Across Canada and Back - Trip Report First Chapter

[Rparry]

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

The RTT was great for me. It was quick to setup and take down. I found I could do it in about the time it took to boil and make a coffee! About 5-6 minutes.

A couple of times I stayed for a couple of days and had to fold the tent up when I went for drives during the day. This something that is listed as a problem with RTT, but did not prove to be a big issue. The mattress was comfortable enough, could be better with an additional inch of foam. The canvas was nice and dark so sleeping in was not an issue, even in the Yukon when it never really got dark.

Other things I will change is I stored everything in clear plastic containers. This worked but the containers moved around and some broke. I will try and organize a more rigid setup, especially for the kitchen. Too much fussing about, I can do better.

I also used an Echoflow Power Station with an 800 watt alternator charger. This worked very well, made coffee every morning and ran the induction hot plate like a dream. My improvements will be to make this system easier to use. The way things were arranged was a bit klunky. Room for improvement.

BP

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[TNFurb]

Very nice. I recently drove from Kenora ON via highway 17 along the northern edge of Lake Superior around to Sault Ste Marie. It is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Rparry]

I do not have a map of my route at the moment but I will try to make one when I get some time.

I just ran through my spreadsheet that I kept during the trip and here are the results:

Total Fuel Used - 1331 litres or 352 USgal
Total Cost of Fuel - $1932 Cnd.
Average cost per litre for trip - $1.45 Cnd.
Lowest cost per litre - $1.21 near Toronto
Highest Cost per litre - $1.79 Vancouver
Fuel Economy average - for trip 6.4 l / 100km ~ 37 mpg US
Total distance traveled - 20,962 km ~ 13,000 miles

The majority of my driving was on two lane highways with a speed limit of 100 km/hr or about 65 mph. On the return trip from Quebec City to Highway 17 was 4 lanes. Highway 17 was a mix, close to Toronto it was 4 lanes. The further west you went it became 2 lanes. There is a lot of work being
done to 4 lane the the Trans Canada. It is progressing in Northern Ontario and between Kamloops and the Alberta border. From the Manitoba border to near Revelstoke BC t was 4 lanes. Since I drove the Northern Route on the way East and took TC #1 on the return the return trip was much faster. I had kind of burned out and wanted to get home so the return was about 12 days with stops at friends. Where as the outbound trip was about 40 days? Not sure if that all adds up but give or take.

BP

 

[Rparry]

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

I do not have a map at the moment. Do you know of a mapping program I could trace my travels and then post? Apple Maps, Google?

BP

 

[MarvilusRicki]

I do not have a map at the moment. Do you know of a mapping program I could trace my travels and then post? Apple Maps, Google?

BP

I guess you could use something like Google maps and just add all the stops you made. It should then just show the route. Not sure you could list all 40 stops or if there is a limit.

 

[Rparry]

I have sort of hacked a route from Chilliwack to St John's NL. It does not show my jump over to PEI. I guess I made too many changes to the route it picked and would not let me. The return route is on
another map.

 

[MarvilusRicki]

I have sort of hacked a route from Chilliwack to St John's NL. It does not show my jump over to PEI. I guess I made too many changes to the route it picked and would not let me. The return route is on
another map.

Wow. This really puts it into perspective. 127 hrs, almost 3 1/2 days of straight driving, or 3 40 hour work weeks. Thanks for sharing.

 

[VICKY]

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 beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!! The scenery AND the truck!!

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