Across Canada and Back - Trip Report First Chapter

[Rparry]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

Sponsored

 

[Meeka]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

Wow, sounds like you had a Great time seeing our Beautiful country. I’m envious, barely make it out of B.C. Stop at any Diners Drive-ins and Dives?

 

[Butterscotch]

Are you going to do a write up on your Mav thoughts ? Improvements, likes, dislikes, could be better ?

Any extras that you would have liked to had on the Mav ?

Nice write up without question. Enjoy nature and the wilderness while it's still here. Won't be much longer the way everything is being cut, chopped, burned, etc...real shame.

 

[Rparry]

I found a number of nice local Diners along the way. These are a dying breed unfortunately as the Franchise Chains are moving in. Most were at privately held gas stations. The corporate ones had Tim's and other chains.

No drive-ins but did go to a Prairie Small town bar for a beer and burger. That was great. Have not
been to a bar like that for ages.

BP

 

[Rparry]

Are you going to do a write up on your Mav thoughts ? Improvements, likes, dislikes, could be better ?

Any extras that you would have liked to had on the Mav ?

Nice write up without question. Enjoy nature and the wilderness while it's still here. Won't be much longer the way everything is being cut, chopped, burned, etc...real shame.

The Mav is a great long distance touring vehicle. The dislikes were few mostly around the touch screen and Nav System. I would like more voice commands. You can set the interior temp by voice but not much else that I have figured out so far. It would be nice to be able to set the screen on the instrument panel by voice as scrolling takes your eyes off the road for a bit. I have not gotten "Hey Ford" to respond yet, but will keep trying. The other "buttons" on the screen do not seem to have voice control. It would be nice to be able to set the cruise control speed by voice, or have two speeds you could toggle between. This would be handy for all the construction zones that are everywhere in the summer.

The Ford Nav system was for the most part the one I used most. It worked virtually everywhere. The Apple and Google systems died when the phone ran out of bars, but the Ford system ran everywhere but in the Yukon.

Apple and Google bother me as they often take me literally down the garden path, very annoying.
The Ford system seemed to do this much less. Waze was OK, but did not work well in the boonies.

The other issue with the Nav system is that they zoom in too far when out of the City. In the City the
zoom makes sense as you can see all the roads that are near you. In the country when the zoom is
about a click in front of you this of no use. The Ford system allows you to zoom out and will hold there for the most part, but take a lot eyes off the road time to set. Apple and Google just do not allow this as far as I can tell. If there is town and country setting I have not found it.

The Lariat has the more advanced cruise control which I used extensively. It ping ponged when two lanes converged into one and fought me when the roads had broken lines or bad pavement. Just turning it off was easy. Worked mostly flawlessly on divided highways and overall is better than the similar system on my 2018 Leaf. I mostly do not see the point in the hands free systems. The one I tried in the Lightning worked well, but what do you do with your hands? The steering wheel was close so that's where my hands were most of the time. Not a big difference between the system on the Mav, and not worth the extra money as far as I am concerned,

The fuel economy was great with ranges of 750-850 km per tank. This allowed me to run for sometimes two days between fills. Mostly on the outbound trip as I drove 3-5 hours a day then. On the return it was more like 8 hours, but I did not fill up more than once a day as far as I can remember.

I didn't run into this on the trip but back home driving up my steep gravel driveway, it would be nice to set the 4 wheel drive on when you know you will need it. Rather than digging holes in the driveway while the traction system figures it out.

Those are most of the issue I see with the Mav. It is a very well thought out vehicle that met my needs very well. I'm not sure there is another vehicle out there that would have done better. The Plugin Hybrid Ranger that is in Europe may have given it a run for its money, but would have been more expensive to begin with, so not likely to be a clearly better choice.

For what it worth those are my thoughts as of today.

BP

 

[Maverick123]

Thanks for the great write-up so far. You must have taken hundreds of beautiful pictures and made a thousand great memories.

How comfortable was it camping in the RTT? Is there anything you'd do differently in your setup to make the camping easier?

PS: The Citroën DS were gorgeous and amazing cars for their time, I still see a few occasionally! I see one often in Montreal, and saw one in the Thousand Islands this summer. There's a shop near me that restores Citroëns, mainly 2cv's but I saw a DS there last time I passed by

 

[Phimosis]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

That’s really unfortunate about the fires across central Canada.

Hopefully they will run out of fuel soon, so that we don’t keep having these massive forest fires, year after year.

Once it all grows back in this new climate, it will grow back as grasslands, like the central plains of the US, ending the cycle of yearly forest fires.

 

[Dad]

Fantastic write-up about your trip and a very fair review of the Maverick. We are all used to the big claims made by manufacturers about their vehicles, but the real worth has to come from the buying public. Your in-depth review validated my decision to purchase a truly unique and well designed vehicle and no doubt will convince potential buyers that the Maverick is a fantastic truck.

 

[Joe Strummer]

The True North Strong and Free.
We Stand on Guard for Thee.

 

[notfast]

I didn't run into this on the trip but back home driving up my steep gravel driveway, it would be nice to set the 4 wheel drive on when you know you will need it. Rather than digging holes in the driveway while the traction system figures it out.

Have you tried preemptively setting a different drive mode and/or traction control off? A friend of mine has an XA50 Toyota RAV4 hybrid that outright stops moving on a particular 1:5 hill in normal mode, even with the accelerator pedal pushed into the carpet.

