THE JOURNEY

Good byes.

Saying “Good Bye” is a function of mixed emotions. There were good times including Fun with Friends at the Fox & Fiddle ( see photograph at top of page). There were sad times, leaving old and very dear friends, and poignant times when embracing your only child.

The car.

I had purchased a roof rack with the plan being to add a Thule carrier in order to increase the “stuff” I would be taking. At a cost of $750 or so, I decided to pass on the carrier and use the Greyhound Bus people as previously mentioned. (They were great and Russ picked up the boxes 4 days later, all in order.)

Departure Day.

April 1, 2008. O.K., O.K. that is April Fools Day and I want no catty remarks!

Fortunately I have wonderful company to assist in the driving of the 4,700 kilometers. Joanne (Jo) a hiking friend was heading out to B.C. at the same time and decided travelling across Canada by car in early Spring beats the heck out of peering at it through clouds at 37,000 feet.

We set out at 9 a.m. and 700 kms later arrived at Sault Ste Marie by 6 p.m. Blowing snow from Thunder Bay to the Soo slowed us a bit, but lively chat stimulated by the excitement of knowing we were now finally on our way, helped the miles pass quickly. Most hotels/motels/inns/lodges are fairly standard, some pricier than others. We simply wanted beds, clean rooms and bathrooms. The swimming pools, attached restaurants and convention facilities meant nothing to us. Including taxes we averaged just under $90 a night, or $45 each which was most reasonable, including continental breakfast.

Next day, after a breakfast of bran muffins, whole wheat bagels, fruit juice and coffee plus a pocketful of apples and oranges, we headed north with a very strong feeling of “the door closing behind us”. It was a not an uncomfortable feeling.

The road from the Soo to Wawa, through the spectacular Lake Superior Provincial Park, had been closed by drifting snow the day before. We could see why. I had made the decision in Toronto to change my winter tires to my all season ones, leaving the snow tires behind, with no room at all for both sets. The next 150 kms were adventurous to say the least, but the sky cleared, as did the roads and all was well again.

Our next stop was just outside Thunder Bay at the Terry Fox Monument. An incredible Canadian, a true inspiration. The beauty of northern Ontario surprised me. We stopped at Kakabeka Falls, west of Thunder Bay and were in awe of the ice covered view (see photograph).

The powers that be were kind enough to give us back the last hour we had used up, so we took advantage of that, driving for a total of 13 hours and covering 1050 kms, not stopping until we reached Dryden. (get your atlas out folks)

April 3. Up and on the road at 7a.m. we crossed into Manitoba by 9 a.m. The size of Ontario amazed me, taking over 2 days to get out of it. Manitoba passed quickly and we were in Saskatchewan by 4 p.m. We did stop in Winnipeg for a couple of hours and visited friends of Jo’s. Interesting aside…. the friends were Scottish and the wife was the sister of Jo’s old room mate Carol who owns the small fitness club in the Sutton Bayview building. Small world.

I had the feeling of being completely surrounded by sky. There were no hills, trees or buildings and the sky reached the horizon in every direction. We stopped at Regina for the night having travelled 980 kms.

April 4. Headed out again by 7 a.m. From flat vistas to gently rolling hills, for miles, they were interrupted only by trains parallel to the road, whose cars stretched endlessly. There were acres upon acres of dark golden landscapes looking a little forlorn after five months of our Canadian winter’s abuse. The sun was now shining, it was 5 degrees C. and one could easily imagine field of glinting gold wheat bursting through in a very short time.

The prairies continued into Alberta with the roads in both provinces being straight, wide and fast. Alberta’s speed limit of 110 km appeared to be totally ignored with 125 km being the norm. Reached Calgary by 3 p.m. and dropped of Jo. She was to visit a good friend and spend the next 2 nights there and my friends, when finding out I was to be passing through, booked a holiday to Mexico!

