Mirror's Roadtrip Megapost (MBWW - 114 pics)
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Mirror's Roadtrip Megapost (MBWW - 114 pics)
Road Trip Mega Post
<b>The Trip</b>
The complete plans for the trip were as follow:
1) Ship car out to San Diego from Boston
2) Drive to Vancouver, BC. Arrive some time on Tuesday night. Camp somewhere along the way.
3) Drive to Jasper, AB.
4) Drive to Lake Louise, AB.
5) Drive to Banff, AB.
6) Drive to Calgary, AB. Arrive some time on Sat night. Passengers fly home.
7) Drive to Boston. Play some golf along the way. Arrive by Sun night.
<b>The Route</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/route%20map%20small.jpg">
<b>Participants:</b>
<i>Me</i> - 5'10" (on the rare occasion that I stand up straight), 145lbs
<i>Jason</i> - 6'2" 198lbs. I've known Jason since he moved to MA when we were in 8th grade.
<i>Amanda</i> - 5'6" 130lbs. I've known Amanda for 7 years.
<i>Mike</i> - 5'10" 170lbs. I've known Mike for 6 years. Category 2 peddler.
<b>Vehicle</b>
2001.5 B5 S4
~340HP 2.7L V6
~69,500 miles at the start
Front buttwarmers
Yakima rack
Yakima SpaceCadet15 cargo box
<b>Day-by-Day</b>
<b>Sun, Aug 26</b>
My nice, clean car is loaded onto the truck and shipped to San Diego. I'm not allowed to ship the car with a roof rack, cargo box, or anything in the trunk. The box doesn't fit inside of the car, even with the front passenger seat removed. I decide to put my golf clubs and the roof rack inside the trunk, lock the trunk and seats, and give the driver the valet key. Problem solved. I order a new cargo box from REI.com and opt for in-store pickup in SD.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20front.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20rear.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20loaded%20on%20truck.jpg">
<b>Tues, Sept 4</b>
My nice, somewhat dirty but nothing unusual car is delivered to Mike in San Diego.
<b>Fri, Sept 7</b>
Jason and myself arrive in San Diego from Boston. Amanda arrives about 10 minutes later from Detroit. Mike picks us up in the S4 and we learn that three people worth of luggage + sleeping bags + a four-person tent + a roof rack + my golf clubs can actually fit in the trunk. Good work, Audi! By comparison, the E46 sedan cannot fit a single bag of golf clubs in the trunk.
From the airport, we were brought on a brief tour of San Diego while en route to Mike's friend who had his sleeping bag and tent. It turns out that Mike's friend lives on a hill which over looks San Diego. Neat.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20deigo%20from%20hill.jpg">
The trunk was fully loaded with the items mentioned above, so the sleeping bag and tent went in the trunk and two backpacks were moved onto laps.
<b>Sat, Sept 8</b>
The day started off with Mike giving us a daylight tour of SD and the area. We drove by Torrey Pines, some lemon groves, the beach.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20diego%20beach.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20diego%20beach2.jpg">
It's a very nice area with perfect weather, so it's very easy to see why people want to live here.
After the tour, Mike and I went to REI to pick up the cargo box while Jason and Amanda hit the pool. The box was FAR larger in person than I had thought, given the pictures on the website. There was no chance of it fitting inside the car, so that meant Mike and I had to install it in the parking lot. Good thing I had remembered to stop by Linens & Things to pick up a silicone pot rest beforehand, because the rack was missing a foot pad and coming back to REI would have been a PITA. We installed the rack without any issues and went back to our home base to pack.
Once they saw how much crap we had brought, the other three became a little nervous about making it all fit inside the little Audi. I was more confident and went ahead and loaded up the car. It turns out that everything was a perfect fit with even a little bit of extra space in the box. In the picture, there is a little bit of space left over in the trunk, but that was filled by my laptop bag and an empty daypack.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20packed%201.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20packed%202.jpg">
From Mike's, we drove about two hours to see PeteF and eat. Contrary to the rumors many have heard, Pete does in fact have a Radical in his garage and a stalker van parked outside. Also, it turns out that on the west coast, the sun sets over the ocean. Weird.
Anyway, Pete is an excellent host and it was great to finally meet him after reading posts for almost 7 years.
The goal for Monday was to make it to a campground near Orick, CA (about 790 miles away), so from Pete's we decided we would drive as long as we reasonably could, and then see what the RNS-E came up with for places to stay at that point.
Around 1 or 2am, we checked the RNS-E. "Royal Motel" in Tracy was at the top of the list. With a name like that, how could we possibly go wrong?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal.jpg">
When we got into the room, we noticed a curious decoration over one of the beds. Besides just being odd, it was completely out of place in the room.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20shield.jpg">
Looking around the room, it got worse. Electrical outlets and switches didn't have face plates, the name of the hotel had been scratched into the TV.... and the bathroom.. oh yes, the bathroom:
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20shower.jpg">
When we went to lock the door, we noticed that the door frame was broken up from all of the places that used to have locks and dead bolts.... before the door was kicked open and ripped them out. "Hmmm, that's interesting..."
At that point, I looked to the ceiling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20ceiling.jpg">
Yes, that is blood on the ceiling.
We decided to sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags rather than touch the sheets.
<b>Sun, Sept 9</b>
Over night, nobody was shot and nobody died. That, we felt, was pretty good.
Morning light allowed us to poke around the resort a bit. We quickly found the swimming pool - which had been filled with sand. Amanda decided to dive in anyway.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/blood%20hotel%20swimming%20pool.jpg">
There was also a very pretty statue which had been very carefully repaired after vandals had gotten to it.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20statue.jpg">
From the Royal Motel, we drove to SF for some breffus and to walk around a bit. Fishermans Wharf worked well for that.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20warf.jpg">
After that, we got in the car and did the obligatory drive down Lombard.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20lombard.jpg">
SF's hills make for some really weird garages.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20garage.jpg">
After that, we left the city via the Golden Gate Bridge and took the 1 up the coast for a bit. That section of the 1 is simply awesome, especially in a car which feels reasonably well planted and has sticky tires. The road winds back and forth along the coast, often with a cliff on one side. The road is turny enough that the RNS-E (hereby referred to as Nav Bitch) couldn't really figure out what was going on.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20ggate.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%201.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%202.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%203.jpg">
The 1 was great, but its curvy nature made our northward progress slow. We switched to the 101 and took that up through Marin County and Sonoma, and all the way to our camp site in Del Norte.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/marin.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/marin2.jpg">
Apparently a bear got lost here once. Because of his big bear fingers, he made a typo.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/willits.jpg">
Along the way, we made a stop to drive through a tree and got our first taste of the redwoods.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood2.jpg">
Those trees are pretty big. I might even go so far as to call them Giant Redwoods.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20emily.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20derek.jpg">
Apparently some PENSers had already been to that fallen tree before.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mp.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20jake.jpg">
Also on our way to the camp site was Larry's store.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/gottshalks.jpg">
It was pitch black when we made it to the camp site. With the gigantic trees, total darkness, and eerie quiet punctuated by the odd bird cry, it felt a lot like a scene from Jurassic Park.
<b>Mon, Sept 10</b>
A walk around the camp site in the morning turned up this sign. I especially like that last bullet, because the last time I fought a bear, I only gave it a half-hearted effort and ended up losing my face.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bear%20advice.jpg">
More walking revealed a fact which hadn't quite sunk in yet: these trees are ****ing huge!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwoods3.jpg">
We explored a bit further and then hit the road to OR. Unfortunately, it looked like Goldie had already beaten us there.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/dutch%20bros.jpg">
The Oregon coast, like the California coast, is lovely. Instead of sandy beaches up against sandy hills, however, the rocky hills come right down to the water.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast2.jpg">
We stopped at Battle Rock because... umm... it looked like a neat place to stop. It had a large rock which Jason and Amanda climbed out onto.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/battle%20rock.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/battle%20rock2.jpg">
About a mile later, we stopped for brunch. When we left, we were assaulted by one of the locals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mullet.jpg">
Actually, we were just assaulted by her mullet. Impressive.
