I recently set off on a road trip to get away from everything for a while. What follows is an account of the trip. All times are in 24 hour notation.
I set off westward from Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) at about 1100 on Thursday after acquiring a few provisions. I picked up some light rain/snow as I entered Banff National Park but drove out of it by the time I reached Golden where I stopped for a snack and a rest room visit. I then set off again, westward on the TCH. I picked up some weather in the Roger’s Pass but again drove out of it as I descended toward Sicamous. Along the way, I had a minor misadventure with a passing lane. A rather large truck passed me along one of the passing lane instances along the TCH between Golden and Sicamous. This was not the problem. The problem was the three or four other cars that failed to allow me back onto the road when the passing lane ended, forcing me to basically stop on the highway and wait for the traffic to clear before getting underway again. People, when a passing lane is ending, DO NOT START TO PASS ANYONE. Think about how much it would piss you off if someone did the same to you. Especially if the person you are passing is already doing the posted speed limit!
After acquiring gasoline in Kamloops, I motored on westward on the TCH. I then switched onto highway 97 northbound and continued on to 100 Mile House where I stopped for the night. What a name for a town, eh?
The next day, I set out again, heading north on 97 at about 0900 pacific time. I didn’t bother stopping for food at that point. I continued to Prince George where I got turned around on the streets of the city when I cut off the main highway figuring I’d find a better price for gasoline. Eventually, I got unlost and acquired gasoline. I stopped in a cafe on the north side of the city. I felt like I had stepped into a timewarp. It wasn’t the decor, though. It was the fact that the waitress kept calling me "hon&qhot;. The food was excellent, however.
I was back on the road at about 1400 pacific time. I continued north on 97 as I crossed the continental divide again (I crossed it once on the TCH) and encountered some rather old road which has not yet been "improved". All told, the weather was good on this leg of the journey as were the roads for the most part. Eventually, I arrived in Dawson Creek where I had to deal the the cursed traffic circle. Fortunately I only had to go one exit around to pick up the highway that headed toward Grande Prairie. However, the traffic circle was only a minor irritation as I had to contend with road construction all the way to the BC-Alberta border. At one point, it was down to alternating traffic on one lane. And, on top of it, I was behind an oversize load. Quite entertaining, really.
Along the way, I had an interesting encounter with a deer. I saw the deer on the left side of the road and was braking to avoid a collision in case it darted out onto the road. And sure enough, it did, angling for my front bumper as I drew even. I put the bakes on much harder and it spooked and dashed for the ditch again. I also ended it hitting a crow as it took off straight at my car as I came upon it on the road. I had no time to dodge it but no damage was done, except to the bird. This was maginally entertaining. I believe both of these incidents happened north of Prince George but I’m not certain exactly where.
Eventually, I arrived in Grande Prairie. I missed the turn for the bypass because it wasn’t marked far enough in advance and I was in the wrong lane to make the left turn. Then I nearly missed the turn in the city centre. However, eventually, I came out on the north side of Grande Prairie where I again acquired gasoline. It was about 2030 when I again hit the road.
I decided at that point to push all the way through to Calgary overnight since I didn’t really want to see the relatively flat landscape of Alberta. I motored along at 90 km/h the whole way even though the speed limit ranged from 90 km/h to 110 km/h. I ended up pulling off at a "Roadside Turnout" to empty my bladder at one point along this stretch of road. I managed not to miss any turns in Edmonton on the way past and was amazed by the light footprint of some of Edmonton’s suburbs (such as Nisku). I arrived at Gasoline Alley in Red Deer at about 0345 where I stopped for a break and some food. I then headed on to Calgary where I arrived at about 0600.
I ran some errands on the Saturday after catching some sleep. I generally relaxed the rest of the day. Then on Sunday, I headed to Olds for a very good turkey dinner and a family visit. I returned to Calgary that night.
On Monday, I decided a nice drive along the Alberta Rockies on the Forestry Trunk Road would be nice so I acquired some gasoline and set off west on highway 1A and took the turnoff for highway 40. Now this road is gravel for most of it and is not maintained in the winter. It is still passable at this tiem of year, however. I ended up stopping at a camground to use the outhouse relatively quickly since I had stared out after lunch at about 1300. The ride was quite enjoyable, even given the wet snow I drove through for about the first half of the ride. I thought about cutting off at 752 and heading out that way but then figured I would press on to Nordegg and highway 11. The road is a bit more challenging between 752 and 11 but the sights are beautiful. At about the halfway point on that leg, I encounted a stranded motorist.
The poor soul had managed to get one of his rear (drive) wheels stuck in a hole on the side of the road. Apparently, he had been reversing to pick up a cellular signal and hadn’t been paying close enough attention. I stopped and he rigged up a rope so that I could help tow him out of his predicament. Now I drive a Ford Taurus – a midsize sedan. This fellow was driving a pickup truck. Cute, eh? We got him back on the road, however. It turned out that I was the first traveller he had seen in over an hour and a half when I stopped. Now, when you’re out on a relatively untravelled road in the middle of nowhere, you stop to offer assistance no matter whether you think you can help or not. It’s the only reasonable thing to do. I had doubts, but I figured I could always give the fellow a ride on to Nordegg if necessary. I continued on my way after he was out of his predicament. I know he was back on the road without trouble as he passed me about twenty minutes later. This was the most excitement I had all weekend.
It was relatively uneventful as I took the paved roads back to Calgary from Nordegg, first highway 11 then highway 22 to Cochrane and back into Calgary on 1A, arriving back at about 2230. I did stop at Nordegg to clean some of the mud off my license plate – obscured plates are illegal after all.
All told, I put about 2500 or so kilometres on my car but I succeeded in relaxing which was the whole purpose of the expedition.