Our traditional long-weekend May motoring adventure this year is the EIM Hoosier Hoodang. This drive takes us to southern Indiana and the region in and around the Hoosier National Forest. This area is graced with rugged karst topography, lots of great scenery, enjoyable places of interest, and (of course) great MINI motoring roads! Our group transit to Indiana begins on Thursday, May 18th. We will plan on a morning rendezvous in the Quad Cities for anyone interested in traveling together from eastern Iowa with an 8:30 am departure from the home of sdbryant in Moline (pm if you need the address). From there, it is an easy six-hour drive to our destination. Our base of operations for this trip is the resort town of French Lick. EIM has a block of discount rate rooms at the highly rated Comfort Suites along SR-56 just southwest of town.*** Our group's return transit is planned for Sunday, May 21st. This promises to be a great motoring adventure to a brand new destination for EIM. We have already identified multiple interesting stops and fun roads. It's worth the trip! ----- ***as of 4/18 we have commitments from our MINI folk for 9 of our 10 rooms, meaning we have one discounted room still available. Reservations must be made NLT 4/27 so please post a reply if interested. ----- -
Thursday morning rendezvous location is now established as the home of Steve & Julz (sdbryant) in Moline, in time to support an 8:30 am departure. Will send out the address via email; you can also PM me here.
Some drive ideas for the Hoodang. Nothing set in stone; we can adjust on the fly as we see fit...but wanted to have a starting point just to get the discussion going. Friday - Hoodang Drive #1 This is the shorter of these two drives. Incorporates a morning stop at Marengo Cave National Landmark (with plenty of time for the shorter cave tour or to just hang out at the gift shop). This is followed by one of the better motoring roads in IN-62 and then lunch at the Overlook Restaurant in Leavenworth. From there it's south thru the national forest and along the Ohio River Scenic Byway with a potential stop at the Lock and Dam near Cannelton, then back north across Patoka Lake and eventually back to French Lick. Should get us back to town in plenty of time to chill out, decompress, check out the local sights as interested (perhaps the resort shops?), and catch an evening meal somewhere fun. Saturday - Hoodang Drive #2 This longer drive heads northwest on US-150 and then northeast on IN-450 (a recommended motorcyclerides.com route) then back on US-50, retracing US-150 to Turleys, then on some potentially sweet backroads to Sulphur, and then southwest on IN-62 and IN-545 to Troy, along the Ohio River. The Barge Inn in Troy might be a good lunch stop. Continue southwest to Rockport, and if there's interest we can check out the Spring Heritage Days Rendezvous at the Lincoln Pioneer Village, being held that weekend in Rockport. Cross the river into Kentucky and then cross again at Hawesville. More cool backroads, then north on IN-37/IN-145, then west on IN-164 to Jasper. Thinking about the Schnitz Brewery and Pub in Jasper if the supper timing is right. Depending on the time, the Jasper Mill and the Geode Grotto are potential stops of interest here. From there it's just a short jaunt up US-231 and across on IN-56 back to our hotel. Now we just need the weather to cooperate.
Pics from our adventure to southern Indiana this past Thursday thru Sunday: https://flic.kr/s/aHskVzQyT4 The quality of the roads we identified in and around the Hoosier Nat'l Forest surpassed our loftiest expectations. Tons of great twisties (and roller coaster humps too) and not too much traffic. IN-62 from Corydon to Saint Meinrad, IN-450 from Shoals to Bedford, and IN-66 from Sulphur to Cannelton were the highlights. Even US-150 between Paoli and Shoals was worth a couple of tire-squealing trips. :devil: Good times with good MINI friends.
Looks like it was a blast, wish we could have been there! We're looking forward to Steamboat Springs!