A hardy group of Saabs and their drivers met in the rural countryside of Ontario on Sunday October 6 for the annual Fall Colours Tour. The date of the Tour has to be set fairly far in advance, and the Club avoids the Thanksgiving long weekend (Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October). This means that both the weather and the amount of colour in the leaves is always subject to chance. One year the leaves turn later, the next year they turn earlier, and some years a storm blows them down leaving little but bare branches.
The weather turned out to be better than forecast. While it was mostly cloudy, we got through the most scenic sections of the Tour without rain, giving the two convertibes on the Tour a chance to cruise with the top down. (And it wasn’t too cold for that, either.)
On the Tour, we visited a pedestrian-only suspension bridge over a gorge (with open steel mesh walkway), an old country church converted into a microbrewery (many participants left with bottles or growlers of beer), a picnic stop by a lake, and scenery that ranged from glacial hills to the ancient Canadian Shield.
A highlight was taking the boat ride from Adolphustown to Glenora. As it happened, our Saabs made up the middle row of cars on the boat. That is probably the most Saabs, and the highest percentage of Saabs, the vessel has ever seen. (Until the next Club drive out to Prince Edward County, perhaps?)
To finish off the Tour, there was an optional dinner stop at a restaurant overlooking the harbour at Brighton, Ontario. There was food, and Saab talk, and a quick Tech II session in the parking lot.
Hopefully the Tour introduced some new, and interesting, roads and countryside to the Club members who participated. Stay tuned for next year’s Tours, starting with the Winter Tour, some time in late January or early February.