And then there was a bridge.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20bridge.jpg">
And then we saw a sign for something called "Seal Point." That looked interesting, so we stopped in. We got out of the car and followed a path that, although it seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, somehow drew us in. It went up a hill and away from the water. When we got to the top, we saw the seals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point1.jpg">
They were quite friendly, so Jason started petting one.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point2.jpg">
Then, one of them allowed Amanda to ride it. Mike simply could not believe our good fortune! Who would have thought seals would be so friendly?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point3.jpg">
Ok, so maybe there weren't really seals up there. Maybe we had just accidently walked up to a secondary parking lot. But, as we found out from a disgruntled customer in the gift shop, there weren't any seals at the real Seal Point either. Somehow, I think we ended up enjoying the stop more than she did.
From there, we got back on the road and soon made it to our campsite for the night.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20campsite.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20campsite2.jpg">
Not bad.
<b>Tues, Sept 11</b>
The goal for Tuesday was to make it to Vancouver, BC in time to eat. Amanda had also seen a picture of a water fall in the US Air magazine during her flight west, so we decided we should go there, too.
From the campsite, we drove east through Portland. It looked like it could be a nice city, but we had other plans; Multnomah Falls was calling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah2.jpg">
Just as impressive in person as it was in the magazine.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah1.jpg">
There was a trail to the top. Having been in the car for a couple of days at this point, we decided to jog to the top. It was only 613ft total vert, but even so, and even at sea level, jogging to the top hurt. Easily the most painful 10 minute mile I've ever done. The view from the top wasn't bad though.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah4.jpg">
From the falls, we drove straight to Vancouver with no issues and the only stop was for gas. The border crossing was painless and we arrived at the hotel around 8p.
<b>Wed, Sept 12</b>
Breakfast 1 was the continental offered by the hotel. For Breakfast 2, we walked across the city, hopped on a little ferry, and went to Granville Island.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/granville%20-%20on%20ferry.jpg">
Granville Island has a large indoor food market with lots of fresh produce and meats and some prepared foods as well. Somehow everything there looks and tastes delicious.
Among my friends, I'm known as a bit of a carnivore. I generally don't eat things which don't bleed or don't make sounds when they die. As such, when I was spotted eating grapes (and liking it!), it came as a bit of a surprise to all of us.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/granville%20-%20fuzzy%20and%20grapes.jpg">
After walking around Granville Island for a bit, we got back on the ferry and walked back to the hotel. From there, we got in the car and drove up to Whistler. Getting to Whistler is quite simple (get on 99 and follow it until you get there), but we decided to make use of Nav Bitch anyway. It turns out that it was a good thing I already knew how to get there, otherwise we would have ended up several miles off shore. And this was with 5 satelites!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/whistler%20-%20nav%20bitch.jpg">
Because of construction on 99, it took about 3hrs to get to Whistler. The original goal was to take the gondi to the top and catch the sunset, but upon arrival at the ticket counter we learned that it was going to cost about $35/pp and we'd only have 30min or so up there before we had to catch 'last chair' and head back down. We decided to walk around the village instead.
With a bit of extra time to kill, we ate dinner and then looked at our options. The next destination was Jasper, AB but we had originally figured that it was too much distance to reasonably cover in a single day. According to Google Maps, from Whistler to Kamloops was 4hrs and then Kamloops to Jasper was another 5. It was currently about 7p.
The decision was made to fill the tank and drive to Kamloops, where we would re-evaluate and potentially elect to continue on to Jasper.
Driving through the mountains at sunset was absolutely fantastic. The road was about as windy as it could be and still support 55mph cruising with reasonable sporting comfort, the sun created dark mountain silhouettes against yellows, oranges, and deep blues, and the air was perfect for driving with the windows down.
We made one stop along the way to Kamloops for some star gazing. When you're in the backwoods of Maine, you can see an exceptional amount of stars - enough so that many people comment on it when they look up. The sky where we stopped, however, made the Maine sky seem like that of New York City. It was crystal clear and had so many stars it's impossible to describe. This is a full scale crop of the sky:
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/stars.jpg">
Once in Kamloops, we filled the tank and punched Jasper into Nav Bitch. She said 279 miles. Hmmm, that's just about exactly one tank of gas at 18mpg and we weren't very hopeful about finding an open station along the way. Despite that, we drove on figuring that the worst that will happen is we set up the tents near a gas station and then fill up in the morning.
It turns out that just a bit before Jasper is a town called Valemount. That is the only town along the way which has a 24hr gas station. We stopped here to fill up and put in 15.2gal. Good timing!
It was 4am when we pulled into Jasper. While driving down the main street there, we saw 4 or 5 female elk standing in the grassy median and the left lane. I shifted over to the right lane and then suddenly there was a Velociraptor-like scream from the right. That was when we noticed the angry bull on the right side of the road who seemed rather upset that we had gotten between himself and his harem. He then made a move at us, so my right-foot dropped. 18psi of boost later, we were out of harm's way.
The funny thing about Jasper is that it's a somewhat popular place to be even though, imo, Banff has much more to offer. So, what we found out between the hours of 4 and 6am, was that the entire town was booked and the one campground which had an electric fence was long ago closed for the night. The closest town with a high likelihood of open rooms was Hinton, which was 45 minutes away. Nav Bitch took us to a Days Inn there. Because we arrived at 630a, we were able to sleep in the room that morning and the following night for the price of just one night. It was like Jew Heaven!
The other upside to this is that we got to drive through the mountains while watching Thursday's sunrise.
<b>Thurs, Sept 13</b>
We woke up Thursday afternoon and drove into Jasper. Got to see the mountains which just hours before had only been dark silhouettes.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper5.jpg">
Our hope for the day was to be able to take the tram to the top and then hike around or possibly back down, depending on wildlife restrictions. When we got there, we learned that the tram was closed for the day. We weren't pleased.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper%20tram.jpg">
With no tram operating and daylight waning, we figured we'd head back to town and walk around for a bit. In order to avoid weird glances, I figured it would be a good idea to try and blend in with the locals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper%20bear.jpg">
Having just covered about 1900 miles in 4 days, we were in a bit to just sit outside, sip a beer, and enjoy the fantastic weather. With this in mind, we walked around town for a bit in search of somewhere with outdoor seating. Our search turned out to be essentially fruitless, as the three places with any outdoor seats had very few of them and they were all full. Instead, we ended up going to what looked like a lame aprés-bar. It turned out to be a lame aprés-bar, but in the off-season so it actually wasn't bad. Two pitchers and two Miller Lites later, we were feeling pretty good and moved on to another bar.
The new bar had an exciting, unusual, an unadvertised feature: our waiter was a moose. He had a moose underbite, moose lips, moose ears which stuck out sideways, and a moose voice. If you can picture a mooseman's face lighting up with excitement at the prospect of you ordering nachos, you can understand how hilarious this would be even sober.
Sadly, we did not take any pictures of this guy.
<b>Fri, Sept 14</b>
Drove through Jasper on Friday on our way to Lake Louise. Just like Thursday, it was lovely.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper4.jpg">
We even got to see a beast like the one which charged us just a couple of sleeping periods earlier.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper2.jpg">
Our elevation kept rising along the way to the Columbia Icefields. I would have to double-check on a map, but I believe our peak was around 9,500-10,000ft. Thanks to forced induction, power loss wasn't a problem at all. It was kind of sad, in away, to see already under-powered NA vehicles struggling with the thin air.
Getting closer to the icefields, we could see that they weren't an isolated spot of year-round ice. As we got closer, we could see more and more mountains with hanging glaciers.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/on%20the%20way%20to%20Banff.jpg">
Have I mentioned how gorgeous the road through the park is yet?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/heading%20to%20banff.jpg">
Shortly before the icefields, we saw a pair of portajons on the side of the road, so we pulled over for a pitstop. When we got out of the car, we noticed a waterfall on the other side of the road.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20long%20shot.jpg">
While other people are content watching nature, we are of the mind that nature is interactive. So, up we went!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20chad%20d%20em.jpg">
Mike and Jason continued on all the way to the top of the falls to check out the view.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20view%20from%20top.jpg">
Rather than following them to the top, Amanda and I decided we'd interact some more and instead enjoyed the largest drop of the falls. Yes, after soaking my clothing, I decided to go all the way in, but you probably don't want to see me in my boxers so those pics will stay on my computer.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20fuz.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20em1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20em2.jpg">
The sound and intensity of the waterfall when you're inside of it is just plain awesome. It's a lot like how I imagine riding a surfboard in the barrel of a wave would be.
One of the benefits to doing a road trip like this is that at all times we had towels and extra clothing with us. With a comfy Plan B always available, it allowed us to be much more carefree with Plan A.
