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From PJ's to the Arctic Chalet
by The Flame Boy
Expedition Photographer (I brought the cameras)
We actually begin this account the evening before. We picked up the van (from Uncle H) at the airport and brought it back to work. On second break, the Monkey Boy and I took it to my place to start packing it up. One of the big items was the cooler. It was filled with various cafinated beverages, and sandwich stuff. I also took a case of water, several bags of chips (some of which were destined to become astronaut food) and a large bag of Mothers cookies. These cookies never made it out of the US.
The gang at PJs to see us off.
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The first rotation was Secret in the drivers seat, the Monkey Boy navigating, and me in the back. We stopped for gas just past Lake Shasta at around noon. This set the pace for the rest of the trip. We hit Eugene for gas and a sandwich at about 4:00, stopped outside of Seattle about 9:00 for coffee, and actually crossed the border into Canada just before midnight.
If anyone is planning on driving into Canada, a couple of points to make. FILL UP BEFORE CROSSING! The gas prices in Canada are not to be belived. It seems like a good deal until you realize that the prices are in litres. If you want to smuggle something for profit, take milk. A glass of milk is often the most expensive beverage on the menu. The convienence stores will have tons of the stuff on the US side of the border. To take advantage of the exchange rate, get Canadian Dollars exchanged at something like a bank. The rate during our trip way something like 1.60 to 1. When we spent US dollars, we usually got only 1.25 to 1. As the cost started adding up, we switched to credit cards in hopes that the banks will give us a better rate.
Crossing the Border
One of the question that they ask is "Do you have any personal defense items such as..." and run down a list. We had a rifle with us. Why? Because you should be prepared for anything , and being out in the wilds as we planned, a gun seemed like a good idea. When questioned, we said yes we had a rifle. The kind lady looked upon the three dummies in the van and asked 'Why?', we said 'to be prepared.' She asked what we were going to shoot, and we said 'Nothing'. 'Then why do you have a gun?'
...This went on for about five minutes, until she said 'I want to hear that this is for defense from animals, and will not be pointed at any people.' Knowing the correct answer when told, we agreed with her assesment of the situation. I'm still surprised that she let us in. The Monkey Boy suggested that we tell her it was for Road Rage, and explain that we were from California. We opted not to try the sarcastic approach.
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Driving north in Canada
Wow, what a huge country! It took us almost two full days nonstop to drive north through Canada. It is also a beautiful country. When you are not driving through forests as far as you can see, your winding through spectacular mountains. River after lake. All on better highways than most I've driven in the US. The lakes were almost all glass smooth, crystal clear, and completely empty. There is more water than is to be beleaved. The only negative to this is that it provides a wonderful environment for mosquitoes (much more on these here)
One thing that you don't drive by often is cities. If you want to do the 'round-the-clock gonzo trip, get gas every place you can at night. It seems that truck stops are the best bets. We developed a liking for the Husky stations. Clean restrooms, most have showers available for a small fee. Lots of deli/snack type food, and pretty decent coffee. These things become important.
The only thing that really slowed us down for parts of the trip is the road repairs. Apparently, almost all repairs are done during the summer, when the ground is not frozen and/or covered with snow. It seems that they don't just repair the roads, they replace multi-mile sections, and to get past, you drive on graded dirt adjacent to the construction. A sports car would not be happy with these sections.
