Teddy usually likes to ride shotgun but for most of this trip he was relegated to the back seat to make room for my co-pilot.......Dad.
So my odometer rolled over 60,000 kilometres (37, 282 miles) somewhere between Calgary and Medicine Hat, Dad has figured out that a Grande Soy Chai Latte from Starbucks or an English Muffin can sustain me until well into the early afternoon, and driving across Saskatchewan is not the only boring part of a cross Canada drive. But the most important thing that happened in the last few days is that we have firmly established that you can drive from Vernon to Toronto in 3 days…….but I don’t recommend it. And that almost sums up my Great Canadian Road Trip……that ended in Albany New York.
Here's how it went......Tuesday morning Dad and I set out on our little adventure that would take us through 5 provinces (plus one state). At first I was planning on making this drive on my own. I was looking forward to a few days of solitude on the open road. However, Dad changed some plans and it worked out well for him to make the trip with me. In the end I was glad to have a co-pilot.
Day One saw us travel from Vernon BC to Moose Jaw Sask. A journey that lasted 1,239 kilometres (770 miles) and took us just around 13 hours. Of course we also had to deal with losing 2 hours due to traveling through a couple time zones so it was actually our longest days. We ran into some nice clear roads and not too much traffic so really even the long day was not such a bad day.
Ahhh.......crossing the border between BC (Province #1) and Alberta (Province #2).
Still enjoying the view as I was driving along. It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off.......
......because we also crossed the border into Saskatchewan (Province #3) where we all know the view of the road is not so exciting. At least we made part of the drive in the dark. Apparently I lived in Manhattan too long because until this trip I totally forgot how dark it gets at night……and how many stars there really were in the sky.
Day Two saw us travel from Moose Jaw, Sask to Thunder Bay Ontario. This was a 1,356 kilometres (842 miles) journey which once again took us about 13 hours. This time we only lost one hour due to the time change.
Thing about driving through Saskatchewan in the early morning.......you get to watch the sun come up. Yes that is snow blowing across the road.
Ummm.......now that's more like it. The complete boringness of driving across Saskatchewan.
A shot of the sun dogs. Haven't seen them in a while. (Sun dog - bright spots often seen as halos on either side of the sun due to the ice crystals in the air).
We also got to see the prairies....…end abruptly into a wall of trees somewhere in Manitoba. I can’t lie I was a little worried about driving highway 17 through Ontario. Not because of road conditions or anything like that but because it is a single lane highway that winds itself along Lake Superior and if there was a lot of traffic it could slow us down. Well, traffic was certainly not a problem because apparently no one drives that route during the winter (except the trucks……Dad counted over 100 going in the opposite direction and then he stopped counting). And Dad is pretty sure the road has been updated since the last time we drove across Canada (1990…..20 years ago this summer in case you were counting) and there were more than enough passing lanes and I barely had to slow down below 110 km/hr (70 mph).
Heading into Manitoba (Province #4).
The junk hanging from my rear view mirror. What? I was bored and Dad was driving....what else was I suppose to do except take random pictures? I already took a nap and the drive was boring!!!
Oooo-Oooo-Ontario (Province #5)..........if you attended any National Legion Track Camp you will have this chant running through your head right now. If not well.....maybe not then.
Day Three was both the most boring and most exciting day of the trip (and that isn't saying much). It saw us travel the 1,377 kilometres (855 miles) from Thunder Bay to Toronto. Ok, this is an extremely boring stretch of highway but like I said this time of year there is no one on it so we made good time. We did get to stop and see a couple things along the way.
Heading out of Thunder Bay.
Yeah it's early in the morning but this is what our drive looked like most of the way.....open roads and no traffic.
On the way out of Thunder Bay we had to stop and see the Terry Fox Memorial. For anyone who may not know who Terry Fox is, he is nothing short of a Canadian hero. He lost his right leg at age 20 due to cancer and he decided he wanted to run across the country to raise awareness and money for cancer research. He started his run by dipping his leg in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12, 1980 and ran of an average of 42 km (26.2 miles....a typical marathon) a day until September 1, 1980 when he was forced to stop running after the cancer spread to his lungs. He had made it as far as Thunder Bay after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,338 miles) through Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario. Terry never finished his cross country run and he died at the age of 22 on June 28, 1981. Today Terry Fox runs are still held in towns and cities throughout Canada continuing to raise money for cancer research and keeping Terry’s dream alive. A lot of us were hoping that his mom Betty, would light the Olympic cauldron, which of course she didn’t but I was very happy to see her included in the group of people who carried out the Olympic flag.
Our next stop was unplanned, in White River. This is the place where The story of Winnie-the-Pooh started. The inspiration for Winnie-the-Pooh came from a bear named Winnie that the author’s son, Christopher, saw in the London Zoo. How Winnie came to be in the London Zoo however is a purely Canadian story. The bear was purchased as a cub by Captain Harry Colebourn in White River as he was preparing to head overseas during World War I. He named the cub Winnie after his home town of Winnipeg. The bear travelled overseas as his troop’s mascot but once they were getting set to head to France, Winnie had to be left behind at the London Zoo, where he was eventually found by Christopher and then written into literary history forever.
Our final tourist stop was in Wawa where there is 8.5 metre (28 feet) high statue of a Canada Goose.This time of year, he even wears a scarf (yes I am sure it is a “he”) The goose was built in 1963 and I'm guessing it is there because the town is gets it’s name from the Ojibwe word “wewe” which means “wild goose”. It is one of the very vivid memories I have from our 1990 trip across the country so I had to stop and see it again….....plus we needed gas and food.
The other stop I would have liked to have made was in Sudbury where there is a giant nickel. That is another very vivid memory from that 1990 trip, unfortunately we didn’t locate it (and neither Dad or myself really felt like driving around to find it, we still had 4 hours to drive). I guess I will have to find it next time.
We eventually made it to Toronto where Steve and Heather were waiting with drinks and beds for us. Both were very, very welcome.
Saturday morning I got up nice and early and made my way to Albany. Took me about 6 hours. I had to slow down a little bit around Niagara Falls (the American side) to find a Starbucks…..oh and also because it was snowing pretty hard but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing all the way to Albany.
Crossing the bridge to America.
I also got delayed at the border. I found myself a very chatty border guard who wanted to know all about me and my travels (and not the usual why are you coming to America questions...she figured I must have been visiting family in Egypt.....don't get me started on that) and the Canadian holiday and BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. I am pretty sure the guy behind me in line was just as annoyed. The funniest part about it was no matter how many times I told her I was going to Albany, she kept wishing me a good time in Syracuse. Whatever. I'm here now.
Teddy in his much more familiar spot on the front seat next to me. Yes, he is wearing a seat belt.....safety first.
Crossing over into New York (State #1...ok the only state on this trip).
A little bit more traffic but clear roads so I didn't let that slow me down.
Julie
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