Back to the Pickle Country Road Tour this Sunday, Dec 3rd
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From: Minnetonka, MN
Back to the Pickle Country Road Tour this Sunday, Dec 3rd
You are cordially invited to join us for the
Back to the Pickle Country Road Tour
Sunday, December 3, 2006
A recent rain storm has cleared most of the sand from our favorite roads between Pepin and Fountain City, WI and the forecast looks clear through the weekend. If you liked River Road and County S up by St. Croix Falls, you will LOVE the “driftless” area of western Wisconsin. These are truly some of the best and yet most deserted driving roads in the nation...no REALLY! We'll make a couple pit stops along the route, then have lunch at Hansen's Hold Up (cash or check only) near Fountain City, WI before winding and twisting our way back on equally amazing roads toward the Cities. If you stay with us for the whole tour, you will probably get back to 494 at about 6:00pm, and you will put about 350 lateral-G-filled miles on your car, so be ready to DRIVE! People who need to get back earlier are of course welcome to bail out as they see fit.
Photos from some recent drives:
Three meeting options:
1. 8:00am at Rainbow Foods, 7282 S. East Point Douglas Road in Cottage Grove, MN. Take Hwys 10 & 61 southeast past 494, exit on 80th Street and turn left, over the highway then right onto East Point Douglas Road. Rainbow will be on your left. The group will leave at 8:10am after radios are loaned out.
2. 9:15am at the Pickle Factory, 250 First St., Pepin, WI. From 494, it’s a scenic 60-minute drive to Pepin. Take Hwys 10 and 61 south and east out of the Twin Cities. Turn left to stay on 10 East, heading toward Prescott. Cross over the drawbridge in Prescott and turn right onto Wisconsin Hwy 35 South. Pass through Diamond Bluff, cross Hwy 63, go through Bay City, Maiden Rock, and Stockholm. In Pepin, turn right at the BP gas station (good time to fill your tank) onto Prairie Street, then over and down the hill, jog left on First Street over the tracks into the marina parking lot. We will NOT be having breakfast at the Pickle Factory (unless you get there at 8:30).
Please have a full tank of gas and an empty bladder, and be ready to leave the Pickle factory at 9:30am.
3. If you’re not a morning person, you can join us for lunch at Hansen’s Hold Up, probably about 1:00pm, just remember it’s at least 90 minutes from the southeast corner of 494. Take Hwys 10 and 61 south and east out of the Twin Cities. Turn left to stay on 10 East, heading toward Prescott. Cross over the drawbridge in Prescott and turn right onto Wisconsin Hwy 35 South. Pass through Diamond Bluff, cross Hwy 63, go through Bay City, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, Pepin, Nelson, Alma, and Cochrane. In Fountain City, turn left onto Hwy 95. Hansen’s is about five miles out of town, on the right.
It’s important to note that this is just an informal gathering among friends, not an official outing of any club. Everyone is required to drive responsibly at their own safe comfort level. No one will be pushed to go faster or held up behind slower cars. We always drive SLOWLY by pedestrians, houses, and farmers. At intersections each driver will wait for the one car behind them so no one gets lost. Bring FRS/GMRS radios if you have them. We will have some to loan out also.
Feel free to forward this info to any talented drivers you know, and respond if you plan on joining us.
Call me (612-237-1883) with any questions.
See you in the twisties this Sunday!
Back to the Pickle Country Road Tour
Sunday, December 3, 2006
A recent rain storm has cleared most of the sand from our favorite roads between Pepin and Fountain City, WI and the forecast looks clear through the weekend. If you liked River Road and County S up by St. Croix Falls, you will LOVE the “driftless” area of western Wisconsin. These are truly some of the best and yet most deserted driving roads in the nation...no REALLY! We'll make a couple pit stops along the route, then have lunch at Hansen's Hold Up (cash or check only) near Fountain City, WI before winding and twisting our way back on equally amazing roads toward the Cities. If you stay with us for the whole tour, you will probably get back to 494 at about 6:00pm, and you will put about 350 lateral-G-filled miles on your car, so be ready to DRIVE! People who need to get back earlier are of course welcome to bail out as they see fit.
Photos from some recent drives:
Three meeting options:
1. 8:00am at Rainbow Foods, 7282 S. East Point Douglas Road in Cottage Grove, MN. Take Hwys 10 & 61 southeast past 494, exit on 80th Street and turn left, over the highway then right onto East Point Douglas Road. Rainbow will be on your left. The group will leave at 8:10am after radios are loaned out.
2. 9:15am at the Pickle Factory, 250 First St., Pepin, WI. From 494, it’s a scenic 60-minute drive to Pepin. Take Hwys 10 and 61 south and east out of the Twin Cities. Turn left to stay on 10 East, heading toward Prescott. Cross over the drawbridge in Prescott and turn right onto Wisconsin Hwy 35 South. Pass through Diamond Bluff, cross Hwy 63, go through Bay City, Maiden Rock, and Stockholm. In Pepin, turn right at the BP gas station (good time to fill your tank) onto Prairie Street, then over and down the hill, jog left on First Street over the tracks into the marina parking lot. We will NOT be having breakfast at the Pickle Factory (unless you get there at 8:30).