I've been to the Columbia Icefields before (almost exactly a year earlier actually), and while they're pretty neat to be on, they are far more impressive from afar. As a result, we neglected to stop and hike up to them and instead continued on our way.
Shortly thereafter, we left Jasper National Park, and entered Banff National Park.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/entering%20banff%20park.jpg">
See the road? Awesome.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/on%20the%20way%20to%20Banff2.jpg">
And then we stopped at Peyto Lake. Just awesome. (not sure why it's so washed out on PCs - looks normal on my Mac) (click for bigger version)
<a href="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/peyto%20lake%20pano%20small.jpg"><img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/peyto%20lake%20pano%20mini.jpg"></a>
And then we made it to Lake Louise.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise%20-%20everyone.jpg">
If you were to look up 'idyllic' in a dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Lake Louise.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise.jpg">
The lake is fed purely by glaciers. All the water has in it is hydrogen, oxygen, and a little bit of silt. It is the silt acting as a bandpass filter which gives the water its color. The silt also makes all of the rocks on the bottom very very slick. Amanda and I tested the water. Yep, it's fokking frigid!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise%20-%20testing%20water.jpg">
I, of course, decided to jump in. No pictures again, sorry.
Not seeing a real compelling reason to spend the night in Lake Louise rather than Banff, but seeing a few compelling reasons to get to Banff on Friday, we drove on to Banff and then checked into our hotel rooms for the night. That is the Ritz Carltent on the right.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20tents.jpg">
After checkin, we went straight for the hotsprings for a mountain sunset. It's a natural hotspring which is unfiltered, has a pinch of chlorine added, and is cooled off a bit to bring it to 40ºC. This must be great in the winter with snow falling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20hotsprings.jpg">
And then, because it was Mike's birthday, we hit the bars.
Coming back from the bars, we found two hot females checking out my car. You can sort of make out one of them in this pic with the gain and levels skewed to the extreme, but take my word for it - there were two and one of them even rubbed up against it. B5 FTW!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20elk%20by%20car.jpg">
And then we went to bed.
<b>Sat, Sept 15</b>
Saturday morning was spent walking around the town looking for a reasonable breakfast place - preferably with bagels. We found one, ate outside in more fantastic weather, and then made our way up to the Banff Springs Hotel. I didn't take any new pictures of it, but here is one from last year.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/canada06/banff1.jpg">
The place is a castle with a gorgeous interior in a gorgeous setting. We spent the morning walking around, including a quick trip to the highly elevated tee box of, iirc, the 11th. Here is another pic from last year. Ignore the doofus in white.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/canada06/banff%20golf5.jpg">
From there, we walked up to the roundabout in front of the hotel and discovered some unnatural beauty. Left to right, we have a Gallardo, riced out Gallardo, MC12, SLR, Novitech Bi-Compressor F430, riced F355, and a stockish F430.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12%20-%20others.jpg">
The Gallardos and Ferraris are fairly tame and reasonably common sights. The McLaren-Mercedes SLR is a 3800lbs GT car with a sporty marketing image and, imo, is entirely forgettable. The Maserati MC12, however, is in a completely different class from the rest of the vehicles. It is the latest (and perhaps last?) great homologation special. It is Enzo-based, with the same engine and transmission as the anniversary car. The MC12, however, has no air conditioning, no radio, no headlight covers, and fully functional aero. It is also 1 of just 50 produced. The effect this car has on my heart is what made it the only one I took pictures of.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-4.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-5.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-6.jpg">
Remember how I said the F430 was stock<i>ish</i>? The only apparent modification was a set of what looked like whistle tips. Woo woooooo!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/f430%20with%20whistle%20tips.jpg">
After the cargasm, I had to cool off. Down to Bow Falls we went for some sun time. Bow falls, like almost every body of water in the park, is fed by glacial runoff. It is beautifully set, with the river continuing by and winding its way through the mountains.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls2.jpg">
I was all hot and bothered from the car session, so I had the urge to jump into the frigid water - with proper attire this time! Jason followed.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls%20going%20in.jpg">
Yep - just as I had suspected: Frigid!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls%20in.jpg">
It was actually quite refreshing given the intense sun and warm air. After spending a few hours there, we went back into town for some food and then to the campsite to pack up, and then we hit the road for Calgary.
The drive to Calgary was done at sunset. It turns out that there was some sort of forest fire in the area outside of Banff. The air smelled of smoke and you could see it quite clearly. At points it was ominous, but when the sun caught it right, it provided some impressive photo ops.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/driving%20to%20calgary.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/driving%20to%20calgary2.jpg">
<b>Sun, Sept 16</b>
On Sunday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then went to the airport. As a driver, finding your way around the airport is pretty simple because there is only one road and it's one-way. Finding the proper terminal, however, is complicated by one thing: instead of having logos or signs indicating which airlines are at which terminal, they use scrolling message boards which can only fit 3/4 of an airline's name on it at any one time, then go two steps further by tossing in unrelated messages (including the time) and making it scroll slowly.
After dropping off my passengers, I got back on the road and....
...
...well, I didn't really have any plans. At all. None. I knew I had to make it to home by some time the following Sunday, and I knew there was roughly 2800 miles between here and there.
With nothing else to take into consideration, I punched Winnipeg, MB into Nav Bitch and got on the highway. She told me I had about 830 miles to go. That kind of distance was going to take me more than a driving day to cover, so I figured I would stop along the way at everything worth stopping for, and then spend the night somewhere around the halfway point.
Leaving Calgary behind was easy to do. Calgary is a shining example of how <i>not</i> to develop. It is alternating blocks of crowded, ugly, generic sub-developments and old, run-down strip malls which don't have any of the good chains because they all left long ago.
The Canadian version of the Great Plains begins immediately east of Calgary. I haven't been in the American ones, so I can't compare, but god damn it's flat there! Flat and dull. It is loaded with megafarms, most of which are around the 100 kilo-acre mark with many exceeding that considerably. Perfectly flat fields of wheat extend to the horizon in all directions. Often, the field won't even be broken up into smaller fields, so a single given field could be in the order of 25 square miles. The picture below was taken near Calgary, so the land still had a tiny bit of elevation change and there were still trees.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/saskatchewan.jpg">
As I had decided earlier in the day, I stopped at every place of interest between Calgary and Winnipeg. As a result, I arrived in Winnipeg 11hrs after I had left Calgary. There were three stops for gas and one stop for food. The clock had advanced 12hrs because, at some point in Saskatchewan, I had crossed into Central time.
<b>Mon, Sept 17</b>
Winnipeg, it turns out, is much nicer than Calgary. It reminded me of a smaller, in-land version of Boston. There are small shops, nice places to eat, and things to do.
I got breakfast near the hotel and then hit the road. About 45 minutes outside of Winnipeg, I saw a sign for a golf course on the side of the highway which said to take my next left and then drive down the [unpaved] road 1km. That's exactly what I did.
Up until this point, I hadn't taken my clubs out of the cargo box, so this seemed like as good of a chance as any to take some swings. Cottonwood, it turns out, has 27 holes. I got to pick two sets and play them for CAD$22, which was a mere US$21.56 at the time. The course was in excellent condition, albeit quite flat. It has had two curious things:
1) Huge carries. Driving over 300yds isn't very hard when you can get 75yd carries.
2) There was a sign saying that golfers who go into the woods to find their ***** "do so at their own risk."
After golf, I drove to Thunder Bay, ON - 437mi away.
Almost as soon as I got into Ontario, the terrain made a change for the better. Hills appeared, trees were everywhere, and the lakes were almost as numerous as the trees. Additionally, the leaves had started to turn.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario2.jpg">
At 8:16, I crossed into Eastern Time (trust me, that's a sign welcoming me to EDT).
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20edt.jpg">
When I got to Thunder Bay, Nav Bitch was having yet another one of her 'moments' where she had my location off by over a mile. This time, however, her miscalculation actually lined up with a different road, so for a few minutes I had to navigate on my own based on only partial information.
