9600 kms later

July 15. We’re home. Today was another long haul ass day. We drove all the way home from Sleeping Giant (basically Thunder Bay). It took about 16 hours and we rolled in at 2 a.m.

At least the drive was still nice. As much as I’m impressed with and miss the mountains, I’m equally blown away by Lake Superior and the incredible Canadian Shield – tons of spectacular views around every corner.

Today’s big thing – the odometer. We drove a total of 9600 kms.

I can’t believe how far we’ve been and all that we’ve seen in only two weeks. Canada is truly a spectacular and impressive country! I’m so grateful to live here - I dig it!

lots of bambis

July 14. Today began by drinking our coffee on a big rock overlooking Falcon Lake. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the lake was bathtub water warm. Life, is good.

Then it was a haul ass day. We drove from Whiteshell Manitoba to Sleeping Giant just south of Thunder Bay – about 10 hours. We stopped in T-Bay at the Terry Fox memorial – I had a moment. What an inspiring kid. On days when I’m feeling lazy and too tired to run or work out, I’ll think about the kid who ran a marathon everyday with a prosthetic leg. We saw another black bear – this time running across the highway - so that brings our total to 5. The 30+ km drive off the TransCanada to Sleeping Giant was full of deer sightings – and one sandhill crane sighting. The park was full of thumpers and multiple bambies, we saw them all over the campground and heard one run through our site in the middle of the night. Oh, and then there were the loons - this time, not such a sweet sound, cooing all night long.

more flat ... part II

July 13. Today our goal was to get across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And that’s just what we did. Drove. Have you ever driven across the plains? Enough said.

We made one stop in Moose Jaw for a pic of today’s big thing – Mac (not Max from Dryden) the Moose – if you thought Max was big, whoa – Mac is 30 feet tall, and he’s the world’s largest moose. Hmph, who knew?

And, I actually drove today – for a whole 4.5 hrs. whoopdeedoo. I don’t know how Dave’s been doing it.

Add another black bear sighting to the list - today we saw one at the side of the road in Manitoba – that’s 4 so far.

We stayed at Whiteshell campground on the Manitoba/Ontario border - our site was nicely nestled in the trees right on Falcon Lake, and we fell asleep listening to the loons.

bye bye rocky mountains

July 12. Sad day today. We said good-bye to the mountains and thanked them for the memories. Now we’re heading back east.

We stopped at Medalta pottery in the Medicine Hat historical clay district. It’s where most of the collectible crocks were originally made, which we both collect, so it was pretty interesting to see the old kilns and tour the old factory that closed in 1959.
Today’s big thing is the antelope we saw at the side of the road. So far our wildlife count includes – black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, antelope, deer and an elk.

We crashed out in a Days Inn in Swift Current. We’re at more than 6500 + kms … and I still haven’t driven.

a little rain can't stop us .....

July 11. Tonight, we’re sitting inside the car, eating our take out dinner from Sobey’s while it pours down rain. But that’s ok, we had another jam packed amazing day without the rain, and we got the tent set up before it rained.
The day began with a visitor passing by our campsite – a rare sighting of a wolf. Dave was pretty excited about that. The park ranger told us he’s only seen one twice in twenty years.

Our first stop of the day was at Lake Louise ski resort. We had lunch in the chalet and rode the gondola to the top for an amazing hilltop view of the mountains and Lake Louise. It was pretty cool to be at the resort in the summer to see the ski runs carved out in the trees – probably the closest I’ll ever get to them.

Today’s big thing is Lake Louise. After seeing the incredibly turquoise blue in so many pictures, it really is something to see up close. We walked the trail to the end of the lake, walked around on the clay at the edge of the lake and saw a bunch of rock climbers on the rock face – so cool.

We made our way back to camp at Bow Valley again. We saw a grizzly on the side of the road and then saw an Elk on the way into the campground.

trains, waterfalls, icefields and bears (oh my)

July 10. Right now, I’m sitting fireside with a cup of Shiraz (hey, no one said we were roughing it … although it is in my tin camping mug) and my laptop remembering everything we did today. It started out with a partly clear view of Mt. Robson – Dave was pumped that the clouds cleared enough to get a good view and a ton of pictures.

