2009 Leaf Peeping Rally

All I can say is WOW!

I have attached just 40 of the 621 pictures that Allison, my wife, took during the 2009 rally.  She shoot almost all from the passenger seat and through the windshield most of the time.

We met with Steven and Anita Craib and their Triumph TR6 just south of Lindsay at 9:30 AM and started the inaugural Leaf Peeping Rally.

Through to Bridgenorth and Tim’s for a quick coffee, then on to our first official stop at Buckhorn where they were having their Scare Crow Festival.  We checked out the lake and the antique shop there, both floors but did not leave with anything. Steven had wisely filled his entire TR6, every crook and cranny prior to leaving home to ensure that nothing more could be added for the return trip. Steven is wise beyond his years!

The drive between Buckhorn, Gooderham and Haliburton was very spirited and I can assure you that neither of the TR6’s exceeded the speed limit while enjoying the constant turns, ups, downs and a rounds that make these two pieces of highway some of the best sports car roads in Ontario. Ok, I will admit that on all the corners that said 70, then 60 and finally 50 kilometers were, well, ok we completely ignored those, as really, these signs are yellow and not white and as such they technically are suggestions and not the law.

At Haliburton we toured the town during their Autumn Festival, listened to the music, walked the boardwalk, the ladies bought a few things as everything was on an end of season sale, strolled the street with a very, very tall man with a goat and saw four Morgan’s in a convoy. I am not kidding I have pictures, then went up to the Skyline lookout above Haliburton, where Anita lost a pearl ear ring. We searched everywhere including going back down into Haliburton but no luck. We had to finally give up the search and we headed off to Bancroft. Word of warning the sign that identifies Highway 118 turn is either behind a tree or the size of a postage stamp, but we did get to go through Wilberforce, Harcourt and Highland Grove which was not planned but if we had not we never would have seen the beautiful rainbow.  We got back on track at Cardiff and headed to Bancroft.

Bancroft was to prove interesting, why you ask, well let me tell you. There were no rooms, none. See as this was the recon rally for next year we didn’t make reservations thinking that we would see what was there when we got there, well, oops there were no rooms. Parked in the Best Western parking, who could not give us a room for the night and using our cell phones we were able to finally find two rooms in a great little bed and breakfast aptly named the Bancroft Bed & Breakfast. Dinner was had at a great little 'Fish & Chip' place down the street from our B&B.  In the morning Steven was up first.  I don’t eat breakfast, so for me it was not really a B& B but just a B, but this is not a disadvantage as Steven more than made up by eating my breakfast allowing for my morning coffee and cigarette habit.

I should point out that at breakfast Steven and Anita informed us that it was their 29th wedding anniversary. Congratulations!

When we left our cozy billet it was foggy but as we approached Whitney, oh I forgot to mention that we called Whitney for a place to stay and were informed that there was a family wedding going on in town and there were no rooms in all of Whitney to be had either, the sun began to break through is spots. Past the park gates, no, back to the park gates as Steven did not want to spend an evening in the Whitney jail for not paying the $15.00 for a day pass to the park but as we were just passing through we did not need to incur this expense but the bathroom break was truly welcomed.

We stopped numerous times across the park and at one small shop we did pick up the official 2009 Leaf Peeping Rally car plaques, no don’t write for one, there are only two of these precious inaugural car plagues and they are not for sale for any price. Well ok, maybe if the offer is really, really good.

Crossed Algonquin and stopped at Dorset for a lovely lunch at the Fiery Grill and a chat with the locals, of course we went through the General Store there, well worth the visit.

Stopped at a waterfall, in the rain, yes it rained a couple of times during the trip but nothing major, we even managed to get the top down for a little while.

Now this is where we had to deviate from the original plan as we had stopped more and stayed longer than what the plan called for so we were going to have to give up on Kinmount, Fenelon Falls and Bobcaygeon but we did add in drive bys at Minden, Norwood and Coboconk but we were running out of time. We parted ways just north of Lindsay, grinning from ear to ear from an incredible weekend that we just had with friends and our little British sports cars.

Original planned mileage for the trip was 640.7 kilometers from Port Hope and back, the actual mileage was 714.5 kilometers. Both cars ran perfectly, not a hitch along the entire route.  That is 243 miles when converted to American.

This is just for you statistical nuts, my TR6 did the trip using 9.684 liters per 100 kilometers. Kiss my butt Prius drivers, we had way more fun, went a lot faster and our cars DO sound like something really special!
 

Finally, you might be wondering why a lot of the shots are the back side of a beautiful red TR6, well there was only two of us and second it is a well known fact that Moose which are very large animals are attracted to colour red, so if one was on the road, Steven would hit it first!