> I was wondering if anyone has any great stories about driving around
> through the fall leaves and enjoying the true change of season.
> I'm from (and native born) So. Calif. and I truly envy those with
> real seasons and especially places with big trees and fall color.
I brought my 65B up from Texas (where I grew up) to Wisconsin in in 1973. I've
been in Wisconsin ever since. Unfortunately, no one warned me about driving in
the winter here, and I thought it would be no worse that the salt water on the
Texas coast. Boy was I wrong. It was my only car and I drove for 4 winters
before I realized it was beginning to disappear before my very eyes. I
bought a junker to driver during the winters and began storing the MG by the
winter of 77. I'm still driving it every spring through early winter here and
loving it. In fact, the winters make me appreciate the car even more.
And particularly being on the road in spring and fall.
Having grown up in Texas, I never really knew about fall colors and all those
piles of leaves that I now love to drive over and hear the crackle of.
Wisconsin roads are really great for driving...and my wife and I bundle up in
the fall and go for evening drives almost every night (luckily we live in the
country) until it looks like the snows are about to fall. Needless to say the
top is down 99% of the time when the car is driven. I baby it and don't drive
in the rain if I can help it.
In fact, we used to drive back to Texas in late October with the top down all
the way, returning in 30 degree weather to snow flurries as we got close to
the Wisconsin border. We still drive up to Door County around Haloween via
back roads to visit friends. One trip I remember was in mid October...it began
as a very temperate day. About 1 hour north of home, we noticed a haze
ahead...what looked like rain, because the skies were getting dark in that
direction. As we drove nearer, we saw it was dust being blowing in by high
winds. The skies got dark around us and the temperature began to drop like a
rock. Pretty soon we had about a 30 mph wind from the NW and temperatures in
the low 40's. Rain did finally come, but we drove fast enough to not get wet.
It didn't rain long, but remained one of those dark autumn days where the
anticipation of winter was electric. Color was everywhere along the
road, accentuated by the dark sky.
Being on small farm roads, we drove through tiny hamlets, seeing everything
being prepared for the soon to come winter - and there we were, driving
through in the LBC with grins on our cold faces.
The trip back was almost as good, except that the temperature had dropped down
to freezing. We bundled up and were rewarded with that brilliant autumnal sun
and blazes of colors through the forests. It's hard to describe the feelings
of a northern autumn to my friends who have never seen one, especially those
that don't have a top to take down, or a LBC to toodle in.
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