ll things come to he who waits. The aphorism was never truer than for this year’s AONE Indian Summer Sortie, since waiting for November 5th to stage our fabled fall foliage foray proved to be the decidedly propitious thing to do. We’d almost pulled the trigger on a couple of earlier dates but held off, and on November 3rd we made the call and sent out the eagerly anticipated email to one and all: The Sortie was on for Saturday!

Thick fog prevailed in the early hours of the morning in eastern Massachusetts, but as we motored west toward our 10:30 rendezvous it gradually lifted and the day got brighter. By the time we reached the Fillin’ Station Diner in South Deerfield, the sun was out and the temperature was well up into the 60s. Some people were in shirtsleeves! (Others were over-dressed.) Despite the two-day notice, Alfas kept pulling in, until we reached a total of fourteen—a new record for one of our Western Mass tours! The good news must be spreading…

Event organizer Peter Walker conducted a brief, informal drivers’ meeting at which he distributed route directions and maps, and then we all headed out. Needless to say, all of the tops were down on the Alfas that had tops capable of being lowered. After a brief initial period that found us mingled with a gravel truck and a few motorcycles (they sure drive slow for being so loud), we were soon on the roads we were seeking: lots of twisting country byways with virtually no other traffic, curving up and down the Berkshire hills, through small villages and wide-open spaces, with scenic views of farms and mountains, all set off by the blue sky and falling leaves. And in spite of the fact that it was November, the late autumn we’d experienced this year provided us with a foliage display far better than we could have reasonably expected.

Peter set a spirited pace for our group that most of us thought was just right—our Alfas definitely got some well-deserved exercise. Since his family has a home in the area, he knows the roads extremely well and knew when to slow down through a town or along a bit of inferior pavement, but he also knew when we could dilate our throttles and have some fun. In total, the route comprised eighty miles of terrific driving, which Peter split into three legs with a pair of rest stops along the way so we could get out and stretch (and, for some, sneak off behind a tree). Both stops were in scenic settings that provided plenty of photo ops—the base of a ski slope and a riverside grove of trees. The journey ended in the quaint town of Shelburne Falls, where Peter even provided us with a circular Alfa-only parking area alongside the infamous Shelburne Falls Potholes. Most of us then wandered around and found a place for lunch. (RJ Horwitz, on the other hand, grabbed his fly-fishing gear out of the back of his GTV6, headed for the river below the falls, and that was the last we saw of him.) After lunch and browsing, we remounted our respective steeds for the trip home through the lengthening shadows.

The Sortie participants this year (in no particular order) were event organizer Peter Walker of Beverly, MA in his white ’76 Spider; Tom & Maureen Letourneau of Cumberland, RI in their red ’88 Milano Verde; RJ Horwitz of Maine and Worcester in his ’86 GTV6; Rich Rumelt of Greenfield, MA is his ’79 Spider; Dave Napoli of Brookline, MA in his silver ’84 GTV6 Maratona; Lou & Donna D’Amore of Wilton, NH in their metallic gray ’67 Duetto; Rod Burdick of North Smithfield, RI in his red ’63 Giulia Spider; George & Paula Dolak of Newton, NH in one of their many Spiders; Jim Byron of North Haven, CT in his ’84 Spider; Kevin Murphy of Framingham, MA in his green ’74 Spider; John Paradiso & son Sean of Northampton, MA in their red ’92 Spider, Terry Rushbrook of Longmeadow, MA in his red ’74 GTV; Tom Freiberger of Vernon, VT in his supercharged(!) ’68 GT; Joe Fenstermaker, a college student who was Alfaless since his Alfa is back in his home state of Washington but got to drive with Terry; and Dave & Vi Pratt of Dedham, MA in their red ’61 Giulietta.

Please note a couple of things about the above list: The first is the pleasingly wide diversity of Alfa models we had on the tour—Giulietta and Giulia Spiders, a Giulia GT Sprint; a GTV, a couple of GTV6s, a Milano, and several kamm-tail Spiders from a 20-year span—overall, Alfas ranging from 1961 to 1992—nice! And second, the fourteen Alfas we had along represented all six New England states (see the license plate collage)—truly an Alfa Owners of New England event!

Our thanks go to Peter Walker for organizing this great event and performing as Squadron Leader. Peter says that, as the popularity of our Western Mass autumn tour grows, we can start dividing the group into two or more "flights" (as is done with Pasta Fazoom), which would make staying together a little easier. Whatever the case, do make sure to add the Indian Summer Sortie to your "must-do" list next year!