[ I will begin by saying that I started writing this post in early April 2010]
So to start, here are the numbers: We covered a total of 4,145km over a period of 40h driving time - that put our average speed somewhere near 98km/h. Now try photo-documenting a journey at that speed. It certainly made for a new style of photos, and some creative compositions. Perhaps in the future I will even compile a portfolio of pictures taken ONLY while moving at +100km/h
More after the jump, or just check out: Facebook Gallery of the Trip if you want to skip all the 'written words' and get straight to the 'moving pictures'
Leaving from 12 Mile Bay outside of Parry Sound, Ontario on March 27th - we were officially on our way! Armed with GPS, two DSLRs riding shotgun, a video camera, and a cooler full of sustenance within arm's reach. Our plan was to do 5 am starts most days and stop driving at dusk. It helped out with the tiredness factors your looking at with 9-13 hour days in the car.
By the evening of the first day ( 13 hours later) we reached out destination in Thunder Bay, Ontario. We had a good friend in the area and doubled as a good excuse to make a visit. We saw what would be the worst weather of the trip on this day when we got North of Lake Superior. Snow was blowing across the road with maybe 50' of visibility.
Missed Photo Opportunity: Seeing a road sign with the largest marked distance I have ever seen! 690km to Thunder Bay the first sign read. Unfortunately I missed the one about 100 km later and only got the 480km sign - at which point the impact was lost.. I WILL get a photo of that sign.
March 28th had us entering Manitoba, and switching our first time zone! For some reason I enjoyed crossing the time zones, felt like I was making up for lost time somehow. Oddly enough, almost every time zone we crossed was done in the early morning. If we left at 6am local time, and sunset was at 0640, we usually had to drive almost two hours before we saw it peeking up in the rear view mirrors.
I knew this trip would be my first time through the Prairies, and let me tell you for those who haven't been ; its flat. As incredible as flat can be - it is incredibly flat. At one point I estimated to be able to see cars about 8 km ahead on the road, using some landmarks as a guide. We saw Winnipeg from the Perimeter Highway and I think that pretty much sum's up day 2 to the point of arriving in Brandon MB for the night.
We arrived in Calgary early that afternoon, we met up with friends / arrived at our accommodations for the night. It was the first day that felt like we could really relax. We enjoyed a good meal, time with old friends, and that feeling you get when you lost all the money you had to spend, at the casino.
Day 4, We let ourselves sleep in, at least until after the sun rose. It was going to be another short driving day, onward to Lake Louise. We would be staying in our old staff accommodations, riding our home mountain, drinking at our old pub, it felt like I was returning home. It was all around a good day, got some photos around the Lake again, as if I didn't have enough already!
We made our game-time decision after the ski hill to make the final push. We were likely a little eager to officially end the road trip finally, and then return back to Lake Louise when we were able to. In retrospect, maybe we should have stayed that extra day since its May 20th now, and still haven't returned)
We arrived in Kelowna shortly before sunset on Day 5, got the keys to our apartment, and so the roadtrip was finished. Maybe next time it will be in a limo, with a sunroof.