Yes I made it..

First a neat sunset picture I took on my last bit of the trip...  cause everybody just looks at the pictures right!

For those that have been curious whether or not I made it those last 220 kms..  yup!  Smooth sailing the last stretch.  Sorry or the LATE post, but it was a bit of a world wind of a weekend, unloading a few things and getting a little bit settled.

Actually made it out for a winter mountain bike ride my first full day in the city!  Great park about 20 minutes from where I'm staying.  Marty (friend I'm staying with till I buy a house) took me out, nice sunny day, not cold.  It was quite icy in spots (expected) but studded tires are pretty incredible. A great 12 km ride, good to get some fresh air after spending all that time in the cube.

Then Saturday night was my first night out in Calgary (for those that don't know, I've never actually 'been' to Calgary before.. ever!).  Evan and his good friends showed me around.  Great time, had some great local and not so local beers.   This resulted in a bit slower Sunday (which turned out to be another sunny day!).

So, I'm having a great time so far!   I don't start work until April 2nd so have the week to do a bit of shopping (house and clothes, ha) and explore the city.  Weather is looking great all week (might be getting a bit spoiled by the weather, I'm sure they have cloudy days sometime).

Thanks to everybody that followed me along my adventure across the country.  The blog was really fun and it was great to get the comments along the way.

I'm pretty sure nobody cares what I'm getting up to in Calgary, so this will likely be the last post.   I"m not 'really' a blogger, but it was fun.

Cheers!

Warm Welcome

Sunny Alberta welcomes me!

220 km to go.

Swift Current

Made it to Swift Current...finally, heh. Just stopped for fuel for the last time, about 500 km to go.

Not too exciting today, except for the wind! Drifting snow as well but visibility is fine. More concerned with blowing over..

Few icy spots as well but I just slow down for those, seems to be fine.

I'm not talking about how the cube is working..

First picture is just leaving Regina, likely the worst part and we were crawling along at 45.

The line up if traffic going east was crazy long.. good thing I'm headed west!

Much better

False alarm, much better already!

I hate winter

Roads suck, rolling along at 45 kmh...

Fixed!

So sounds like the computer module was all (simple if not inexpensive) it was (hopefully the fuel pump doesn't die on me between here and Calgary).

Shuttle is on it's way to the hotel to pick me up.. and I'm on my way to Calgary!  Will be getting in later tonight.

Wish me luck...

Not the fuel pump.. maybe

Lucky.. Ford dealership called at 7:30 this morning (good to see they are getting at it early)

Unlucky.. A computer module (FCIM) needs to be replaced.  $1549 installed!  :(

Did some research, very common problem.  I at least got him to give me a break on the price ($1100) on the module (10%... pays for the hotel room, ha).  From the way he was talking, it 'might' need something else (like the fuel pump I'm guessing) as well.   I"m a bit at the mercy of this place.  Looks like if I had more time I could have gotten the module for $500-$600 instead.  So I guess $990 with the discount isn't terrible.

So I should know in about 3 hours (11 local time) if I'm good to go with just the module.  If so, should still make it to Calgary today.  If not, it'll have to wait till tomorrow.

Can you be unlucky and lucky at the same time?

Unlucky..  truck loses power and dies on the side of the Trans Canada

Lucky.. just on the edge of Regina (could have happened in ANY of the super remote places I've been up till now)

Unlucky.. it is sort of stormy, lots of blowing snow and visibility is just fair at times

Lucky.. nobody hit me!  :)

When it died the first time.. I figured I'd give it a few minutes and try again.   Surprisingly it seemed to be running better, and had decent power.. but the hope died 20 seconds or so later when it lost power again.  This time it died and wouldn't restart at all.  Almost made it to the exit (not that it really would have mattered that much).

So I texted my friend Dave (who happens to be 140 km away working a drilling site) to ask if he knows anything about diesels.  Figured maybe it was something I could diagnose and waiting a bit would solve it.  He suggested I call his uncle who is a Ford mechanic.  Call him on PEI, he is super helpful and after talking about the symptoms it sounds like the fuel pump.  Says it is about an hour job.  Hopefully that is it.

Side note:  While talking to Dave's uncle, a guy in a pickup truck hits a snow drift (must not have been paying attention) and it rolls onto it's side.  I didn't actually see it happen, just saw the aftermath (which was fine.. must have been a slow tip over).  People are running over and he climbs out of the passenger side.  Kinda nuts as the roads weren't really that bad.  