We then made our way south making a lot of stops along the way. First, we stopped in Jasper, checked out the cozy town and train station. Then we stopped at almost every roadside pull off to take pictures of the mountains. Today was the day that I got a true taste of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. What I’ve seen so far has been breathtaking, but wow, the drive today was magnificent. ok, I had a few emotional moments. Winding through the mountains around every turn was another jaw dropping view of snow topped mountains. We stopped at Sunwapta falls – a wicked and very angry waterfall. Who knew it was there? We were just driving along and saw a sign for a waterfall and said, hey, let’s go check this out. It was ‘namazing (to quote Sara’s daughter). We made a few stops like that – just pulled over to see turquoise lakes and ‘namazing mountain peaks. Then we hit the Columbia Icefields. Again, WOW. We bundled up in toques, boots and jackets and climbed up to where it has receded to since 1844. It was also cool to see where it was in 2001, the last time Dave was there.

And, today …. We saw a bear! It was a momma bear at the side of the road with two baby pubs (ya, cubs, but I tried to say pups and cubs at the same time).

We planned to camp at Lake Louise, but they were full by the time we got there – so we headed a bit further south to Johnston campground.

Today was a blast, I think my most favourite day so far – and we’ve done a ton of cool stuff.

camping BC style

July 9 We left Kamloops and drove, drove, drove through more windy roads and beautiful views for 5 hours up the Yellowhead to Mt. Robson provincial park. It was our first experience with self registration - BC Parks style … basically, drive in, pick a spot, and eventually a park guy will come around to collect the fee and give you firewood –that could be, oh, whenever. Then someone drives around the park in a golf cart every hour or so with firewood if you want more. funny.

Today’s big thing is Mt. Robson with the highest peak in the Rockies, except it was cloud covered, so we couldn’t see it.

Got wood?

Day 8. Got wood? Today’s adventure was brought to us by BC’s forests and elevations. First, it was another awesome drive with more spectacular views from Kelowna to Vancouver through more mountains covered in evergreens. The landscape was interesting to see - we saw some logging areas being clear cut, some looked like a sea of abandoned fallen trees, some burned out by fires, and lots of logging trucks hauling loads up and down steep mountain roads. I thought it was neat to see a lumber yard with sprinklers on top of their wood piles, watering the wood to keep it wet and prevent fire I guess. The smell of trees, ranchland and pretty streams winding along the road makes for such a pretty and peaceful drive. Life, is good.

The climb through the mountains was very cool - we were so high up we were in the clouds, one summit was 4081 feet— we could see snow on mountain peaks right beside us from the car and the temperature dropped to 5 degrees at one point.

Then, we went to the Capilano suspension bridge and tree top walk. It was amazing! We walked across the bridge (obviously) which is strong enough to hold 96 elephants, is the length of 2 747s wing tip to wing tip and is the height of the Statue of Liberty’s shoulders. We saw some of the biggest, tallest and oldest trees in Canada – Douglas Fir, Red Cedars and Hemlocks. I couldn’t help it, I just had to hug a tree.

Today’s big thing is ‘Grandma Capilano’ the tallest tree there at 200 ft and it’s more than 1300 years old. Whoa.

The drive in and out of Vancouver SUCKED. Traffic was brutal – four lanes of traffic into one? Really!? Leaving Vancouver the GPS took us through Gastown. Ever been to Gastown? I wouldn’t recommend it. Let’s just say you wouldn’t want to stop for gas -
or anything else … or even just stop in gastown.

Neither of us were really dig’n Vancouver, so we hightailed back through the mountains to Kamloops – the tournament capital, hmph, who knew? We sure didn’t, and we also didn’t know there was a huge baseball tournament there this weekend. Hotels room options were slim, but we found one.

We (and I mean Dave) have driven 5176 kms so far. Whoa. we've been far and we've still got a week to go.

It really is quite spectacular!

Day 7. “It really is quite spectacular.”That was the first thing Dave said when we hit the road this morning, and that pretty much describes how the rest of the day went. We drove and drove and drove around bend after bend to see one spectacular view after another - I took more than 30 pictures of just the mountains! Windows open, sun shining and the smell the pine trees … life, is good. Clyde agrees. We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest stop by a river under ‘playboy mountain’ (see picture).

Today’s big thing –uhm, pick a mountain.

I’m pretty sure I spotted Sasquatch crossing the highway. I saw something human run cross the road, but when we got closer, it disappeared into the wilderness. Maybe I’m just delirious from being in the car for so long. Or am I? We’ll never know, but I know what I saw!

We drove through Banff and Lake Louise, then got off the Trans Canada and made our way through the Okanogan Valley to Kelowna. It started raining hard late in the day, so we decided hotel it tonight. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE camping, but it’s kinda nice to have all the amenities without the mosquitoes for one night, and not pay $2 for a 5 minute shower or $30 for firewood.
Oh, and we crossed another time zone.

