2011 Fall Color Tour recap

Because BMW CCA Oktoberfest was in October this year, we tried to schedule the Iowa Chapter Fall Color Tour later in the month, October 22-23. To try and still have color involved, we took the party south to Hannibal, Missouri.

The weather cooperated with us and we woke Saturday to a sunny day. For those in the Des Moines area, the tour started with breakfast at the 5 and Diner in Pleasant Hill at an early 7:30 a.m. We departed for Mt. Pleasant about 9:30 a.m. with 13 cars. We met 6 additional cars from eastern Iowa on our arrival in Mt Pleasant. We enjoyed lunch at a local bar and grill called Press Box Grill and Bar. This gave everyone a nice opportunity to meet and visit with the rest of the participants before heading to our final destination – Hannibal.

We arrived in Hannibal around 2:30 p.m., checked in to the host hotel – Best Western on the River near downtown Hannibal – and spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing around the downtown area. At 6 p.m. we met at the Mark Twain Riverboat for an evening dinner cruise. The cruise was enjoyable although the early sunset prevented seeing much of the local scenery from the boat after dinner.

On Sunday, some early showers attempted to dampen our day but the weather once again cooperated and dried much of it off as a group of 9 cars met and drove a scenic loop south of Hannibal. We stopped at a few scenic overlooks along the way and everyone was able to get some photos of cars, scenery and old and new friends. A few hung around for lunch at a local café and then everyone was on their own for the trip home.

Thanks to everyone that participated and made it such an enjoyable weekend.

Planning Meeting wrapup

A big thank you to all the members who came out to our 2nd annual planning meeting! A group of about 20 members met on Nov. 20 at Sam & Louie’s New York Pizza in Urbandale for a pizza and brainstorming session.

We came up with a TON of great ideas for the 2012 calendar, and maybe some that we can use in future years. Some of these ideas included doing a progressive garage tour, and sampling hors d’oervres along the way, a ladies’ night tech session, or how to take great automotive pictures.

We also discussed partnering with other car clubs and advertising their events on our website and vice versa. There are a lot of other great car clubs in the area, and maybe we could recruit some of their members to be a part of our group!

We discussed changing the format of the annual photo rally to make it more of a scavenger hunt or trap rally, as well as doing more driving-oriented events. Several suggested doing a Sunday drive to a wine tasting at one of the many Iowa wineries, or perhaps a drive to our monthly social dinner. All that attended the Vintage Torquefest and karting events in Maquoketa agreed that they were good events to add to the 2012 calendar.

At the end of the lunch, we started to firm up our 2012 calendar. Here’s how things shook out:

January: Social at an Iowa Energy or Des Moines Bucaneers games
February: Annual Dinner & Awards Banquet at BMW of Des Moines, Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m.
March: Spring drive to Blakesburg Antique Airplane Museum, starting in Pella, Marh 25.
April: Photo Rally in Des Moines, Sat. 28th; 14th — Tech Session at J&J in Cedar Rapids
May: Sunday 20th, karting in Maquoketa, Vintage Torquefest 4th & 5th
June: 8th-10th, Longest Day Driving School, Mid America Motorplex, Pacific Junction, IA; Possibly help with traffic at Iowa Speedway
July: Annual picnic, maybe near Des Moines; tech session at Jon Volz’ shop
August: I-Cubs game; possible multi-chapter driving school at Heartland Park Topeka
September: Oktoberfest, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Monday 17th-Sunday 23rd; Sunbelt/KC chapter driving school at Hallett Fri. 7th-Sun 9th; Salisbury House Concours d’Elegance Sat. 8th and Sun. 9th
October: Sun. 7th European Car Show at J&J in Cedar Rapids; Fall Color Tour, date & location TBA
November: Annual Planning Meeting
December: chili/video game session

Again, thanks to all who participated, and we hope to see everyone at an event or two in 2012! If you couldn’t make it out to the meeting, but have ideas, email Social Events Coordinator Alison Bell at alison.bell@bmwia.org.

Chili cook-off and video game tech session

On Dec. 3 the club held a combination Chili cook-off and video game tech session at the Grimes Community Complex. There was quite the setup for video gaming – 3 Xbox360s, 1 Wii, 1 Playstation 2, 3 flat-panel TVs and a video projector , oh my!

The Grimes Community Complex made for a great venue for fitting all of this in to. Station 1 consisted of two Xbox360s networked together playing Project Gotham Racing 4. There, up to 4 people could race head-to-head on anything from a DeLorean, to a BMW motorcycle, to a McLaren F1. The physics were not real, but the fun was! Our most realistic experience was at station 2. A Playstation 2 was set up with Gran Turismo 4. Here, 2 players could go head-to-head racing in a very rich gaming environment, complete with a physical steering wheel and pedals. The BMW 2002tii was, of course, a popular choice for car. Station 3 had a Wii, where up to 4 people could play Mario Kart. Here the popular choice was the red shell. Take that Bowser, yah! Finally, at station 4, we had another Xbox360 playing Forza 4, projected on to an 8 foot wall. At this station, players could experience some of the most competitively raced tracks in the world, from Road America in Wisconsin, to the Nürburgring in Germany, all from the comfort of a couch on a rainy Saturday in Grimes, Iowa. There was usually someone in the room who had been to the track being raced, and hearing stories from them was an exciting addition to the experience.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and don’t forget the chili! Multiple pots were simmering all day, and made for a great tasting break from the fun. A special thanks to those who brought in their recipes. I enjoyed them all greatly.