Please have a full tank of gas and an empty bladder, and be ready to leave the Pickle factory at 9:30am.
3. If you’re not a morning person, you can join us for lunch at Hansen’s Hold Up, probably about 1:00pm, just remember it’s at least 90 minutes from the southeast corner of 494. Take Hwys 10 and 61 south and east out of the Twin Cities. Turn left to stay on 10 East, heading toward Prescott. Cross over the drawbridge in Prescott and turn right onto Wisconsin Hwy 35 South. Pass through Diamond Bluff, cross Hwy 63, go through Bay City, Maiden Rock, Stockholm, Pepin, Nelson, Alma, and Cochrane. In Fountain City, turn left onto Hwy 95. Hansen’s is about five miles out of town, on the right.
It’s important to note that this is just an informal gathering among friends, not an official outing of any club. Everyone is required to drive responsibly at their own safe comfort level. No one will be pushed to go faster or held up behind slower cars. We always drive SLOWLY by pedestrians, houses, and farmers. At intersections each driver will wait for the one car behind them so no one gets lost. Bring FRS/GMRS radios if you have them. We will have some to loan out also.
Feel free to forward this info to any talented drivers you know, and respond if you plan on joining us.
Call me (612-237-1883) with any questions.
See you in the twisties this Sunday!
Thread Starter
Evolving Member
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 217
Likes: 1
From: Minnetonka, MN
A small but high quality group of drivers gathered at the Pickle Factory in Pepin, Wisconsin this morning to tackle some awesome curves in the “driftless” area. Click on this photo for more:
I once again parked my Evo, realizing that discretion is the better part of valor, that I shouldn’t be driving the car hard with a crossmember and control arm that need to be replaced (will do that this week if all goes well). I jumped in the *****in’ gray 2005 Evo VIII MR with Matt at the wheel. With a thin layer of snow on some of the roads, he was cautious at first, testing traction in safe areas. His Advans stuck surprisingly well, and he was able to motor right along with only an occasional unexpected drift (and several very nice expected ones!). Eric in the Z06 Vette was also running summer only tires and had to back off considerably in the snowy areas due to adhesion issues. He ran his own impromptu smoothness school and still had a good time with all the clear roads that mixed in. The weather was playing strange games with us, giving perfectly clear dry roads on one ridge, then snow-covered excitement on the next, as if some giant groundskeeper in the sky was laying stripes on a county-sized football field.
Hansen’s Hold Up was closed, so we descended into Fountain City and dined at the Monarch Tavern, a local institution since the 1800s. I made a new friend in Stephanie, our lovely young waitress, who would very much like a ride in one of our cars, if we come back next Sunday when she gets off shift. Any takers?
You’ll notice the snow covering the rear ends of both cars in the photos. We didn’t see any cops all day, until on the way home along Wisconsin Hwy 35, when Eric got pulled over for having his license plate covered with snow. A very pleasant deputy let him go after a nice chat and a funny look at his in-car camera.
Will there be another tour next weekend? Can we cheat winter yet again? Will one of us get a car date with Stephanie? The long range forecast shows some flurries possible for the early part of this coming week, then clearing with temps climbing into the 40s by next weekend. I think I’ll hit it!
I once again parked my Evo, realizing that discretion is the better part of valor, that I shouldn’t be driving the car hard with a crossmember and control arm that need to be replaced (will do that this week if all goes well). I jumped in the *****in’ gray 2005 Evo VIII MR with Matt at the wheel. With a thin layer of snow on some of the roads, he was cautious at first, testing traction in safe areas. His Advans stuck surprisingly well, and he was able to motor right along with only an occasional unexpected drift (and several very nice expected ones!). Eric in the Z06 Vette was also running summer only tires and had to back off considerably in the snowy areas due to adhesion issues. He ran his own impromptu smoothness school and still had a good time with all the clear roads that mixed in. The weather was playing strange games with us, giving perfectly clear dry roads on one ridge, then snow-covered excitement on the next, as if some giant groundskeeper in the sky was laying stripes on a county-sized football field.
Hansen’s Hold Up was closed, so we descended into Fountain City and dined at the Monarch Tavern, a local institution since the 1800s. I made a new friend in Stephanie, our lovely young waitress, who would very much like a ride in one of our cars, if we come back next Sunday when she gets off shift. Any takers?
You’ll notice the snow covering the rear ends of both cars in the photos. We didn’t see any cops all day, until on the way home along Wisconsin Hwy 35, when Eric got pulled over for having his license plate covered with snow. A very pleasant deputy let him go after a nice chat and a funny look at his in-car camera.
Will there be another tour next weekend? Can we cheat winter yet again? Will one of us get a car date with Stephanie? The long range forecast shows some flurries possible for the early part of this coming week, then clearing with temps climbing into the 40s by next weekend. I think I’ll hit it!