Glorious weather welcomed us for day two of the Hagerty Maple Mille. The group descended onto a figure eight of Muskoka Loops, before heading North, and then East to North Bay Ontario. The hotel check-in staff couldn’t believe we took eight hours to get from Parry Sound to North Bay, as the trip is normally just 1.5 hours by the fastest route! But the fastest route would miss favourites such as Muskoka 632 to Port Sandfield, the Bunny Trail from Dunchurch and of course lunch at the Red Door Bakery.
Throughout the day we began to see the fall colours taking shape, and there is nothing quite like rolling hills, twisting turns and classic cars against a backdrop of yellows, red and orange.
Once again it seemed that everyone wanted to try someone else’s car. Cars, keys, seats and co-drivers were being traded so often it was hard to keep track. At one point, as a group of cars pulled into a gas station one owner was heard to exclaim “wait, if you’re here in a Triumph…where is my Mustang!?!” Eventually all the cars, drivers and co-driver’s arrived at our hotel and combinations returned to matching the entry list.
A preview of photos, courtesy of Ralph Saulnier:
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Before we release you to the entry forms, you might be interested to hear we’ve been hard at work all Fall planning the Hagerty Spring Thaw. This year’s version will combine many of your favourite things, along with a few new changes which are sure to excite you. “Changes,” you say, “you can’t change it!?!” Well, lets not panic too early! We’re not tossing out the carburetors for fuel-injection, or opening the entry list to 1990 Cavaliers. But we are, for starters, changing our sweep team. Our regular guests on the Hagerty Spring Thaw are all familiar with Nigel and Yoki, who have for years followed our event ensuring each and everyone of our guests has made it to hotel in the evening. Nigel is one of the most passionate classic car enthusiasts we know of, but he’s only ever experienced the Hagerty Spring Thaw from the very back of the pack. Wouldn’t it be great to have him running ‘in the pack’ with the rest of us?
Fortunately some great friends have also wanted to give Nigel and Yoki a chance to experience more of the Spring Thaw for themselves. Robert and Jacyln, from RWM & Co. had so much fun joining us as sweep at the Fall Freeze, they asked if they could do the same for the Hagerty Spring Thaw. We couldn’t be more delighted! Robert has done more than a few road-side repairs for guests in previous Spring Thaws, and having a classic car restoration specialist at the back of the event is never a bad thing! 
Hopefully you’ll agree with us that our “big changes” for 2015 are a great idea, and will only change the event for the better. We’ve been very careful to stick to our recipe of Great Roads, Great Cars and Great People. Speaking of which, we should mention Dave Koszegi and Mid-Island Realty. Dave Koszegi (Dave K) is always the first person to approach us about supporting the Spring Thaw each year. As we sit writing this, it seems to us that it was at registration for the 2014 event that Dave K smiled his traditional huge smile and confirmed “we’re doing this again next year, right?!” Mid-Island Realty loads up our prize table each year like it’s a Christmas Tree for the whole event, helps to fill your schwag bag with items you really want to keep and use, and (most importantly) reminds us often how excited everyone is for another year of adventures. Whether you’re looking for a home on the island, or elsewhere, it would be wise to call up 