But if you hit "trail" mode and traction control off before you start the climb, it'll make it to the top with some struggling. I suppose it's the modern equivalent of engaging 4WD before you get stuck instead of after. Sorta like how the CX-5 shown here couldn't make the hill in normal mode but made it to the top in off road mode

 

[Maverick123]

Have you tried preemptively setting a different drive mode and/or traction control off? A friend of mine has an XA50 Toyota RAV4 hybrid that outright stops moving on a particular 1:5 hill in normal mode, even with the accelerator pedal pushed into the carpet.

But if you hit "trail" mode and traction control off before you start the climb, it'll make it to the top with some struggling. I suppose it's the modern equivalent of engaging 4WD before you get stuck instead of after. Sorta like how the CX-5 shown here couldn't make the hill in normal mode but made it to the top in off road mode

There's no "off road" or "mud & ruts" mode on 2025 Lariats, I'd love to add one (if it actually does anything) to mine via Forscan.

I had a similar experience to the Rav4 while pulling a 4000 lb ponton out of the water from a beach. The truck spun one front wheel and then just sat there. I had to turn off traction control, back up a few feet into the water to get out of the rut and eventually got all 4 wheels going and it pulled out fine. But I was thinking the same as you, it would be nice to switch into an appropriate mode before doing a challenging pull

 

[notfast]

There's no "off road" or "mud & ruts" mode on 2025 Lariats, I'd love to add one (if it actually does anything) to mine via Forscan.

I had a similar experience to the Rav4 while pulling a 4000 lb ponton out of the water from a beach. The truck spun one front wheel and then just sat there. I had to turn off traction control, back up a few feet into the water to get out of the rut and eventually got all 4 wheels going and it pulled out fine. But I was thinking the same as you, it would be nice to switch into an appropriate mode before doing a challenging pull

Yes I'm aware. But for a more relatable example, the Maverick couldn't pull itself off a 3-wheel slip test in normal mode with traction control on or in slippery mode with traction control on, but it managed to pull itself off in slippery mode with traction control off.

 

[dhaskit]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

That’s a great write up and must have been a fantastic trip, my friend.
Thank you.

 

[deanobc]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

What a great country we have!

 

[MarvilusRicki]

I have just returned from my West to East to West trip across Canada. This will be an overview of the trip with general impressions.

The last time I did anything similar to this was an Edmonton to Toronto and back trip in the early 70's. I was at that time driving a Citroen,
believe it or not, so I will do a quick comparison between the two vehicles. The DS19 Citroen was an excellent long distance cruiser for
its time. It had a legendary ride and for the time good fuel economy. The ' 25 Maverick Lariat was easily as comfortable as the Citroen.
This is big praise for a small truck. The seating position is the best of the cars I have driven for the last 20 years. I have a bad knee from
getting old and my Leaf and Titan truck driving positions cause my knee to ache after about an hour of driving. This did not happen with
the Mav. The seats were excellent throughout the trip. The longest times at the wheel were on the way back. I made several days of 8 or
more hours at the wheel. For most of the outbound trip it was 3 - 5 hours a day.

My fuel economy averaged 6.4 l/100 km (37 mpg) for the entire 20,000 km trip (12,500 miles). The best over a full tank was 5.4 l per 100
or 40 mpg. This was significantly more than the old Citroen could do. I drove mostly at the speed limits that were around 100 km/h or 65 mph.

This trip was to see my Country and meet people along the way. I tried to go to local Diners when I could find them as apposed to Big Chains.
This was to meet locals and have better meals. Unfortunately these appear to be disappearing and are not that easy to find, especially on the
main routes.

I was impressed with the vitality and prosperity of the small towns across Canada. I did not go into the Large Cities very often. Not sure why but
I just had people to see in the smaller locations and no one in the bigger places. Thus I avoided the issues that most large cities are experiencing,
including here on the West Coast.

I have not traveled in the Maritimes before and I was taken aback by the beauty and friendliness of Maritimers. This area is truly a gem among
the many gems of Canada.

Some of my favourite places were Northern BC with the ferry trip up the coast as a highlight. Then my brief foray into the Yukon at Wason Lake
with the sky still showing Blue at 23:30 was memorable. Traveling across the three Western Provinces far to the North was a new experience for
me. Seeing fields of yellow Canola that stretch nearly to the visible horizon was spectacular. In Saskatchewan I went to Humbolt to honour those
that died in the terrible bus crash. I did not see a Memorial but there was recognition of the event all around the town.

Then into Alberta and to Ft. McMurray. Much of the damage from the fire has been repaired, the new housing looks to be well done. You can see the
burned out areas around the City. It must have been Hell there when the fire struck.

There was a lot of talk about fires as I progressed across the Country, but the only fire I actually saw was the final day of my trip as I headed home to
Chilliwack. There was smoke in Manitoba and Newfoundland but very little anywhere else. However the fire I skirted around on Tuesday now fills the
valley near Chilliwack with smoke.

The route I took across Northern Ontario was Hwy 11. Northern Ontario is quite the place, there are fabulous lakes around almost every corner it seems.
However between the sparse small towns there is not much but bush, trees, mosquitoes and lakes everywhere. By the time I got to North Bay, Ontario
was starting to look like what I expected. North Bay is a very pretty town on a lovely lake. From there I met a friend from Vancouver for the Highland
Games the were at Maitland On. Then another pretty place, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.

This is getting a little long so will wrap up here. I will give further updates and info on the trip. I kept a spreadsheet of driving expenses that I can share
if anyone is interested.

BP

Do you have a map of the route you took across the country?

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