After driving through a lot of New York and Vermont for the last two years, the Northeast Rod Run pretty much returned to it's roots and revisited a couple of it's more popular destinations from previous years in New Hampshire and Maine. Even with the weekend forecast showing heavy rain for the second time in three years, it didn't dampen the spirits of anyone on the trip.

Normally, Friday would be used as an extra travel day for those coming in from longer distances, but this year almost all of the participants decided to get a jump on Saturday morning's kickoff and pull into Portland on Friday.

With a larger number of people coming in that day early, to give them something to do, we scheduled a shop tour and open house with Back Bay Customs in Portland for that afternoon. When the group arrived, Back Bay had many of their best customs out for display along with some very nice works in progress also. The shop's owner, Paul White, was more accommodating than anyone could have hoped for. Paul and his employees were there answering all questions that were thrown their way. They also had food and drinks for everyone. Once arriving back at the hotel, some people ate and drank at the hotel bar/lounge, while others went down Old Port along the coast to try some of New England's famous seafood. Then there were the usual suspects just hanging outside on a clear night for the regular parking lot party.

The trip officially got underway Saturday morning with falling rain and cooler temperatures. We headed up coastal Route 1, through some of New England's small fishing towns until we arrived at the Owl's Head Transportation Museum in Rockland, to see some great displays of vintage autos, trucks, planes and other forms of transportation from back in the day. From there the trip continued following the coast and crossed over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, onto Mt. Desert Island and into Bar Harbor for our final stop of the day. While the rain did taper off as we pulled into Bar Harbor, the fog was still heavy on the island, so the cruise though Acadia National Park and the views at the top of Cadillac Mountain weren't as good as what we hoped for. As night fell on Saturday and the rain held off for a while, everyone was able to go walk around downtown and do some shopping and hit some of the great restaurants and bars that are there.
As Sunday morning came around, much of the fog had lifted and people could finally see the great view out on their hotel room balconies, of Bar Island and Frenchman Bay, along with seeing one of the few cruise ships that were in the harbor that weekend. As most of the group headed west to the Cole Transportation Museum in Bangor, a few others decided to give Acadia another shot. After the museum we all stopped for lunch before continuing west along scenic Route 2 into New Hampshire, all while viewing some of the great foliage that was starting to change. During that part of the trip we had one major breakdown that needed a tow to our hotel, but once again the heavy rains held off until we had that situation taken care of. After the rest of us finished our trip in another spate of rain, we checked into the hotel and once again the rain cleared so everyone could mingle outside and discuss the day's events over a few cold drinks.

Monday morning greeted us with clear skies and warm temperatures. Once everyone washed their cars at the hotel, and we repaired yet another breakdown, the group headed south on picturesque Route 16, under the shadow of Mt Washington. After cruising through the classic New England town of North Conway, we headed east and onto the Kangamanus Highway for another highlight drive of the trip. The weather once again stayed clear until we got to the higher elevations, but as quickly as those rains came, they went away. This was the first time we could see some of the lasting effects of Hurricane Irene, that came through the area a while back.

All in all, even with the less than desireable weather and the breakdowns, the Northeast Rod Run still didn't fail to deliver a great time for everyone. It always comes down to the class of people that go on the trip, and because they are all a top notch group, you can't help but enjoy yourself year after year.

SEE YOU ALL AGAIN IN 2012, HOPEFULLY IN LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK!