Calgary and back again: 19 Jul - 1 Aug
Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:32 pm
So, many years ago before I joined the Navy, I used to live in Calgary. People ask me where I'm from, and although I spent the majority of my early years growing up in BC, I spent the last few as a civilian in Calgary and I usually call that "where I'm from." It's confusing, I know, but they were formative years...
Anyway, what with relatives still in the area, on both sides of the family, we decided that it was time for a road trip - destination Calgary!
Of all the times I've driven from BC to Alberta, I've always either taken the Number 1 or the Yellowhead (a couple of times only). Having never been through the Crowsnest Pass, I thought this would be the year I'd try the 'other' pass through the Rockies. Not one of my better choices, especially in a Delica towing a trailer.
The Number 3 highway is a wonderful road, through some of Canada's most varied terrain: a huge river delta, lush orchards, a desert (Canada's only), semi-desert, a mountain range and another and another and another, high mountain meadows, etc. Only thing not on the Number 3 is arctic and tropical!
Did I mention mountains? There are four mountain ranges between the ocean and Calgary: the Coast Mountains, the Columbias, the Cascades, and the Canadian Rockies - that's a lot of up and down. Worst of it is, the Number 3 is the steepest of it! Kootenay Pass was nearly the end of it at 1774m, but I managed to keep the rpms and speed down such that the temperature needle was just shy of the red. Of course, two adults, four children, two dogs and a utility trailer with all sorts of stuff in it didn't help, but at least we didn't take the tent trailer (I think Moon Machine would have boiled over for sure). Still, we made it and that was the part of the road I was most worried about.
We camped along the way: Osoyoos (bloody hot), Cranbrook (nice), Chain Lakes AB (mosquitos), Sorrento (nice, even if it was an RV park), Harrison Hot Springs (rained). We like camping, and the kids had a good time at it, and there was very little complaining. Hardest part was being at sister-in-law's place for a week, cause we were in the city, someone else's house, brother-in-law who doesn't like small dogs, etc, etc, etc.
We saw Delicat first thing off the ferry (got 40 litres of veggie oil) - mixed it straight, about 25%. Van ran like a dream, and one fill-up showed a fuel economy of 11.9 km/litre (27mpg!). Of course, I was only calculating the dino-diesel for those kind of numbers. Still, makes me want to get a centrifuge all the more quickly - there's an oil change shop just up the road from me.
We saw Mark (?, sorry dude) and Leah in Cranbrook. They came up behind us in the mountains, then pulled off for a bit while we continued upwards. We met later at the Superstore in Cranbrook, where I learned they lived there, recently moved, etc, etc.
We saw one or two more Delicas before leaving BC - and then nothing. No high roofs; no low roofs; no Super Exceeds, pickups, quad-cabs, gasoline VanWagons - NOTHING! Not even for the week we were in Calgary. I don't know where all those people who post on this forum from Calgary were, but they must not have been driving their L300 StarWagons around for that week. We saw lots of RHDs, and waved at them (even got waved back at), but no Delicas again until outside Revelstoke. Stopped and spoke with Colin outside Abbotsford (he was on his way around the slide on the Sea-to-Sky, bikes on the back) on the last day - good to meet him.
Did I mention we got married in Calgary? Part of the reason for going to Calgary was to get married. We didn't want a big ceremony, so we got married in Lucienne's sister's backyard. Her sister, my brother, and our children were in attendance (as were the dogs) and this got around the whole big todo which we didn't want to do. It was a wonderful time: she was so beautiful, I got choked-up as I said my vows to her, and it didn't rain even a little bit (although it had thundered and hailed like mad the day before).
I've included a bit of a photo album in my gallery: Summer Trip '08. Enjoy! It's going to be a couple more years before we save up enough to pay for the ferry off Vancouver Island again - bloody pirates.
Anyway, what with relatives still in the area, on both sides of the family, we decided that it was time for a road trip - destination Calgary!
Of all the times I've driven from BC to Alberta, I've always either taken the Number 1 or the Yellowhead (a couple of times only). Having never been through the Crowsnest Pass, I thought this would be the year I'd try the 'other' pass through the Rockies. Not one of my better choices, especially in a Delica towing a trailer.
The Number 3 highway is a wonderful road, through some of Canada's most varied terrain: a huge river delta, lush orchards, a desert (Canada's only), semi-desert, a mountain range and another and another and another, high mountain meadows, etc. Only thing not on the Number 3 is arctic and tropical!
Did I mention mountains? There are four mountain ranges between the ocean and Calgary: the Coast Mountains, the Columbias, the Cascades, and the Canadian Rockies - that's a lot of up and down. Worst of it is, the Number 3 is the steepest of it! Kootenay Pass was nearly the end of it at 1774m, but I managed to keep the rpms and speed down such that the temperature needle was just shy of the red. Of course, two adults, four children, two dogs and a utility trailer with all sorts of stuff in it didn't help, but at least we didn't take the tent trailer (I think Moon Machine would have boiled over for sure). Still, we made it and that was the part of the road I was most worried about.
We camped along the way: Osoyoos (bloody hot), Cranbrook (nice), Chain Lakes AB (mosquitos), Sorrento (nice, even if it was an RV park), Harrison Hot Springs (rained). We like camping, and the kids had a good time at it, and there was very little complaining. Hardest part was being at sister-in-law's place for a week, cause we were in the city, someone else's house, brother-in-law who doesn't like small dogs, etc, etc, etc.
We saw Delicat first thing off the ferry (got 40 litres of veggie oil) - mixed it straight, about 25%. Van ran like a dream, and one fill-up showed a fuel economy of 11.9 km/litre (27mpg!). Of course, I was only calculating the dino-diesel for those kind of numbers. Still, makes me want to get a centrifuge all the more quickly - there's an oil change shop just up the road from me.
We saw Mark (?, sorry dude) and Leah in Cranbrook. They came up behind us in the mountains, then pulled off for a bit while we continued upwards. We met later at the Superstore in Cranbrook, where I learned they lived there, recently moved, etc, etc.
We saw one or two more Delicas before leaving BC - and then nothing. No high roofs; no low roofs; no Super Exceeds, pickups, quad-cabs, gasoline VanWagons - NOTHING! Not even for the week we were in Calgary. I don't know where all those people who post on this forum from Calgary were, but they must not have been driving their L300 StarWagons around for that week. We saw lots of RHDs, and waved at them (even got waved back at), but no Delicas again until outside Revelstoke. Stopped and spoke with Colin outside Abbotsford (he was on his way around the slide on the Sea-to-Sky, bikes on the back) on the last day - good to meet him.
Did I mention we got married in Calgary? Part of the reason for going to Calgary was to get married. We didn't want a big ceremony, so we got married in Lucienne's sister's backyard. Her sister, my brother, and our children were in attendance (as were the dogs) and this got around the whole big todo which we didn't want to do. It was a wonderful time: she was so beautiful, I got choked-up as I said my vows to her, and it didn't rain even a little bit (although it had thundered and hailed like mad the day before).
I've included a bit of a photo album in my gallery: Summer Trip '08. Enjoy! It's going to be a couple more years before we save up enough to pay for the ferry off Vancouver Island again - bloody pirates.
