It’s finally here, ladies and gentlemen… the first MIJC cruise-in of 2017. Join us at Our Inn Place in Pekin Saturday, May 6th at 6pm for a bite to eat, a scenic tour of the back alleys of Pekin, and ice cream. Later in the month on Memorial Day Weekend is a trip to MIJC member Duke Winch‘s place in southern Illinois. We don’t post the location publicly, so if you’ve not been there before, ask for directions. The trip will be 50% wheeling and 50% trail cleanup, something that’s necessary every spring to keep the trails navigable. Watch the forum for travel arrangements.
If you’d prefer something more local, come for the Louie Louie Parade in downtown Peoria. This short parade, which has been hacking off downtown commuters for years, kicks off at 4:30. The proceeds benefit St. Jude and the club has already donated $200. Come to the Civic Center Fulton Lot (enter at the corner of Fulton and Monroe) no later than 4pm; earlier if you want to sit and socialize for a bit. The gatekeepers will tell you where to line up in the lot but we’re usually off to the left, towards the back of the lot. Bring candy for the kids!
June 3rd is our next cruise-in at Sonic in Pekin. Starting June 10th is the club’s annual Big Trip, a week-long adventure to Moab. This has been in the planning for months on the forum, so if you’re just hearing about it now you may need to wait until next year. For those of you not going on The Big Trip, consider the slightly more tame Tremont Turkey Festival Parade on Sunday, June 11th. This is a parade of considerable length with thousands of attendees… a great place to show off your ride and chuck candy at little kids. Watch the forum for details on where and when to line up, which will be on one of the side streets in Tremont. The parade kicks off at 4pm but they start closing off streets well before that.
At the end of June/start of July is the club’s annual trek to Duke Winch’s Off-Road Ranch and Dun Did ‘Er Campground (and No-Good Clothes Shop and Pancake House). This normally encompasses the 4th of July weekend but this year the calendar is not cooperating with that, as July 4th falls on a Tuesday. So this is when it is. The trips to Duke’s can sometimes depend on his sometimes very demanding work schedule, so always check the forum before you head south.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, so I’ll cut it off there for now and save some for the next post. You can always check the Schedule page for our complete lineup of club events big and small; there’s also a downloadable 1-page PDF link on that page as well. Or if you’ve got a free weekend and want to wheel, call an audible and post in the forum. I’m sure someone will come watch you break yer stuff.