This provided me the wonderful opportunity to spend “me” time in Banff and drove on into the incredible world that is Banff National Park. Much to my surprise, after the ease in which we could pick and choose our hotels throughout the journey, the first two places were fully booked, finding out that this was the March break ( during the first week of April?) and parents, kids, tourists and skiers were plentiful. Another point of interest was the number of shops, cafes etc that had signs saying “Help Wanted”. I was tempted because Banff must be one of Earth’s most beautiful towns. Anyhoo, I found a hotel at $100 a night, plus all the fruit you could steal at breakfast time, and settled in after a timid night on the town.

Saturday April 5 and the 5th day into the journey. Was told by the Banff Tourist Board that the bears were now out but not to worry. Right! I felt a little safer jumping on a local bus that took me just out of town to a gondola. This Swiss contraption had me whisked half way up Sulpher Mountain before I could change my mind, and wondering if an encounter with a harmless little old bear would be a little less nerving an experience than the one I was experiencing dangling in mid air 800,000 ft above the sanity of sea level.

I shared the gondola with a friendly Korean student called Hyo and we ooe’d and aah’d our way up, marvelling at the astounding views all around. Once at the summit we walked up to an observation hut for even more breathtaking scenes. From these dizzy heights, which actually was only 7,500 ft above sea level and took 8 minutes, we descended, headed back to Banff, got in my car and headed to Lake Louise. Naively, I was expecting to see the wonderous turquoise hue that is unique to that Lake, only to find that it was, simply, white. Out of respect for the recently deceased Charlton Heston, we walked across it.

Sunday April 6. Jo at 9 a.m. at the Greyhound bus terminal from Calgary, and for the second time in less than 24 hours I was driving on that magnificent road from Banff to Lake Louise. Every turn introduces yet another imposing sight. Castle Mountain (see photograph) has to be a favourite of mine, having impressed me greatly 30 years ago, and which at that time was known as Mt Eisenhower .West from there took us through Kicking Horse Pass, Golden and Roger’s Pass (what great names), with warnings and signs of avalanches past and present. We witnessed a phenomenon here, similar to that of parts of Northern Ontario, where there were no radio stations available…nothing, neither AM or FM. It gave me a pioneer kinda feeling!

From lakes and mountain passes we quickly found ourselves in the dry warm confines of the Okanagan Valley. Our first action was to find a vineyard, which we promptly did, and had an enjoyable hour sipping on a few samples of wines from Quail Gate Winery. The view of snow covered mountains and vineyards seemed to be a bit of an antithesis (see photograph). We continued on down the lake to Penticton, amazed at the growth in vegetation and construction! Today was only a jaunt, covering a meagre 570 kms.

Final day.

A lovely journey from Keremeos to Princeton, then through the twisty scenic highway to Hope. Entering the lower mainland of B.C. was like arriving into a new season, with blossoms of all colours, yellow forsythia and daffodils out to welcome us. We arrived in Port Moody by 1 p.m. to be greeted by my hosts Russ & Wendy. Just prior to our arrival Jo and I had our last car lunch which always consisted of stone wheat crackers, cheese, fruit of our choice, almonds and water. That healthy existence had to, of course, come to an end and that evening after dropping off Jo in Vancouver with her friends, headed to a restaurant and had beer and some really good bad stuff.

Jo was marvellous company, a most competent driver and a perfect travelling mate.

Thanks Jo.

Summation.

Total of 7 days and 4,700 kms ( 2,900 miles)

Cheapest gas. Toronto at $1.09
Most expensive gas $1.37 in B.C.’s interior for top grade( I had to take)
Biggest gas surprise $1.27 in Alberta (thought it would be cheaper)
Best Hotel/Inn Days Inn, Penticton
Cleanest washroom B.C. Tourist Centre, Golden, B.C.
Friendliest people In gas stations and hotels all across Canada
Best provinces to break the speed limit Saskachewan and Alberta
Most interesting province All of them.

Summation: A true education, a wonderful experience. Strongly suggest you take 10 days off next Spring, rent a car with lots of cup holders, drive 5,000 kms and fly back after a little break. If you are coming from Toronto the only problem could be that you won’t want to go back!

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