We first drove across the country three years ago when we moved from Calgary to Nova Scotia. At the time, we said we probably didn't need to do that again. Yet here we are...
We came back to Calgary last October for a few months work, which ended up being more than six months. We flew in to Calgary with one suitcase each and we are leaving with a car stuffed full of belongings and a full top box too. We bought a car because it's cheaper than a long term rental and anyway our old Subaru Outback needed replacing. We were so pleased with the old Outback, we went and bought a new one. There's loyalty for you.
Whilst in Calgary, we stayed with relatives to start with then moved to a house sit for three months to look after two small dogs and then lastly moved to a furnished rental. We are now packing up our belongings and plan to head out early on Wednesday morning.
Last time, our route took us from Calgary to Winnipeg, south to Chicago, round to Niagara Falls, across to Boston then up the coast through Maine to New Brunswick and finally to Nova Scotia. This time we have decided to do the entire trip in Canada with a route taking us from Calgary through Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City to Nova Scotia. Neither of us have spent much time in Ontario and neither of us have been to Quebec at all. So, a good opportunity to see some of the historic French parts of Canada. maybe we'll stop over for a couple of days pour un petit vacance en route. On the other hand, we might just rush back so we can get started planting up the vegetable garden, meeting old friends, eating lots of lobster, etc.
Investigating the route using a route planner turned up some interesting things. The southern route (Winnipeg, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal) turns out to be quicker than the northern route (Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Montreal) by 4 minutes! It may be ever so slightly quicker, but it's 388km further than staying in Canada. Add to that, the complication of two border crossings and the extra expense of highway tolls in the US. Even though gas is cheaper south of the border, the higher speeds are likely to counteract that so it is likely to be significantly more economical to stay in Canada. We will find out.
Why do we have a full car? I hear you wondering. Two main reasons. This winter in Calgary is being called by some the worst on record for the depth of the cold and the depth of the snow. We therefore wanted a good set of snow tyres so negotiated when purchasing the car that they would throw in a set of winter tyres and smart alloy rims as part of the sale. This means we have four big wheels to transport back. The other reason for the full car is that Annette has been furiously painting all winter and has quite a number of pieces to take home. Anyway, it looks like we will be able to get it all in although we'll only find out for sure when we pack it all up tomorrow.