July 6. Today is the day that I saw the foothills of the Rocky Mountains for the very first time in my life. Wow! Simply amazing! Even though we haven’t even begun to drive deep into the mountains, they’re already something to see.

We stayed at Bow Valley Provincial Park in a cozy site that backed onto the river and a spectacular view of the mountains.

Today’s big thing is the landscape!

more bad ass bad lands .... and mountain bound.

July 5. You know it’s going to be a good day when you start with a really hardy breakfast cooked outside – scrambled eggs, homefries, sausage and toast.

We took four walking tours through the badlands – checked out the coulees, hoodoos, wild cactus, birds, trees – it’s all so fascinating. It’s one thing to see the panoramic view from the top, it’s another to walk around deep down within them to see it up close. I’m so glad to be experiencing this with my nature nerd boyfriend whose been enlightening me about birds and trees among all sorts of other things!

We haven’t seen any rattlesnakes, black widow spiders or scorpions - just a mosquito or two … or a gagillion-billion, OMG, we were devoured by them – good thing we brought the screen tent, I don’t think we would have survived.

Today’s big thing is the dinosaur in the Tyrell Museum field site. I’m fascinated by dinosaurs! It’s hard to believe they were real, but it’s pretty convincing when you see the actual locations where they were discovered and dug up.

Tomorrow, I'll see mountains! can't wait.

The Badlands are Bad Ass!

July 4. This morning I woke up to Dave calling me outside to see something cool. I hauled my butt out of the tent to see two wild turkeys right next to our site – the Tom strut’n with his feathers on display for the hen. That was just the beginning of another awesome day.

It was a short 4-hour drive from Cypress Hill to Dinosaur Park in Alberta. We stopped in Medicine Hat for the big thing of the day – the big Teepee. But the even bigger thing today has to be the badlands. They’re not just big, they’re spectacular! They took my breath away. You’re just driving along, looking at flat fields, and then all of a sudden, bam – the most amazing view, and as soon as you get out of the car you can smell the wild sage.

Clyde was very excited to arrive at Dinosaur Provincial Park. We decided to stay for two days to take a break from driving, chill and explore the landscape.
So the day began with wild turkeys and ended with deer right behind our site. I’m still amazed at the view we have right from our site.

Today’s word-for-the-day is FLAT.

July 3. Manitoba is flat. Saskatewan is even flatter. People told me to expect flat, and they are flat. It reminds me a bit of driving through different parts of the U.S.

Today was a busy day. It was another 12 hours of driving, but Dave seems to be toughing it out (btw, I haven’t driven once yet). We drove from the east side of Manitoba to the west side of Saskatchewan, hitting some really hard rain a few times. I feel sorry for all the road trippers on motorcycles and bikes (and walking? – haven’t seen any walkers today).

In Portage La Prairie I had to resort to Tim Horton’s coffee. Blah! It was a really hot day - up to 34 at one point in Saskatchewan (kicked Dave’s ass). We drove through some of the heavy flooded areas. Crossed the Canadian longitudinal centre on Canada – dig that! We saw trailers and license plates from the east coast and even France - Dig that! Got attacked by a million dragonflys – I’ve never seen so many all at once, they looked like tiny airplanes smacking into our windshield. Seen a few oil derricks out in the fields and lots of trains with dozens and dozens of cars – I’ve never seen so many on one train. And, the stoplights are sideways – WTF.

We stopped in Chaplin, Sk., known for two cool things – it’s where hundreds of thousands of shorebirds migrate, and is where sodium sulphate is harvested from salt deposits in the lake – the second largest saline body of water in Canada. From the highway, you can see the huge mounds of salt that kinda look like mounds of snow.

We stayed at the beautiful Cypress Hill Interprovincial Park – oh, and hey – the firewood is free in Saskatchewan. Clyde did his part by chopping some wood.

Gas prices are pretty cheap. We’ve paid anywhere from $1.08 to $1.13 (well, cheaper than Ontario) … but Dave’s still getting over the trauma of paying $1.44 in Marathon, ON.

Today’s big thing was the Rolls Royce in Steinbach. We didn’t even go looking for it, it was just there when we rolled into town.

We’ve driven more than 3000 kms so far, and still no sign of bears, moose or cougars(oh my).

The Canadian Shield …. Continued.

