Travel diary: Victoria BC to Ottawa ON

[exc911ence]

With inspiration from this thread, http://forums.pelicanparts.com/canada/608347-coast-2-coast-eh.html, I thought I might post a thread of my own having just completed seven days on the road with my 911S. Sadly, only the first 4.5 were behind the wheel of my car, the rest spent driving a rented U-Haul truck with the Porsche slung out back on a car trailer.

Let the fun begin!

Let's start with a pic that ArcticOne will find familiar... my 911S on Elk Lake Road in Victoria BC, adjacent to the Pat Bay Highway:


Down at the Inner Harbour in Victoria:


First in line for the ferry out of Swartz Bay to the mainland:


On the Coastal Celebration:


Passing the old Spirit class ferry just before Active Pass:

[exc911ence]

On the Queen of Surrey ferry en route to Langdale on the Sunshine Coast:


Parked in Gibson's Landing while we ate at Molly's Reach Restaurant, home of the Beachcombers TV show:


Welcome to Gibson's Landing:


Sechelt BC!


Leaving the Sunshine Coast:


Confusing sign on the ferry:

[exc911ence]

Osoyoos BC, along the Crowsnest Highway:


Downtown Osoyoos:


Along the Crowsnest:


Watch out for these guys!


Only the little one thought the 911 was cool:


Big Trees in these parts:


Water Tree was out of order:

[exc911ence]

Breakfast of champions in Fernie BC:


Alberta!


Lonely highway somewhere southwest of Calgary AB:


Foothills:


The Badlands of Alberta, outside of Drumheller:


Hoodoos!


World's Biggest Dinosaur in Drumheller AB:




911S overnighting with my old 912 in friend's garage in Calgary. The two cars haven't been side-by-side since 2003!

[exc911ence]

Saskatchewan!


Last pee-break in Saskatchewan before the car's fuel pump expired:


The trip somehow lost its shine in Regina SK:


U-Haul makes the Manitoba border without incident:


Avro Anson bomber-trainer in Brandon MB:


After this, we put the camera away and just drove non-stop for home. The wind was out of our sails and we just wanted to sleep in our own bed with the 911 tucked safely in our garage...

[ArcticOne]

Thanks for the reminders.

Some random comments:

First pic sure brings back some memories.

No fair - you have a two legged traveling companion that does not have feathers (she probably cleans up after herself too).

Um, what time of the morning did you actually wake up to be first in line?

Why don't they fill the ferries? BC Ferry Corp could make way more money.

GRRRRRR - due to my poor timing I did not get the Sunshine coast.

That dinosaur is ginormous. At first it did not look all that impressive until I scrolled down the photo and saw how tiny the 911 is.

Too bad about the fuel pump. But it simply adds to the adventure.

Any other worthwhile photo ops as I prepare for my east coast swing?


Good on ya Dave. Nice to see you made it home. Will have to share contact info for when I make the jaunt east.

jb

[exc911ence]

Originally Posted by ArcticOne

Thanks for the reminders.

Some random comments:

First pic sure brings back some memories.

No fair - you have a two legged traveling companion that does not have feathers (she probably cleans up after herself too).

She does, and she cleans up after me as well!

Originally Posted by ArcticOne

Um, what time of the morning did you actually wake up to be first in line?

Why don't they fill the ferries? BC Ferry Corp could make way more money.

I made a reservation online and arrived barely five minutes after the 7:00am ferry left for the 8:00am boat.

The ferries fill regularly during peak season leaving folks with one or even two sailing waits on occasion.

Originally Posted by ArcticOne

GRRRRRR - due to my poor timing I did not get the Sunshine coast.

That dinosaur is ginormous. At first it did not look all that impressive until I scrolled down the photo and saw how tiny the 911 is.

Too bad about the fuel pump. But it simply adds to the adventure.

Any other worthwhile photo ops as I prepare for my east coast swing?


Good on ya Dave. Nice to see you made it home. Will have to share contact info for when I make the jaunt east.

jb

Not much in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for photo-ops to be honest but Ontario provides many "biggest blank in the world" attractions. If you go Highway 11 from Nipigon, it's pretty barren although someone has a dinosaur in their front yard plus the town of Moonbeam has a UFO at the town entrance. Taking Highway 7 through Wawa (World's Biggest Loon!) and down through Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, North Bay makes for a more scenic drive, albeit one that's ~100kms longer than the northern Highway 11 route. Both end up in North Bay, Ontario.

If you stop in Ottawa, drop me a line!

Dave

[privatepang]

Nice write up!

Where abouts did you source your Right hand mirror? trying to source one but host is out of stock

Is it genuine?

Awesome looking car

[exc911ence]

Originally Posted by privatepang

Nice write up!

Where abouts did you source your Right hand mirror? trying to source one but host is out of stock

Is it genuine?

Awesome looking car

Been on the car from new. It's got a full-load: power windows, power moonroof, a/c, dual mirrors, etc...

[GWN7]

"Not much in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for photo-ops to be honest "

I'll stand up for my cousins in Sask.... You have to know where to look. We (MB & SK) don't put all the treasures along #1 for all to see. I we did that everyone would want to move here.

Also we could have fixed your fuel pump and kept it off the trailer if we would have known you were coming

[exc911ence]

Originally Posted by GWN7

"Not much in Saskatchewan and Manitoba for photo-ops to be honest "

I'll stand up for my cousins in Sask.... You have to know where to look. We (MB & SK) don't put all the treasures along #1 for all to see. I we did that everyone would want to move here.

Also we could have fixed your fuel pump and kept it off the trailer if we would have known you were coming

Winnipeg was the beacon of hope when the mechanic in Regina started making phone calls but sadly, being the day before a long weekend, parts were unavailable to ship until Monday. I did not want to hang around Regina for 4 days waiting for parts when I had to be back at work on Monday.

As for the sights off of Highway 1, I'll probably never have the opportunity to see them as I am always just passing through...