Each Fall the Arkansas MINI Owners Klub (AMOK!) hosts the region’s biggest MINI event in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. Now in its fourth year, the Merry MINIs on the Mountain event draws MINIs from all over the U.S. to experience the awesome fall scenery and wonderful curvy roads of the region. Registration will begin on March 1st, 2010. Mark your calendars for this date and reserve the weekend of October 21 -24, 2009 for what, will be the best time you will have in your MINI. Merry MINIs On The Mountain
We attended the last event and had a terrific time - in fact, we booked our room for 2010 while we were still there! We took the Mini-Poopers with us so we rented the one cabin that they allow dogs in and it was just wonderful, if a wee bit spendy. But it was still cheaper than putting them up for the weekend at Pete and Macs Day Spa and Resort....... 2010's event will be held 3 weeks earlier than 2009's event, so there should be some color in the trees still. Last year, it was mid-November and the leaves were pretty much gone, but that allowed a lot of unfettered viewing from the higher elevations, which was a plus too! The location on Mt. Magazine is fantastic, and the resort is a wonderful place, lot's of hiking and sight seeing opportunities all around and the hotel's restaurant serves good (if not world class) food at reasonable prices. If you rent a cabin, it comes with a wood burning fireplace that they clean out and provide fresh wood each night, and if you use it up they'll bring more if you ask for it. The cabins also have a hot tub on the deck... The first pic is of the lodge itself, which sits on a bluff overlooking the petitjean river valley - all of the rooms face the valley view, the second is the interior shot of a cabin... Even in Mid November the weather was beautiful, it got to the mid 70's on Sat, the main driving day. Speaking of driving, these folks like to GO! We went on the "moderately" paced run and OMG, they were flying! I can't imagine what the "spirited" run must have been like. When we mentioned the pace to our lead car, he said "Don't blame me, my wife was driving"! Anyway, a solid thumbs up to this event, and I encourage all to attend. This year they have blocked the entire hotel out for the event (only 60 rooms) so get your reservation in early. They also have 16 cabins and plenty of camping sites, and a few motorhome sites too. Last year I believe they had 35 cars attend from all over, but the hotel ran out of rooms or I'm convinced there would have been many more......