Spring Drive March 15th

MINI Cooper Spring Drive 

WRAPUP: Incredible weather, great roads, great food and a whole bunch of MINI (and Mini) people.  This was the perfect start to the driving season!!

We wound up with a really nice sunny warm day for a drive..  Over 40 cars participated in a fun cruise on some quiet backroads.  We had a nice mix of new people and familiar faces.   The drive ended with a lunch with the Minis In Northern Illinois club.  A round of raffle prizes finished a great MINI day.

Huge thanks to Paul who did all the route planning,  organizing, and lead drive duty and the M.I.N.I club for letting us share their afternoon with us.

Photos by: Anthony | Tom | Dan C. | Francis | Ellis

Video by: Tom Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Ellis |

Since we have had such a cold and nasty winter, we will be bringing in our annual Spring Drive a little early this year to help get the driving season started right.The 2009 drive will start in the Burnidge-Paul Wolff Forest Preserve near the town of Elgin and end at a local resturaunt in South Elgin. In between we will tour some fun roads in the Fox River area.

03/01/2009: Important Update: We are thrilled to be combining this years March Spring Drive with the Minis In Northern Illinois (M.I.N.I) club Winter Picnic, so we are sure to have the event covered no matter what the weather!! Please see the bottom of this post for important additional information.

03/12/2009: Important Update #2: If you would like to pay for the lunch now, we can take payment on our Spring Forward Drive Meetup.com page. Please adjust the payment according to number of people attending the lunch.

03/13/2009: Important Update #3: We have provided a map link to the starting point a little further down in the details.

WHEN: Sunday March 15th. Rain or shine, depart at 11am

WHERE: Start in the Burnidge-Paul Wolff Forest Preserve [Map link]


View Larger Map

End with a late lunch at the Village Squire Restaurant [Map link] See below for important information.

WHY: A chance to enjoy some early spring weather, fun roads, and MINI friends.

WHAT TO BRING: A camera, your favorite MINI clothing (approptiate for the weather), optional FRS radio tuned to Channel 1, subchannel 1, and a smile!!If you respond via our new CMMC MEETUP Group you will be able to utilize additional functionality including event e-mail reminders as well as the ability to provide feedback after the event.

Lunch and price information: We will be occupying a private room and have a great menu planned. Choice of: Berry Nut Salad OR Village Cheeseburger OR Smothered Chicken Dinner OR Fish & Chips OR Prime Rib. All 5 dinner choices will include soup or salad, all menu beverage choices (except alcoholic), and ice cream. Cost is $15.00, (discount price of $10 for M.I.N.I members). Cash Bar for booze. Members can order appetizers beforehand at their own expense.Please RSVP as soon as possible to let us know how many people are planning to stay for lunch because we need to let the Restaurant know how many people to expect.

If you would like to pay for the lunch now, we can take payment on our Spring Forward Drive Meetup.com page. Please adjust the payment according to number of people attending the lunch.

44 thoughts on “Spring Drive March 15th”

  1. Do you still want us to RSVP here or use Meetup, or it doesn’t matter as long as it’s one of the two? 😉

    I plan to be there; not sure if I’ll have a guest yet…

    Thanks!

  2. Do you still want us to RSVP here or use Meetup, or it doesn’t matter as long as it’s one of the two?

    We’ll catch you on either or both..

    We are trying out Meetup to see how it works for us as an additional method of communication and if it attracts more new members.

    I believe you can customize the way Meetup notifies you for upcoming events, and there is a way to provide feedback after the event, which we are hoping will be a plus for some people.

  10. I want to join this group. Is Meet up the only way to get email updates

    Hi SK!!

    Glad you found us..
    You can RSVP for the drive either here or on Meetup. (Meetup can give e-mail reminders of the event as it gets closer)

    Feel free to come out to an event or two and try us out. If you like what you see and want to join, the club membership form is on the top right side of this webpage, which you can print and send in.

    We do send out a monthly e-mail updates to club members, but information about future events is always up on this website.

    Hope to see you on March 15th. I’ll be the guy in the Red/White Cooper with offset stripes

  16. I plan on attending…as long as my car is out of the shop by 03-15. My poor MINI was rear ended by a mini van 🙁 I will be bringing someone with me.

  17. I’m all over this. Winding roads along the Fox and lunch in St.Charles. I love St.Charles! Weather concerns?! That’s what snow tires are for. Love ’em!

  18. Finally! The snow is gone and now it’s time to drive.

    Denise and I have put this on our calendar for the 15th.

    Is anyone driving out from the Grayslake area?

    We could meet up at a coffee shop in the AM then head to Elgin together.

    Bennett
    bennettcochran@hotmail.com

  20. Julie & I would like to attend. We’ve never been to an event, but my 7 year old son says, “let’s go”. Can you count 2 non members for the drive and picnic? We would love to check out the club.

  24. Julie & I would like to attend. We’ve never been to an event, but my 7 year old son says, “let’s go”.

    Chuck, glad you and family will be able to make it.. It will be a fun drive

    Any idea how long the drive will be as it is only 8 miles from one to the other?

    Scott, I don’t have the final route configuration, but plan for about 35-40 miles on some fun roads instead of the 8 miles straight shot.

  25. i will be missing this drive sorry to say. car wont go anywhere without a clutch! hopefully better luck next time..

  27. Would a lonely ’05 VW Jetta GLI looking for a spin with his fiance’ be too much out of place for your rocking minis?

    🙂

    ~kyle~

  28. Would a lonely ‘05 VW Jetta GLI looking for a spin with his fiance’ be too much out of place for your rocking minis?

    Hi Kyle,
    Come on out and hang with us.. Just be careful, you may have so much fun that you might wind up becoming a MINI owner..

  33. We will be leaving from the Starbucks near the triangle of Rts 83, 60 and 176 in Mundelein.

    We should probably leave by 9:30 in order to make it to Big Timber with time to spare. It’s always nice to be able to mingle before the drive.

    Map [Link]:

    See you there
    Bennett
    312 296 0012

  34. I’ve added a map link to the starting point up top.

    Looks like the weather will be good on Sunday. see you all then!

    -paul

  35. Bennett,

    I live right by there so will meet you at the Starbucks. I believe it’s Rose that lives almost across the street from the stripmall the Starbucks is in.

    Jim

    08 HC/S Clubman
    02 DS/W MCS (with a dead battery)

  38. Thanks everybody!!

    I had a great time. Fun route and nice pacing Paul. Thanks for all the work you put into this drive.

    Nice job to Austin who completed the drive in fine form, and is the club’s youngest MINI driver at not-quite 16..

  39. My fiance’ and I had a wonderful time with such a great group of people. Thanks for letting a random VW join your crew for the day!

    ~Kyle and Liz~

  40. Im sorry i missed yet another great event…i partied a little too hard at a delayed birthday celebration, haha. See you all at the next event!

  42. thanks Paul for all of your hard work on this event. thanks also to our friends at M.I.N.I. for their generosity and lunch plans.

    It was really great to see and meet so many new people and many old friends. I had a great time!

    btw… nice turn and recovery Austin!!!

  43. Thanks Paul, CMMC, M.I.N.I. and all MINI friends. Had a great time driving without snow and ice. Loved the circle, 3 times around. Thanks again.

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