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| Somewhere on the road in Alberta |
As promised, this entry is all about the road trip I took in August with my good friend and blog-off partner Songbird.
To recap, I had an awesome red Sebring Convertible that I really wanted to take on a spectacular trip before returning it back to those mean leasing people (jk!) on September 2.
A few months ago I approached Songbird and asked her if she was up for a road trip, top down to Western Canada. She agreed and so we were off and on the road beginning August 7. Here are the highlights on the trip:
Day 1: Saturday, August 7 - Moose Jaw bound
- Approx.10am: Starting the trip with a mani & pedi of course - I mean if we're potentially gonna find Brad Pitt on the side of the road we better look gooooood!
- Approx. 1pm: On the road, gorgeous weather, top down all the way to Moose Jaw and only 1 hour off schedule - that would seriously be a record for us!
- 2pm-5pm: Making friends on the road with a couple driving a Viper - we passed them numerous times while giving the 'peace out' sign and were invited to drag race! After finally meeting up with the couple in Broadview we learn that they got a ticket in Ontario - good thing we decided against the race...
- Approx. 6pm: We're making good time, but I'm driving so that explains that! We arrive in Moose Jaw and hit the LB (liquor board) to purchase cocktails for the Hawaiian party at the lake.
- Approx 6:30pm: Wrong turn to go to the lake, some fancy manuevering and as three women can do, we listened to the woman giving directions and we executed exactly as told - made it to the lake no problemo!
- Approx 7:30pm: After a quick freshen up, off to the most wonderful Hawaiian Welcome Social ever!! Or at least that's what we called it, which really made the host laugh!
- Approx. 1, 2 or 3am (we're not sure): Hauled ourselves out of the hot tub and went to bed. What an action packed day!
- Loving the lake with the family on the party boat pretty much all day long - can you say paradise! Weather was awesome! Takin' the Seadoo out full throttle was a buzz!
- Girls trip into town (top down of course!) for a little shopping, lunch and exploration.
- Given the choice to 1. stay in town and check out the tunnels, or 2. go back to lake, get on the boat and crack a beverage we choose.............wait for it, it'll be a surprise............the lake!
- Approx. 8am: Back on the road top up for the first couple of hours until nicely driving out of the rain - comfortably top down for the rest of the trip with intermittent heat on.
- Approx. 5pm: Arrive in Calgary (making good time - I'm still driving, nuf said). For the first time we pull out the GPS called Tom-Tom, even though it's a woman's voice. Songbird is the navigator and advises me that according to the screen we are in a pink field and it needs to download hundreds of maps to figure out what in the sam scram we're doing. We thought we detected Tom-Tom's tone changing and almost heard her say "well if you're not going to listen to me then you get what you get girls!" After some stressful moments, with absolutely no help from Tom-Tom who almost learned how to fly that day, we made it through Calgary.
- Approx. 7pm: Arrive in the Foothills to a very warm welcome and wonderfully delicious home cooked meal - again in paradise!
- How about a trip to the Brit camp?!? OK! After a weavey-windy trip, top-down, to the British army camp on the dude ranch where they do adventure training, we were a little dizzy, but having a great time.
- Back to home-base to raid the garden and have a scrumptous, garden fresh dinner!
- Well top had to be up all day with the constant rain so that was a downer. IKEA however, was an eye opener for me at least - my first trip to that humongous store! My goodness I thought we would never get through it. Total purchase $6.46 for a cheese grater!
- Dinner at a restaurant in the city - met the weirdest waitress that ever lived!
- Again, Tom-Tom is absolutely no help. Top's up in the rain for this short hour and a half trip. After a bit of shopping around in Banff we headed to Castle Mountain for another warm welcome and yummy dinner!
- Ooops, another hot tub....well we didn't want it to feel neglected!
- Yeah, I know, it was a little outa the way, but we had 'business' in Edmonton and it just worked out that we picked up a nervous, back seat driver in Banff to complement this leg of the trip. No worries, sunny day, top down, Songbird in the back getting serious wind-burn!
- Is that a black cloud we see....we'll miss it right? WRONG, our first experience driving in the rain with the top down - good thing it was a fairly short drive though - ahhhh, refreshing!
- Arrive in Edmonton, I have no idea what time and we're lost. Tom-Tom has us back in the pink field - thanks a lot for all your help Tom-Tom!!
- I experience my first Donair ever - what a delicious sandwich and such great people at Queen Donair in Edmonton - I'm glad I'm related!!
- Finally get settled into yet another warm welcome and some truly fabulous wine testing for an upcoming wedding. We end up telling stories and laughing late into the night before retiring to a good night's sleep.
- Time for a walk with the bride to be. Is that a Boston Pizza we see? Yes it is and there's room on the patio for three thirsty women! Aren't impromptu bachelorette parties fabulous!!
- Before heading back we needed to make two pit-stops to put some final touches on the bash. 1. Safeway for a bouquet of roses and, 2. the Dollar Store for a tiara and wand. If any of us could remember the words to Miss America we would have been singing it all the way home with our bride to be all decked out and getting interesting looks from the folks in the neighbourhood. She really had that wand workin'!
- More delicious food and off to bed early after yet another big day!! It takes a lot out of you to be spoiled and relaxed all day long!
- Starting out the trip right we put our 'princess for a day' tiaras on and drove through Edmonton to pick up our nervous back seat driver to begin the 5 hour trek back to Banff. Top down, all day, gorgeous weather!
- Arrive in good time (you know what that means) in Banff to be pleasantly surprised by the arrival of two more visitors and fellow Winnipegger's, a good friend and his 15 year old daughter.
- Well we couldn't resist spending the better part of the day shopping with an adorable, well mannered 15 year old girl - who could?!? We had a blast checkin' out the stores and driving to and from town with, you guessed it, the top down!
- Johnston Canyon has never seen a crew like us to hike the falls, what a great experience! Gorgeous scenery and hundreds of pictures later we were all tuckered out and ready to call it an early night.
- Although we were treated like Princesses everywhere we went and spoiled absolutely rotten, we were ready to get home.
- I drove the first leg to Regina. After 10 hours behind the wheel, Songbird admitted my colour was changing and it was time for a nap. So she took over and I slept after making good and sure she was doing a healthy speed!
- Quick stop in Broadview for Songbird to laugh hysterically at my demeanor after the nap. Apparently, I could have been on a bender based on how wobbly I was. Leave it to Songbird to take pictures - not funny Songbird!!!
- Approx. 1am: Hooooome sweeeet hooooome!! Sleeeepy time!! After 16 hours of consecutive driving we were pooped and glad to see home - no Tom-Tom required!
Check out Songbird's take on the Thelma & Louise trip.
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