<b>Tues, Sept 18</b>
I had intended to play golf on Tuesday, but when I woke up, the weather wasn't looking very friendly. It was overcast and humid to the point where it wasn't raining but everything still got wet. Since I wasn't going to golf, I figured I should at least jump into Lake Superior briefly - just to say I did. So, I hit the road and then selected a random beach from Nav Bitch's list which happened to be along the route to Sault Ste Marie and about 3hrs away. Around 2hrs into the drive, I had out-driven the rain and was greeted by a sunny sky. No pictures of the beach, but I do have two from the drive there.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20lake%20superior.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20lake%20superior2.jpg">
With no golf to play and only a 440 mile drive, I ended up at my next destination well ahead of schedule. Seeing that Sault St Marie didn't have much going on, I decided to cross the bridge and enter America. I figured I would drive into MI a while and then stay the night somewhere before heading to Ann Arbor.
About a block from the bridge, I came across this nice store. Rather fitting, and not very surprising, that it wasn't a super-mart.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/micelis.jpg">
After that, I went to the Bridge To Freedom.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sault%20st%20marie.jpg">
Shortly after crossing into the US, I called Amanda to let her know I was in MI and that I'd be stopping by on Wed. Amanda suggested that I just drive straight to her in Farmington Hills. Nav Bitch said that was 330mi or 5 hours away. "Why not?" I thought, and drove on.
My gas mileage in MI was atrocious. It had dropped from the already bad 19-20mpg I had been getting for the previous few thousand miles to an abysmal and rather inconvenient 14mpg. Something was clearly off. Around the 100 mile mark, I pulled into a gas station to investigate.
I hooked in the VAGCOM and no codes had been set. I checked the cargo box and everything was secure. Tire pressures were spot-on as well. Not finding anything else to be out of place, I filled up and got back on the road.
Gas mileage improved immediately. It looks like the gas I got in Sault St Marie was half gasoline and half water. Amazing how such lousy gas can be sold without anyone raising enough of a stink for some action to be taken.
I arrived in Farmington Hills around midnight with no other hiccups.
<b>Wed, Sept 19</b>
Woke up in MI and then drove to Ann Arbor to meet Amanda and her coworkers for lunch. We went to some Middle Eastern place which was actually pretty good.
From lunch, I went out to play some golf. The Michigan.org website had Stonebridge listed with a couple of pictures, so that's where I went. The course is set in a development (apparently everything in MI is) and, as a result of that, required quite a bit of walking. Typically, the holes were in pairs and then I'd have to walk 100yds or so to the next pair. That's ok though, because it was 85 and humid. Ugh.
The course was pretty nice though. After golf, I rehydrated at the bar while Amanda was still at work. I was a good friend and didn't take this opportunity to send her any txts to remind her that she was at work while I was golfing. Oh, wait.... yes I did. Mercilessly.
From there, I met up with Amanda and then we went to downtown Ann Arbor for dinner with her friend and also to walk around campus a bit.
<b>Thurs, Sept 20</b>
Thursday was a slow, relaxed day. The morning was spent doing some laundry and trying to wash the road stink off of me. After that, I grabbed lunch and then went to Leslie Park in Ann Arbor for some whack and chase. The course was in excellent condition, especially given the fact that Leslie Park is a municipal course.
Afterwards, I drove around for a bit and then headed back to Farmington Hills for dinner with Amanda.
<b>Fri, Sept 21</b>
I left MI Friday morning with New York City as my destination, a mere 625 miles away. The drive was fairly uneventful. Ohio had the cheapest gas of the trip. I paid $2.80 for 92oct on the side of the highway.
I arrived at my friend's apartment around 630. Unfortunately, I hadn't informed her that I was stopping by until that morning, so she already had plans for the night. She did, however, allow me to sleep at her place and she gave me a key so I could come and go at my leisure.
Her apartment is right near Chinatown and there is an endless list of good places to eat within walking distance. I gave WD50 a call, but the wait was going to be too long. Instead, I ended up at a wine bar called Inoteca. It was delicious. From there, I walked around and then stumbled upon Almond Flower, and then made my way back to the apartment with a stop at 88 Orchard for one last glass of wine and a bit of flirting with the waitress.
Definitely a fun night.
<b>Sat, Sept 22</b>
Saturday morning, the sky was overcast, so I abandoned my original plan of playing the oldest public golf course in North America and instead joined my hostess for brunch in SoHo. Right around when we finished, the sky opened up. Looks like I made the right decision!
Hopped on the subway going back, and the rain had stopped when I emerged. While I was underground, an old friend and former Boston Audi groupie had left me a voicemail. I hadn't seen in him three years, when he left Boston and got a job in NYC. I ended up grabbing lunch with him and getting a ride in his 996TT. Fun fun.
I packed up my car and hit the road around 6p. Jason was having a party, so I figured I'd head there and maybe spend the night. He lives outside of Boston in Waltham. I somehow managed to make it to Jason's in 3:15 with a stop for gas and Burger King.
The party was a good time. Somewhat strangely, the girl who, had I still be dating her, I would have been in Chile with (instead of the road trip) was the first person I saw when I walked through the door.
After the party, I drove about 30minutes home. I arrived home at just about 2:00am. Trip complete!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/final%20gauges.jpg">
<b>Lessons:</b>
* Don't rest your elbows on the arm rests for extended periods of time. Doing so can cause temporary nerve damage. After I got to Winnipeg, I noticed that doing certain things with my right arm led to a sharp piercing feeling in my right palm, similar to how a large splinter would feel.
* Always carry octane booster if your car needs anything better than 87. Many stations outside of populated areas have only "gas" and diesel. "Gas" is almost never going to be 91+ and, in Canada, almost never even has an octane rating on it.
* Fill up early and often. It is a bit surprising how far you can go without seeing an open gas station. I encountered stretches of over 100 miles a number of times.
<b>Observations:</b>
* Michigan, for the most part, sucks. It is endless sub-developments with no character and overzealous busy-body HOAs. Ann Arbor is the exception and is actually reasonably nice.
* The middle Canada has nothing but endless fields of wheat and, in Saskatchewan, the occasional salt plant.
* The B5 S4 rocks. Four full-sized adults really can fit in the car comfortably. The adults simply need to realize that the back seat is most comfortable if you keep your knees spread a bit, and the front passenger needs to realize that even though the glove box is very close to his knees when he's sitting comfortably, it isn't touching his knees so should have no impact on his comfort. The trunk is surprisingly large and could have fit all of our luggage had we not brought the tents and my golf clubs. Meanwhile, the car has a sporty-enough suspension to be comfortable and fun, and with 340 or so HP on tap, the passing is effortless at all altitudes and with a full load.
* RNS-E sucks. Really, it does. In addition to the long list of problems with the interface that Amanda and I discussed during the drive (she's just finishing up her MS in Human Factors Engineering), it is also just plain bad at navigation. Even with 5 satellites, it has trouble with the very basic task of giving you your location accurate to within a mile. When in a city, it also often forgets to update the route as you drive it, so its instructions end up being three or four steps behind where you are. What makes this misbehavior more frustrating is that while that is going on, it is still showing your correct location.
* There are no octane ratings for fuel in most of Canada, unless you're near a city - and even then, there's no guarantee. I got by just by filling up with the most expensive gas at the station and then adding a bottle of octane booster if the gas was labeled as "bronze" or carried none at all.
* Real gas gives better mileage than a crappy ethanol mix. About 15% better.
* Ohio has the most left lane bandits, followed by Washington and then PA.
* We have a LOT of highways and would have the ability to cover huge distances very quickly if we weren't speed limited. My drive from Calgary to Winnipeg could have safely been done in half of the time, if I didn't have the cargo box on the roof and had it been legal to do so.
<b>States/Provinces I saw:</b>
CA, OR, WA, MI, OH, PA, NJ, NY, MA
BC, AB, SK, MB, ON
<b>Car Before:</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20front.jpg">
<b>Car After:</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bumper%20-%20after.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bumper%20-%20after2.jpg">
<b>TOTAL MILEAGE</B>
~6200mi
Google Maps reports a total of 5700mi, but with the side trips and slightly different route we took from what Google suggests, the total ended up about 500mi higher. So, 6200mi in 15 days. Not bad at all.
<b>The Trip</b>
The complete plans for the trip were as follow:
1) Ship car out to San Diego from Boston
2) Drive to Vancouver, BC. Arrive some time on Tuesday night. Camp somewhere along the way.
3) Drive to Jasper, AB.
4) Drive to Lake Louise, AB.
5) Drive to Banff, AB.
6) Drive to Calgary, AB. Arrive some time on Sat night. Passengers fly home.
7) Drive to Boston. Play some golf along the way. Arrive by Sun night.