July 2. You ain’t seen what the Canadian Shield is all about until you’ve been up here! I had no idea how breathtaking it is around Lake Superior and Thunder Bay. Today was full of more amazing views of water and rock face around every turn and over every hill. The air smells fresh and the changing colours of the rock face are so cool.

Today we got on the road by 9 and planned to arrive at Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba by 7 p.m. BUT, oh ya, it’s a long weekend, of course the provincial parks are booked up. So, we had to drive a few hours further and found a Days Inn in Steinbach with one room left, then found a local park to cook up some dinner.

We‘ve seen quite a few cyclists riding across Canada and even a couple of people walking! One guy was pulling a rickshaw-like cart with all his stuff and another guy was pushing what looked like a kid’s 3-wheel jogging stroller. Seriously, I’m pretty sure they’re walking across the country.

We’ve now crossed the Eastern Standard Time zone and the Ontario/Manitoba border - one province down – four more to go!

Today’s big thing was Max the Moose in Dryden (Aunt Mart's request!). It’s around 18+ ft tall, that’s 3 times Dave’s height.

Still no bear or moose sightings (besides Max) - just two deer at the side of the road.

Happy Canada Day!

July 1. Happy Canada Day! And what a perfect way to celebrate the day, by getting in the car and driving across the country. We said good-bye to the lake, hit the road at 6:18 a.m and arrived at Neys Provincial Park at 6:30 p.m. What an amazing day. For hours and hours we saw endless spectacular views of the Canadian Shield around every bend.

We only stopped a few times – twice for gas – in Sudbury and Salt Saint Mary (Sault Ste. Marie), the R.I.D.E program and our first (hopefully only!) speeding ticket (thanks officer Brad for knocking it down – Dave doesn’t just have a rabbits foot up his ass, he’s got the whole rabbit plus a horseshoe!). We rocked out to bad, cheesy 80’s songs, busted out ‘the world’s most annoying sound’ and Dave taught me the alternate lyrics to ‘The Adam’s Family’ and the ‘Toy’s ‘R Us’ song – you don’t wanna know.

Neys campground was beautiful. Our site was right along the beach on Lake Superior. The beach looked like a driftwood graveyard, where huge trees have washed up on shore to lay to rest. Left turn Clyde was pretty exhausted from being a passenger all day, and was ready to crash out early. Big picture for the day: a big ATV and snowmobile in Manitouwadge.

No bear or moose sightings today.

First stop, Lake Muskoka

June 30. Our first stop was a quick overnight at Aunt Marty and Uncle Bill’s cottage on Lake Muskoka. We thought it would be smart to head up north the night before to get a head start in the morning – but, yes, the long weekend traffic sucked. Left Turn Clyde agreed with our logic and took a moment to enjoy the view. We had a short visit over some yummy strawberries and angel food cake with Aunt Ann and Uncle Rick who were at the cottage for the weekend.

I'm dig'n the anticipation of our great Canadian road trip out west

This blog is inspired by the long anticipated road trip Dave and I are about to take.

A casual conversation a few months ago about wanting to drive across Canada to BC has come to fruition. Both of us are pretty spontaneous, so it's no surprise that we just simply decided to do it. We leave, fittingly, on July 1 - Canada Day.

I've been wanting to take this trip for more than ten years, inspired to do it in different ways over the years. The first idea I had was to cycle across the country - completely unrealistic, not sure what I was thinking. Then I saw 'Elizabethtown'- a movie about a guy who comes to terms with life's challenges while driving across the U.S. to bring his fathers ashes home, and 'One Week' about a guy who spontaneously buys a motorcycle and rides across Canada after learning he has a week to live. I related to both characters adventurous free-spirit and knew I'd someday, somehow take a similar trip.

One of the many things I dig about Dave, is that he's already done this trip. Ten years ago, on a whim, he got in his 1991 Dodge Ram pickup truck and started driving to BC.

The only thing Dave and I have planned, is to not have a plan. This goes against everything I'm about, but I'm liking the idea of not having an itinerary. I can't begin to list all the things I'm excited about - but to name a few, I'm excited about camping in beautiful provincial parks along the way, taking our photo with as many 'world's largest' roadside landmarks as possible (which is something we started with the Dunnville Mudcat photo above), discovering this picturesque country I'm proud to live in, the exact moment when I start to see the rocky mountains on the horizon for the very first time in my life and spending quality time with my guy, who I adore.

Check back often, I plan to document our trip with regular posts and photos. Hope you enjoy them and get inspired to take a road trip too!