OctoberCruise '02 - Super Coupe Club of Iowa

OctoberCruise '02
(1st Annual Northeast Iowa Car Cruise)

On October 27th sixteen people, including members and friends of the club, were on hand to take part in our 1st Annual OctoberCruise to Northeast Iowa.

With the forecast calling for a 70% chance of rain before the end of the day, a hardy group of diehard cruisers assembled at the various meeting points along the cruise route.

After a little bit of trouble getting someone to feed us lunch, we headed out on a pre-planned route that encompassed some 120 miles through the hills of Northeast Iowa.

The roads we had chosen for this years cruise included several stretches of open highway, but most of them were more of the twisty and curvy types that you read about, or see in TV commercials.

All of us were unable to drive slowly through these areas for some reason. And on a personal note, I noticed that my accelerator pedal kept pulling itself to the floor all of the time in these areas of the cruise. Most of the last section of the cruise ran along the bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River Valley, and the view from the bluffs is breath taking. It hard to believe that it's part of the Iowa landscape. (A lot of people think that Iowa is just a bunch of flat corn & bean fields).

The cruise actually started in Cedar Rapids several hours before we reached Dubuque. After our departure from Cedar Rapids we went north to Evansdale to meet up with other members and then east to Dubuque to meet up with our final participants.

From there we headed west on Highway 3 toward Edgewood. Just West of Edgewood the route went north up Highway 13 to Strawberry Point were we saw the worlds largest strawberry. Still heading north we cruised Main Street in Elkader, and then turn back east for Guttenburg. While we were stopped in Guttenburg we watched a barge coming down stream and took in the excellent view.

Although it was overcast all day, the weather was very cooperative. That is until we were leaving the Guttenburg area. Just as we were going through town we ran into a few light sprinkles. It was just enough to notice but not enough to turn on the wipers.

After a short cruise south, it was on to Balltown for supper where we arrived about 4:45 pm.

The food at Breitbach's was very good and there was plenty of it to go around. A few of us even had some leftovers to take home. (Right Zippy)!

While we were eating supper and re-living the events of the day, the weather turned a bit for the worse. (Can you say Snow Showers).

We were forced to run in the rain all the way back home, but all-in-all, the day was a lot of fun for everyone.

We will be putting together another OCTOBERCRUISE again next fall, but we will be moving the date up several weeks so that we can take in more of the fall colors and maybe get a little nicer weather.

We are also planning a new cruise for late in the spring (end of April or the beginning of May). The spring cruise will be a round trip to "House on the Rock" in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

Can you make it? Let us know so we can keep you informed about the plans and reservations. (Email Me Now)

I'd like to thank everyone who came out to the cruise, and I hope you had as much fun as I did. And if you missed out on this cruise, you really missed a lot of fun! So be sure to attend the next one!

OctoberCruise '02 Photo Gallery

Sorry for the poor photo quality on some of the shots, My camera is loosing it!