<b>The Route</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/route%20map%20small.jpg">
<b>Participants:</b>
<i>Me</i> - 5'10" (on the rare occasion that I stand up straight), 145lbs
<i>Jason</i> - 6'2" 198lbs. I've known Jason since he moved to MA when we were in 8th grade.
<i>Amanda</i> - 5'6" 130lbs. I've known Amanda for 7 years.
<i>Mike</i> - 5'10" 170lbs. I've known Mike for 6 years. Category 2 peddler.
<b>Vehicle</b>
2001.5 B5 S4
~340HP 2.7L V6
~69,500 miles at the start
Front buttwarmers
Yakima rack
Yakima SpaceCadet15 cargo box
<b>Day-by-Day</b>
<b>Sun, Aug 26</b>
My nice, clean car is loaded onto the truck and shipped to San Diego. I'm not allowed to ship the car with a roof rack, cargo box, or anything in the trunk. The box doesn't fit inside of the car, even with the front passenger seat removed. I decide to put my golf clubs and the roof rack inside the trunk, lock the trunk and seats, and give the driver the valet key. Problem solved. I order a new cargo box from REI.com and opt for in-store pickup in SD.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20front.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20rear.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20loaded%20on%20truck.jpg">
<b>Tues, Sept 4</b>
My nice, somewhat dirty but nothing unusual car is delivered to Mike in San Diego.
<b>Fri, Sept 7</b>
Jason and myself arrive in San Diego from Boston. Amanda arrives about 10 minutes later from Detroit. Mike picks us up in the S4 and we learn that three people worth of luggage + sleeping bags + a four-person tent + a roof rack + my golf clubs can actually fit in the trunk. Good work, Audi! By comparison, the E46 sedan cannot fit a single bag of golf clubs in the trunk.
From the airport, we were brought on a brief tour of San Diego while en route to Mike's friend who had his sleeping bag and tent. It turns out that Mike's friend lives on a hill which over looks San Diego. Neat.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20deigo%20from%20hill.jpg">
The trunk was fully loaded with the items mentioned above, so the sleeping bag and tent went in the trunk and two backpacks were moved onto laps.
<b>Sat, Sept 8</b>
The day started off with Mike giving us a daylight tour of SD and the area. We drove by Torrey Pines, some lemon groves, the beach.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20diego%20beach.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/san%20diego%20beach2.jpg">
It's a very nice area with perfect weather, so it's very easy to see why people want to live here.
After the tour, Mike and I went to REI to pick up the cargo box while Jason and Amanda hit the pool. The box was FAR larger in person than I had thought, given the pictures on the website. There was no chance of it fitting inside the car, so that meant Mike and I had to install it in the parking lot. Good thing I had remembered to stop by Linens & Things to pick up a silicone pot rest beforehand, because the rack was missing a foot pad and coming back to REI would have been a PITA. We installed the rack without any issues and went back to our home base to pack.
Once they saw how much crap we had brought, the other three became a little nervous about making it all fit inside the little Audi. I was more confident and went ahead and loaded up the car. It turns out that everything was a perfect fit with even a little bit of extra space in the box. In the picture, there is a little bit of space left over in the trunk, but that was filled by my laptop bag and an empty daypack.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20packed%201.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20packed%202.jpg">
From Mike's, we drove about two hours to see PeteF and eat. Contrary to the rumors many have heard, Pete does in fact have a Radical in his garage and a stalker van parked outside. Also, it turns out that on the west coast, the sun sets over the ocean. Weird.
Anyway, Pete is an excellent host and it was great to finally meet him after reading posts for almost 7 years.
The goal for Monday was to make it to a campground near Orick, CA (about 790 miles away), so from Pete's we decided we would drive as long as we reasonably could, and then see what the RNS-E came up with for places to stay at that point.
Around 1 or 2am, we checked the RNS-E. "Royal Motel" in Tracy was at the top of the list. With a name like that, how could we possibly go wrong?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal.jpg">
When we got into the room, we noticed a curious decoration over one of the beds. Besides just being odd, it was completely out of place in the room.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20shield.jpg">
Looking around the room, it got worse. Electrical outlets and switches didn't have face plates, the name of the hotel had been scratched into the TV.... and the bathroom.. oh yes, the bathroom:
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20shower.jpg">
When we went to lock the door, we noticed that the door frame was broken up from all of the places that used to have locks and dead bolts.... before the door was kicked open and ripped them out. "Hmmm, that's interesting..."
At that point, I looked to the ceiling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20ceiling.jpg">
Yes, that is blood on the ceiling.
We decided to sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags rather than touch the sheets.
<b>Sun, Sept 9</b>
Over night, nobody was shot and nobody died. That, we felt, was pretty good.
Morning light allowed us to poke around the resort a bit. We quickly found the swimming pool - which had been filled with sand. Amanda decided to dive in anyway.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/blood%20hotel%20swimming%20pool.jpg">
There was also a very pretty statue which had been very carefully repaired after vandals had gotten to it.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/royal%20statue.jpg">
From the Royal Motel, we drove to SF for some breffus and to walk around a bit. Fishermans Wharf worked well for that.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20warf.jpg">
After that, we got in the car and did the obligatory drive down Lombard.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20lombard.jpg">
SF's hills make for some really weird garages.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20garage.jpg">
After that, we left the city via the Golden Gate Bridge and took the 1 up the coast for a bit. That section of the 1 is simply awesome, especially in a car which feels reasonably well planted and has sticky tires. The road winds back and forth along the coast, often with a cliff on one side. The road is turny enough that the RNS-E (hereby referred to as Nav Bitch) couldn't really figure out what was going on.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sf%20ggate.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%201.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%202.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/the1%203.jpg">
The 1 was great, but its curvy nature made our northward progress slow. We switched to the 101 and took that up through Marin County and Sonoma, and all the way to our camp site in Del Norte.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/marin.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/marin2.jpg">
Apparently a bear got lost here once. Because of his big bear fingers, he made a typo.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/willits.jpg">
Along the way, we made a stop to drive through a tree and got our first taste of the redwoods.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood2.jpg">
Those trees are pretty big. I might even go so far as to call them Giant Redwoods.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20emily.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20derek.jpg">
Apparently some PENSers had already been to that fallen tree before.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mp.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwood%20jake.jpg">
Also on our way to the camp site was Larry's store.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/gottshalks.jpg">
It was pitch black when we made it to the camp site. With the gigantic trees, total darkness, and eerie quiet punctuated by the odd bird cry, it felt a lot like a scene from Jurassic Park.
<b>Mon, Sept 10</b>
A walk around the camp site in the morning turned up this sign. I especially like that last bullet, because the last time I fought a bear, I only gave it a half-hearted effort and ended up losing my face.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bear%20advice.jpg">
More walking revealed a fact which hadn't quite sunk in yet: these trees are ****ing huge!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/redwoods3.jpg">
We explored a bit further and then hit the road to OR. Unfortunately, it looked like Goldie had already beaten us there.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/dutch%20bros.jpg">
The Oregon coast, like the California coast, is lovely. Instead of sandy beaches up against sandy hills, however, the rocky hills come right down to the water.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20coast2.jpg">
We stopped at Battle Rock because... umm... it looked like a neat place to stop. It had a large rock which Jason and Amanda climbed out onto.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/battle%20rock.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/battle%20rock2.jpg">
About a mile later, we stopped for brunch. When we left, we were assaulted by one of the locals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mullet.jpg">
Actually, we were just assaulted by her mullet. Impressive.
And then there was a bridge.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20bridge.jpg">
And then we saw a sign for something called "Seal Point." That looked interesting, so we stopped in. We got out of the car and followed a path that, although it seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, somehow drew us in. It went up a hill and away from the water. When we got to the top, we saw the seals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point1.jpg">
They were quite friendly, so Jason started petting one.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point2.jpg">
Then, one of them allowed Amanda to ride it. Mike simply could not believe our good fortune! Who would have thought seals would be so friendly?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/seal%20point3.jpg">
Ok, so maybe there weren't really seals up there. Maybe we had just accidently walked up to a secondary parking lot. But, as we found out from a disgruntled customer in the gift shop, there weren't any seals at the real Seal Point either. Somehow, I think we ended up enjoying the stop more than she did.
From there, we got back on the road and soon made it to our campsite for the night.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20campsite.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/oregon%20campsite2.jpg">
Not bad.