So call CAA, wait forever to talk to somebody, and they send a tow truck (they won't cover the tow as it is a big cube van, which I expected).  While waiting Dave suggests a Ford dealer he was at the other day to bring it to.  Look them up on my phone and call ahead (what did we do before smartphones?).  Sounds like they can get me in first thing tomorrow which is great. Tow truck arrives, nice guy.. flat tows me with the chain off the highway and then picks it up from the rear.  A $75 tow across town (literally from the south edge to the north edge) and then a courtesy ride from the dealership to the hotel and here I am.

Hopefully they get to it first thing, and IS actually just the fuel pump, and it'll be ready to go before noon.  That way I'll still get to Calgary tomorrow, just a bit later than initially planned.

So looks like my original route map will be accurate after all.  Dave is headed into town (if he doesn't run into bad weather) from 140 km away to hang out for a bit before heading back to the drilling site later tonight.

It makes for an interesting blog post anyway!  :)

Last fill up?

Quite a bit less expensive here in this part of Manitoba!

Fourth time is a charm..

-23 this morning.. Was worried about the cube starting. No place to plug it in.

Luckily, it stayed running on the fourth try!

I wasn't worried...

I have a bit of appreciation for Fords this morning.

Cold and hot!

Decent description of my night out in Winnipeg.  Pretty neat city really, lots of old buildings, some interesting architecture 

Went to a couple local pubs to find some of the local craft beer to try (Half Pints and Fort Garry are the only ones).  The first pub (King's Head) was great, a kinda grimey English style pub, good crowd..   Really liked the Half Pints Stout.  I also decided to get supper here when I saw they had 'real' Indian food.  Had the lamb vindaloo.  'Really' good, super hot (spicy), and nice chunks of lamb.

 

On the walk back to the hotel (-20C ish, so cold but no wind and really not as cold as I would have thought. They do say it is a different type of cold) I stopped in at another local pub.  Tried Half Pints IPA.  English style, pretty darn good really.  

Today I'm thinking of skipping Regina and heading to Swift Current instead.  Regina is only 570 km away and I'd rather have a longer drive today and a shorter one into Calgary tomorrow.  Swift Current is 810 km or so, which might be my longest drive of the trip (if it is, it is only by a little bit).  Weather is looking clear.

Pictures.. (again)

These didn't send properly last night from my phone..

Border shot.. my first (only?) time in Manitoba.  Also the first 'new to me' province on the trip.

No this isn't a one way.. (luckily nobody wanted to come the other way)

Easy parking job (wasn't so easy jamming myself in the 'wrong' parking lot the first go around.. but I was impressed with myself for that one).

Winnipeg!

First impression, it is a lot bigger than I expected! The drive
downtown with the cube was 'interesting' during rush hour. It wasn't
really that bad though. Folks just get out of the way of a big truck
typically. Having the GPS say "Make a U-turn" was pretty funny. I
didn't and it managed to reroute me to something more practical. I'll
upload a few pictures from my phone in a bit.. but I ended up going
down a two way street with cars all parked on one side. Luckily
nobody else wanted to come the other way (but again, they'd be the
ones that would be backing up, not me).

Nice sunny/cold night here in downtown Winnipeg. Have a spot to find
a good local craft beer all lined up and will be headed out the door
soon. Might meet up with a Brewnoser's wife (yes really) and a fellow
Islander (grew up just up the road from me) who happens to be in town
later as well. Funny how such a big country can feel small sometimes.

Only two more days of driving... which is kind of sad in a way, as
the trip has seemed to go by much too quickly! I have had lots of
volunteers to do it together sometime in the future so who knows,
maybe I'll be making a similar trek sometime but 'just for fun' next
time.

Pictures to follow.

Figured it out!

Looking at the awards on the wall, they are all for "sauce" competitions.. the sauce was good.

No actual BBQ awards.

Just so this isn't a wasted post. Big group of OPP snowmobiles in the parking lot. They were in the restaurant, they are "training". Must be nice!

The amount of snow I've seen the past couple days makes me want one of these.

Verdict..

Was pretty good, pork had a decent texture but just not enough (any?) smoke flavour... I think places like this think the general public doesn't like real smoke flavour...

The population in the southern US would disagree.

I liked the battered sweet potato fries, defenitely worth the extra $2. Nice and light.

Ok, back on the road.

BBQ

Not much of interest today so far, pretty smooth sailing really. Lots if snow up here, so all the pictures essentially look the same.

