amazed at this great display of electric trains and all their surroundings!
Randy and Deb Anderson were kind enough to put together a wonderful Spring Drive to Pella, Iowa, to enjoy all the tulips in bloom – and before the hordes descended in just a few more days for the annual Tulip Time festival.
Beginning promptly at 10 am from MINI of Des Moines, this meandering drive found everyone in Pella by noon. There, the sights (such as the authentic Dutch windmill and quaint shops located in the Netherlands-inspired buildings surrounding the traditional town square), smells of literally thousands of tulips in bloom, and tastes (Dutch Letters at Jaarsma Bakery!) were enjoyed by all. Once in Pella, everyone was able to enjoy lunch and all the sights at their own pace, heading back home at their leisure.
April opened with a Shortest Distance Rally. Participants received a list of several unique locations within the greater Des Moines area. Their task was to visit each location, answer a specific question to prove they arrived there, and return to MINI of Des Moines while logging the fewest miles on their MINIs and having the most correct answers. The drivers registered began between 10:30-11:30 am at MINO of DSM, learned the details at the drivers’ meeting at 11:45 am and cars began to leave the dealership at noon, departing in two minute intervals. The driving portion of the even lasted between two and three hours.
CIMC Shortest Distance Rally Results
| Place | Participant(s) | Correct Answers | Total Miles Driven |
| 1 | Sage Evans and Jon Wise | 9 | 47 |
| 2 | Teresa Kruse and Harrison Kruse | 9 | 49 |
| 3 | Randy and Deb Anderson | 9 | 51 |
| 4 | Andrew Shipley | 9 | 52 |
| 5 | Kim Carstens | 9 | 53 |
| 5 | Linda Harding | 9 | 53 |
| 7 | Janis Fox and Daryl Hanneman | 9 | 54 |
| 8 | Lyle and Sharon Kreps | 8 | 50 |
| 8 | Doug and Michelle Walker | 8 | 50 |
| 10 | Laura Rettig | 8 | 51 |
| 10 | Ann and Joe Jeffries | 8 | 51 |
| 12 | Joe and Tammy Bechen | 8 | 52 |
| 12 | Dawn Stonehocker | 8 | 52 |
| 12 | Kathy Williams | 8 | 52 |
| 15 | Matt and Tara Osborne | 8 | 53 |
| 16 | Jordan and Steve Cox | 8 | 54 |
| 16 | Katy Robertson Hammer | 8 | 54 |
| 18 | David and LaDonna Walker | 7 | 50 |
| 19 | Jeremiah Snyder | 7 | 53 |
| 20 | Gary and Penni Warren | 7 | 54 |
| 21 | Shannon Dudley | 6.5 | 51 |
| 22 | Bill Steig | 6 | 58 |