<b>Tues, Sept 11</b>
The goal for Tuesday was to make it to Vancouver, BC in time to eat. Amanda had also seen a picture of a water fall in the US Air magazine during her flight west, so we decided we should go there, too.
From the campsite, we drove east through Portland. It looked like it could be a nice city, but we had other plans; Multnomah Falls was calling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah2.jpg">
Just as impressive in person as it was in the magazine.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah1.jpg">
There was a trail to the top. Having been in the car for a couple of days at this point, we decided to jog to the top. It was only 613ft total vert, but even so, and even at sea level, jogging to the top hurt. Easily the most painful 10 minute mile I've ever done. The view from the top wasn't bad though.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/multnomah4.jpg">
From the falls, we drove straight to Vancouver with no issues and the only stop was for gas. The border crossing was painless and we arrived at the hotel around 8p.
<b>Wed, Sept 12</b>
Breakfast 1 was the continental offered by the hotel. For Breakfast 2, we walked across the city, hopped on a little ferry, and went to Granville Island.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/granville%20-%20on%20ferry.jpg">
Granville Island has a large indoor food market with lots of fresh produce and meats and some prepared foods as well. Somehow everything there looks and tastes delicious.
Among my friends, I'm known as a bit of a carnivore. I generally don't eat things which don't bleed or don't make sounds when they die. As such, when I was spotted eating grapes (and liking it!), it came as a bit of a surprise to all of us.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/granville%20-%20fuzzy%20and%20grapes.jpg">
After walking around Granville Island for a bit, we got back on the ferry and walked back to the hotel. From there, we got in the car and drove up to Whistler. Getting to Whistler is quite simple (get on 99 and follow it until you get there), but we decided to make use of Nav Bitch anyway. It turns out that it was a good thing I already knew how to get there, otherwise we would have ended up several miles off shore. And this was with 5 satelites!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/whistler%20-%20nav%20bitch.jpg">
Because of construction on 99, it took about 3hrs to get to Whistler. The original goal was to take the gondi to the top and catch the sunset, but upon arrival at the ticket counter we learned that it was going to cost about $35/pp and we'd only have 30min or so up there before we had to catch 'last chair' and head back down. We decided to walk around the village instead.
With a bit of extra time to kill, we ate dinner and then looked at our options. The next destination was Jasper, AB but we had originally figured that it was too much distance to reasonably cover in a single day. According to Google Maps, from Whistler to Kamloops was 4hrs and then Kamloops to Jasper was another 5. It was currently about 7p.
The decision was made to fill the tank and drive to Kamloops, where we would re-evaluate and potentially elect to continue on to Jasper.
Driving through the mountains at sunset was absolutely fantastic. The road was about as windy as it could be and still support 55mph cruising with reasonable sporting comfort, the sun created dark mountain silhouettes against yellows, oranges, and deep blues, and the air was perfect for driving with the windows down.
We made one stop along the way to Kamloops for some star gazing. When you're in the backwoods of Maine, you can see an exceptional amount of stars - enough so that many people comment on it when they look up. The sky where we stopped, however, made the Maine sky seem like that of New York City. It was crystal clear and had so many stars it's impossible to describe. This is a full scale crop of the sky:
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/stars.jpg">
Once in Kamloops, we filled the tank and punched Jasper into Nav Bitch. She said 279 miles. Hmmm, that's just about exactly one tank of gas at 18mpg and we weren't very hopeful about finding an open station along the way. Despite that, we drove on figuring that the worst that will happen is we set up the tents near a gas station and then fill up in the morning.
It turns out that just a bit before Jasper is a town called Valemount. That is the only town along the way which has a 24hr gas station. We stopped here to fill up and put in 15.2gal. Good timing!
It was 4am when we pulled into Jasper. While driving down the main street there, we saw 4 or 5 female elk standing in the grassy median and the left lane. I shifted over to the right lane and then suddenly there was a Velociraptor-like scream from the right. That was when we noticed the angry bull on the right side of the road who seemed rather upset that we had gotten between himself and his harem. He then made a move at us, so my right-foot dropped. 18psi of boost later, we were out of harm's way.
The funny thing about Jasper is that it's a somewhat popular place to be even though, imo, Banff has much more to offer. So, what we found out between the hours of 4 and 6am, was that the entire town was booked and the one campground which had an electric fence was long ago closed for the night. The closest town with a high likelihood of open rooms was Hinton, which was 45 minutes away. Nav Bitch took us to a Days Inn there. Because we arrived at 630a, we were able to sleep in the room that morning and the following night for the price of just one night. It was like Jew Heaven!
The other upside to this is that we got to drive through the mountains while watching Thursday's sunrise.
<b>Thurs, Sept 13</b>
We woke up Thursday afternoon and drove into Jasper. Got to see the mountains which just hours before had only been dark silhouettes.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper5.jpg">
Our hope for the day was to be able to take the tram to the top and then hike around or possibly back down, depending on wildlife restrictions. When we got there, we learned that the tram was closed for the day. We weren't pleased.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper%20tram.jpg">
With no tram operating and daylight waning, we figured we'd head back to town and walk around for a bit. In order to avoid weird glances, I figured it would be a good idea to try and blend in with the locals.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper%20bear.jpg">
Having just covered about 1900 miles in 4 days, we were in a bit to just sit outside, sip a beer, and enjoy the fantastic weather. With this in mind, we walked around town for a bit in search of somewhere with outdoor seating. Our search turned out to be essentially fruitless, as the three places with any outdoor seats had very few of them and they were all full. Instead, we ended up going to what looked like a lame aprés-bar. It turned out to be a lame aprés-bar, but in the off-season so it actually wasn't bad. Two pitchers and two Miller Lites later, we were feeling pretty good and moved on to another bar.
The new bar had an exciting, unusual, an unadvertised feature: our waiter was a moose. He had a moose underbite, moose lips, moose ears which stuck out sideways, and a moose voice. If you can picture a mooseman's face lighting up with excitement at the prospect of you ordering nachos, you can understand how hilarious this would be even sober.
Sadly, we did not take any pictures of this guy.
<b>Fri, Sept 14</b>
Drove through Jasper on Friday on our way to Lake Louise. Just like Thursday, it was lovely.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper4.jpg">
We even got to see a beast like the one which charged us just a couple of sleeping periods earlier.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/jasper2.jpg">
Our elevation kept rising along the way to the Columbia Icefields. I would have to double-check on a map, but I believe our peak was around 9,500-10,000ft. Thanks to forced induction, power loss wasn't a problem at all. It was kind of sad, in away, to see already under-powered NA vehicles struggling with the thin air.
Getting closer to the icefields, we could see that they weren't an isolated spot of year-round ice. As we got closer, we could see more and more mountains with hanging glaciers.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/on%20the%20way%20to%20Banff.jpg">
Have I mentioned how gorgeous the road through the park is yet?
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/heading%20to%20banff.jpg">
Shortly before the icefields, we saw a pair of portajons on the side of the road, so we pulled over for a pitstop. When we got out of the car, we noticed a waterfall on the other side of the road.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20long%20shot.jpg">
While other people are content watching nature, we are of the mind that nature is interactive. So, up we went!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20chad%20d%20em.jpg">
Mike and Jason continued on all the way to the top of the falls to check out the view.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20view%20from%20top.jpg">
Rather than following them to the top, Amanda and I decided we'd interact some more and instead enjoyed the largest drop of the falls. Yes, after soaking my clothing, I decided to go all the way in, but you probably don't want to see me in my boxers so those pics will stay on my computer.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20fuz.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20em1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/falls%20-%20em2.jpg">
The sound and intensity of the waterfall when you're inside of it is just plain awesome. It's a lot like how I imagine riding a surfboard in the barrel of a wave would be.
One of the benefits to doing a road trip like this is that at all times we had towels and extra clothing with us. With a comfy Plan B always available, it allowed us to be much more carefree with Plan A.
I've been to the Columbia Icefields before (almost exactly a year earlier actually), and while they're pretty neat to be on, they are far more impressive from afar. As a result, we neglected to stop and hike up to them and instead continued on our way.