Stopped for lunch at this BBQ spot in Vermillion Bay (a little over 300 kms from Winnipeg). Going to try the Carolina pork sandwich.. Hopefully I'm not disappointed. They have the fact they were on some Food Network show plastered all over the place, so expectations are high.

I'll leave you with a boring picture of the cube as well, ha

Cold!

Hitting the open road for Winnipeg, 9 am start, not bad.

Quite cold here, cube died after the first start but running good now. Phew! The thoughts that quickly went through my mind..

No real pictures of interest just yet today.. Stay tuned.

Pictures..

... don't do the landscape justice!  Not much to report here from Thunder Bay (no real adventure, only went across the street to 'All you can eat' sushi spot..  not bad really but I'm simply not used to large portions, my stomach hurts!).

So I'll just post up a few pictures from today (Note:  You can click on each picture for a bigger shot).  As I said, everything looks so much 'smaller' in the pictures (without sufficient foreground to provide some perspective, which is tough in the driver's seat of the cube).

Not the best start..

Was like this for 90% of the day..  

White River, big on their Pooh! (ha)

This isn't even a full tank (takes 208L).

I thought this was pretty neat, 'Slush Whiskers' when I pulled in for fuel.

Now a few shots of the drive.. the overcast day mutes the colors quite a bit.  The scale of everything is just so much smaller in the pictures!

 

 

Surprised by a bit of a white out in the last hour or so.  Didn't last long.

Off to Winnipeg tomorrow.

Winnie.. The.. Pooh!

Stopped for fuel and lunch in White River. News to me but this is where the bear that inspired the author of Winnie the Pooh was found (
http://www.whiteriver.ca/article/winnie-the-pooh-6.asp).

Amazing drive this morning, not boring at all. Great views of lots of lakes, twisty roads, lots of rock. All the snow around takes away from the view a bit I'm sure.

Couple shots from the road. No cell service at all for a while now (using wifi in the little cafe I stopped at for lunch).

Proper post later when I'm not on my phone.

Wawa here I come!

Weather is looking pretty good. Probably got about 5 cm overnight but clear and not very windy right now.

So going to make the run to Wawa (which is just fun to say) for lunch.

Snowy Sault Sainte Marie

Spending a pretty laid back night in a windy and snowy Sault Sainte Marie.  Got in around 6:30 and quickly got settled and headed up the road to get some food.  Google search presented an interesting spot called Gusto's Bar & Grill.  Had a great chicken and rib dinner with some spicy sauce, rice, etc.   Just what I needed after a fun Saint Patricks Day yesterday and a long'ish day on the road today.  Left the restaurant to walk back to the motel in what turned out to be a bit of a snow storm.

Should be a fairly interesting drive to Thunder Bay tomorrow (700 kms).  It is a fairly twisty two lane road for the most part.  Forecast is just calling for a couple centimeters of snow so hopefully that is all it comes to.

Bit slower drive today, averaged 18.3 l/100 km.  That is pretty darn good for such a fully loaded 16' cube van.  Don't want to jinx it.. but the truck has been working well.  It was really windy this afternoon and it blew around a bit on the open sections with snow drifting across the roads.  I'm glad it is fully loaded that's for sure.

On a more fun note, a few pictures from yesterday that Matt sent along.

Yes, this one was 'staged'.. 

Few from today as well.   First one is a good shot of the 'open road'.  Doesn't compare to the prairies I'm sure, but it did get it pretty 'stretched out' today at times.

This was SO good.

Quick stop in Sudbury

Stop in Sudbury for some lunch (great porchetta sandwich at this Italian deli).  Making use of the free wifi at Tim Hortons to book a hotel in Sault Sainte Marie and make a quick post.  Nice sunny day here in northern(ish) Ontario.  Will have another 4 hours of driving to make it to Sault Sainte I figure.

Had a great time yesterday out on the town in Toronto with Dylan and his good friend Matt. Bellwoods Brewery is a really neat spot (if not a bit too 'hipster' ha).  Sampled their whole selection of beer on tap (thankfully they had 4oz samples) and had a bit of food too (cheese plate and duck heart appetizer... kinda chewy).

Overall an awesome visit to Toronto (essentially my first).  Dylan and Ainslie were great hosts, nice to catch up with them again.  Look forward to a stopover in Calgary on their way to visit family in Vancouver!  Ha

I should really get back on the road but I'll throw up a few pictures from yesterday.

Also a shots from the road today.