First of all, the meeting location has changed! More on that in a bit. Ric Johnson will be leading a convoy from Mini of Des Moines (MODM) to Bethany. The route will be about 50/50 Highway 69 and I-35, jumping on the interstate to skip the boring parts of the highway. This convoy is optional, but highly recommended! It’s only about 20 minutes slower than driving I-35 the whole way.

For the convoy, try to be at MODM by 8:15AM on Sunday and absolutely no later than 8:30. The convoy will leave just after 8:30. There will be one rest stop about halfway in Osceola.

If you’d like to drive yourself, the meeting point in Bethany is no longer Toot-Toot. Instead, we will meet at 11AM in the parking lot of the old Country Kitchen restaurant on Miller St, which is now a “Flowers Bank” (no relation.) The bank has a large parking lot and it’s closed on Sunday, so it’s an excellent spot. It’s just down the road from Toot-Toot. Greg and I scouted out the crowd at Toot-Toot this past Sunday at 11AM and it was packed. Although it was Mother’s Day, we don’t want to risk not having enough room for everybody to attend the orientation. Most of us will probably eat at Toot-Toot if it isn’t too busy, and there has also been a crowd at Sonic every year (just off Miller St. to the west of our meeting spot.)

The address of Flowers Bank, the new 11AM meeting spot, is 3601 Miller St, Bethany, MO.

If you miss either of these timeframes, we’ll be breaking for lunch at 11:15 or so, and we’ll be lining in the southeast end of the Wal-Mart parking lot (also just off Miller St. to the west of our meeting spot in Bethany, look for the sign) at noon or shortly after. If you miss the lineup at Wal-Mart, good luck finding us, because we’re headed for the hills!