Shortly thereafter, we left Jasper National Park, and entered Banff National Park.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/entering%20banff%20park.jpg">
See the road? Awesome.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/on%20the%20way%20to%20Banff2.jpg">
And then we stopped at Peyto Lake. Just awesome. (not sure why it's so washed out on PCs - looks normal on my Mac) (click for bigger version)
<a href="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/peyto%20lake%20pano%20small.jpg"><img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/peyto%20lake%20pano%20mini.jpg"></a>
And then we made it to Lake Louise.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise%20-%20everyone.jpg">
If you were to look up 'idyllic' in a dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Lake Louise.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise.jpg">
The lake is fed purely by glaciers. All the water has in it is hydrogen, oxygen, and a little bit of silt. It is the silt acting as a bandpass filter which gives the water its color. The silt also makes all of the rocks on the bottom very very slick. Amanda and I tested the water. Yep, it's fokking frigid!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/lake%20louise%20-%20testing%20water.jpg">
I, of course, decided to jump in. No pictures again, sorry.
Not seeing a real compelling reason to spend the night in Lake Louise rather than Banff, but seeing a few compelling reasons to get to Banff on Friday, we drove on to Banff and then checked into our hotel rooms for the night. That is the Ritz Carltent on the right.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20tents.jpg">
After checkin, we went straight for the hotsprings for a mountain sunset. It's a natural hotspring which is unfiltered, has a pinch of chlorine added, and is cooled off a bit to bring it to 40ºC. This must be great in the winter with snow falling.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20hotsprings.jpg">
And then, because it was Mike's birthday, we hit the bars.
Coming back from the bars, we found two hot females checking out my car. You can sort of make out one of them in this pic with the gain and levels skewed to the extreme, but take my word for it - there were two and one of them even rubbed up against it. B5 FTW!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20elk%20by%20car.jpg">
And then we went to bed.
<b>Sat, Sept 15</b>
Saturday morning was spent walking around the town looking for a reasonable breakfast place - preferably with bagels. We found one, ate outside in more fantastic weather, and then made our way up to the Banff Springs Hotel. I didn't take any new pictures of it, but here is one from last year.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/canada06/banff1.jpg">
The place is a castle with a gorgeous interior in a gorgeous setting. We spent the morning walking around, including a quick trip to the highly elevated tee box of, iirc, the 11th. Here is another pic from last year. Ignore the doofus in white.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/canada06/banff%20golf5.jpg">
From there, we walked up to the roundabout in front of the hotel and discovered some unnatural beauty. Left to right, we have a Gallardo, riced out Gallardo, MC12, SLR, Novitech Bi-Compressor F430, riced F355, and a stockish F430.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12%20-%20others.jpg">
The Gallardos and Ferraris are fairly tame and reasonably common sights. The McLaren-Mercedes SLR is a 3800lbs GT car with a sporty marketing image and, imo, is entirely forgettable. The Maserati MC12, however, is in a completely different class from the rest of the vehicles. It is the latest (and perhaps last?) great homologation special. It is Enzo-based, with the same engine and transmission as the anniversary car. The MC12, however, has no air conditioning, no radio, no headlight covers, and fully functional aero. It is also 1 of just 50 produced. The effect this car has on my heart is what made it the only one I took pictures of.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-4.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-5.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/mc12-6.jpg">
Remember how I said the F430 was stock<i>ish</i>? The only apparent modification was a set of what looked like whistle tips. Woo woooooo!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/f430%20with%20whistle%20tips.jpg">
After the cargasm, I had to cool off. Down to Bow Falls we went for some sun time. Bow falls, like almost every body of water in the park, is fed by glacial runoff. It is beautifully set, with the river continuing by and winding its way through the mountains.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls2.jpg">
I was all hot and bothered from the car session, so I had the urge to jump into the frigid water - with proper attire this time! Jason followed.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls%20going%20in.jpg">
Yep - just as I had suspected: Frigid!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/banff%20-%20bow%20falls%20in.jpg">
It was actually quite refreshing given the intense sun and warm air. After spending a few hours there, we went back into town for some food and then to the campsite to pack up, and then we hit the road for Calgary.
The drive to Calgary was done at sunset. It turns out that there was some sort of forest fire in the area outside of Banff. The air smelled of smoke and you could see it quite clearly. At points it was ominous, but when the sun caught it right, it provided some impressive photo ops.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/driving%20to%20calgary.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/driving%20to%20calgary2.jpg">
<b>Sun, Sept 16</b>
On Sunday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then went to the airport. As a driver, finding your way around the airport is pretty simple because there is only one road and it's one-way. Finding the proper terminal, however, is complicated by one thing: instead of having logos or signs indicating which airlines are at which terminal, they use scrolling message boards which can only fit 3/4 of an airline's name on it at any one time, then go two steps further by tossing in unrelated messages (including the time) and making it scroll slowly.
After dropping off my passengers, I got back on the road and....
...
...well, I didn't really have any plans. At all. None. I knew I had to make it to home by some time the following Sunday, and I knew there was roughly 2800 miles between here and there.
With nothing else to take into consideration, I punched Winnipeg, MB into Nav Bitch and got on the highway. She told me I had about 830 miles to go. That kind of distance was going to take me more than a driving day to cover, so I figured I would stop along the way at everything worth stopping for, and then spend the night somewhere around the halfway point.
Leaving Calgary behind was easy to do. Calgary is a shining example of how <i>not</i> to develop. It is alternating blocks of crowded, ugly, generic sub-developments and old, run-down strip malls which don't have any of the good chains because they all left long ago.
The Canadian version of the Great Plains begins immediately east of Calgary. I haven't been in the American ones, so I can't compare, but god damn it's flat there! Flat and dull. It is loaded with megafarms, most of which are around the 100 kilo-acre mark with many exceeding that considerably. Perfectly flat fields of wheat extend to the horizon in all directions. Often, the field won't even be broken up into smaller fields, so a single given field could be in the order of 25 square miles. The picture below was taken near Calgary, so the land still had a tiny bit of elevation change and there were still trees.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/saskatchewan.jpg">
As I had decided earlier in the day, I stopped at every place of interest between Calgary and Winnipeg. As a result, I arrived in Winnipeg 11hrs after I had left Calgary. There were three stops for gas and one stop for food. The clock had advanced 12hrs because, at some point in Saskatchewan, I had crossed into Central time.
<b>Mon, Sept 17</b>
Winnipeg, it turns out, is much nicer than Calgary. It reminded me of a smaller, in-land version of Boston. There are small shops, nice places to eat, and things to do.
I got breakfast near the hotel and then hit the road. About 45 minutes outside of Winnipeg, I saw a sign for a golf course on the side of the highway which said to take my next left and then drive down the [unpaved] road 1km. That's exactly what I did.
Up until this point, I hadn't taken my clubs out of the cargo box, so this seemed like as good of a chance as any to take some swings. Cottonwood, it turns out, has 27 holes. I got to pick two sets and play them for CAD$22, which was a mere US$21.56 at the time. The course was in excellent condition, albeit quite flat. It has had two curious things:
1) Huge carries. Driving over 300yds isn't very hard when you can get 75yd carries.
2) There was a sign saying that golfers who go into the woods to find their ***** "do so at their own risk."
After golf, I drove to Thunder Bay, ON - 437mi away.
Almost as soon as I got into Ontario, the terrain made a change for the better. Hills appeared, trees were everywhere, and the lakes were almost as numerous as the trees. Additionally, the leaves had started to turn.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario2.jpg">
At 8:16, I crossed into Eastern Time (trust me, that's a sign welcoming me to EDT).
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20edt.jpg">
When I got to Thunder Bay, Nav Bitch was having yet another one of her 'moments' where she had my location off by over a mile. This time, however, her miscalculation actually lined up with a different road, so for a few minutes I had to navigate on my own based on only partial information.
<b>Tues, Sept 18</b>
I had intended to play golf on Tuesday, but when I woke up, the weather wasn't looking very friendly. It was overcast and humid to the point where it wasn't raining but everything still got wet. Since I wasn't going to golf, I figured I should at least jump into Lake Superior briefly - just to say I did. So, I hit the road and then selected a random beach from Nav Bitch's list which happened to be along the route to Sault Ste Marie and about 3hrs away. Around 2hrs into the drive, I had out-driven the rain and was greeted by a sunny sky. No pictures of the beach, but I do have two from the drive there.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20lake%20superior.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/ontario%20-%20lake%20superior2.jpg">
With no golf to play and only a 440 mile drive, I ended up at my next destination well ahead of schedule. Seeing that Sault St Marie didn't have much going on, I decided to cross the bridge and enter America. I figured I would drive into MI a while and then stay the night somewhere before heading to Ann Arbor.
About a block from the bridge, I came across this nice store. Rather fitting, and not very surprising, that it wasn't a super-mart.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/micelis.jpg">
After that, I went to the Bridge To Freedom.
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/sault%20st%20marie.jpg">
Shortly after crossing into the US, I called Amanda to let her know I was in MI and that I'd be stopping by on Wed. Amanda suggested that I just drive straight to her in Farmington Hills. Nav Bitch said that was 330mi or 5 hours away. "Why not?" I thought, and drove on.
My gas mileage in MI was atrocious. It had dropped from the already bad 19-20mpg I had been getting for the previous few thousand miles to an abysmal and rather inconvenient 14mpg. Something was clearly off. Around the 100 mile mark, I pulled into a gas station to investigate.
I hooked in the VAGCOM and no codes had been set. I checked the cargo box and everything was secure. Tire pressures were spot-on as well. Not finding anything else to be out of place, I filled up and got back on the road.
Gas mileage improved immediately. It looks like the gas I got in Sault St Marie was half gasoline and half water. Amazing how such lousy gas can be sold without anyone raising enough of a stink for some action to be taken.
I arrived in Farmington Hills around midnight with no other hiccups.
<b>Wed, Sept 19</b>
Woke up in MI and then drove to Ann Arbor to meet Amanda and her coworkers for lunch. We went to some Middle Eastern place which was actually pretty good.
From lunch, I went out to play some golf. The Michigan.org website had Stonebridge listed with a couple of pictures, so that's where I went. The course is set in a development (apparently everything in MI is) and, as a result of that, required quite a bit of walking. Typically, the holes were in pairs and then I'd have to walk 100yds or so to the next pair. That's ok though, because it was 85 and humid. Ugh.
The course was pretty nice though. After golf, I rehydrated at the bar while Amanda was still at work. I was a good friend and didn't take this opportunity to send her any txts to remind her that she was at work while I was golfing. Oh, wait.... yes I did. Mercilessly.
From there, I met up with Amanda and then we went to downtown Ann Arbor for dinner with her friend and also to walk around campus a bit.
<b>Thurs, Sept 20</b>
Thursday was a slow, relaxed day. The morning was spent doing some laundry and trying to wash the road stink off of me. After that, I grabbed lunch and then went to Leslie Park in Ann Arbor for some whack and chase. The course was in excellent condition, especially given the fact that Leslie Park is a municipal course.
Afterwards, I drove around for a bit and then headed back to Farmington Hills for dinner with Amanda.
<b>Fri, Sept 21</b>
I left MI Friday morning with New York City as my destination, a mere 625 miles away. The drive was fairly uneventful. Ohio had the cheapest gas of the trip. I paid $2.80 for 92oct on the side of the highway.
I arrived at my friend's apartment around 630. Unfortunately, I hadn't informed her that I was stopping by until that morning, so she already had plans for the night. She did, however, allow me to sleep at her place and she gave me a key so I could come and go at my leisure.
Her apartment is right near Chinatown and there is an endless list of good places to eat within walking distance. I gave WD50 a call, but the wait was going to be too long. Instead, I ended up at a wine bar called Inoteca. It was delicious. From there, I walked around and then stumbled upon Almond Flower, and then made my way back to the apartment with a stop at 88 Orchard for one last glass of wine and a bit of flirting with the waitress.
Definitely a fun night.
<b>Sat, Sept 22</b>
Saturday morning, the sky was overcast, so I abandoned my original plan of playing the oldest public golf course in North America and instead joined my hostess for brunch in SoHo. Right around when we finished, the sky opened up. Looks like I made the right decision!
Hopped on the subway going back, and the rain had stopped when I emerged. While I was underground, an old friend and former Boston Audi groupie had left me a voicemail. I hadn't seen in him three years, when he left Boston and got a job in NYC. I ended up grabbing lunch with him and getting a ride in his 996TT. Fun fun.
I packed up my car and hit the road around 6p. Jason was having a party, so I figured I'd head there and maybe spend the night. He lives outside of Boston in Waltham. I somehow managed to make it to Jason's in 3:15 with a stop for gas and Burger King.
The party was a good time. Somewhat strangely, the girl who, had I still be dating her, I would have been in Chile with (instead of the road trip) was the first person I saw when I walked through the door.
After the party, I drove about 30minutes home. I arrived home at just about 2:00am. Trip complete!
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/final%20gauges.jpg">
<b>Lessons:</b>
* Don't rest your elbows on the arm rests for extended periods of time. Doing so can cause temporary nerve damage. After I got to Winnipeg, I noticed that doing certain things with my right arm led to a sharp piercing feeling in my right palm, similar to how a large splinter would feel.
* Always carry octane booster if your car needs anything better than 87. Many stations outside of populated areas have only "gas" and diesel. "Gas" is almost never going to be 91+ and, in Canada, almost never even has an octane rating on it.
* Fill up early and often. It is a bit surprising how far you can go without seeing an open gas station. I encountered stretches of over 100 miles a number of times.
<b>Observations:</b>
* Michigan, for the most part, sucks. It is endless sub-developments with no character and overzealous busy-body HOAs. Ann Arbor is the exception and is actually reasonably nice.
* The middle Canada has nothing but endless fields of wheat and, in Saskatchewan, the occasional salt plant.
* The B5 S4 rocks. Four full-sized adults really can fit in the car comfortably. The adults simply need to realize that the back seat is most comfortable if you keep your knees spread a bit, and the front passenger needs to realize that even though the glove box is very close to his knees when he's sitting comfortably, it isn't touching his knees so should have no impact on his comfort. The trunk is surprisingly large and could have fit all of our luggage had we not brought the tents and my golf clubs. Meanwhile, the car has a sporty-enough suspension to be comfortable and fun, and with 340 or so HP on tap, the passing is effortless at all altitudes and with a full load.
* RNS-E sucks. Really, it does. In addition to the long list of problems with the interface that Amanda and I discussed during the drive (she's just finishing up her MS in Human Factors Engineering), it is also just plain bad at navigation. Even with 5 satellites, it has trouble with the very basic task of giving you your location accurate to within a mile. When in a city, it also often forgets to update the route as you drive it, so its instructions end up being three or four steps behind where you are. What makes this misbehavior more frustrating is that while that is going on, it is still showing your correct location.
* There are no octane ratings for fuel in most of Canada, unless you're near a city - and even then, there's no guarantee. I got by just by filling up with the most expensive gas at the station and then adding a bottle of octane booster if the gas was labeled as "bronze" or carried none at all.
* Real gas gives better mileage than a crappy ethanol mix. About 15% better.
* Ohio has the most left lane bandits, followed by Washington and then PA.
* We have a LOT of highways and would have the ability to cover huge distances very quickly if we weren't speed limited. My drive from Calgary to Winnipeg could have safely been done in half of the time, if I didn't have the cargo box on the roof and had it been legal to do so.
<b>States/Provinces I saw:</b>
CA, OR, WA, MI, OH, PA, NJ, NY, MA
BC, AB, SK, MB, ON
<b>Car Before:</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/car%20clean%20front.jpg">
<b>Car After:</b>
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bumper%20-%20after.jpg">
<img src="http://www.cf-cars.com/images/road%20trip%2007/bumper%20-%20after2.jpg">
<b>TOTAL MILEAGE</B>
~6200mi
Google Maps reports a total of 5700mi, but with the side trips and slightly different route we took from what Google suggests, the total ended up about 500mi higher. So, 6200mi in 15 days. Not bad at all.
AudiWorld Super User
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,759
Likes: 0
From: New England
Re: Indeed, well worth the read. All this on a D I Y timing belt job!
Now let me get this straight:
This guy in San Diego, lives on a hill?
Apt / Condo or house, or just on the hill?
-Scott by BOSTON
This guy in San Diego, lives on a hill?
Apt / Condo or house, or just on the hill?
-Scott by BOSTON
Thread Starter
AudiWorld Expert
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 25,510
Likes: 0
My friend lives by the water, his friend lives in a house at the top of the hill.
Thanks for the help with the timing belt and water pump, btw! Without it, I might still be in Canada right now :-)
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Fantastic story, thanks for sharing...
I did a similar trip in 1988, put 10,000 miles on the car taking the northern US route and back the central route. Saw things I never imagined existed, and the pictures do not do justice to what you will actually see. I hope to do it again within the next few years with the girls.
Your post brought back lots of great memories..
Your post brought back lots of great memories..