Recently I’ve been thinking of test driving an electric Mini Cooper. Not because I want one (I still love my Fit), but simply because I sometimes pass by the dealer on my way to the grocery store and I think they’re cute 😆 So when I was browsing the website http://hittheroad.ca not that long ago, and a Mini Cooper was up for a short trip, I thought . . . . ‘how’s that for a test drive?’
Maybe you remember the adventure (Canadiana aka Hit the Road 1.0) that B-Rod and I did with this company during lockdown times when we drove a bright red Mercedes Van (aka the Code Mobile) from Calgary to Toronto. It was basically the same idea, except this time it was just me and the trip was a lot shorter from Victoria, BC to Edmonton, AB.
So on one of the few sunny days this spring in the Okanagan, I hopped on a flight and headed to Victoria to meet my new ride.
After picking the car up from the owner, driving around a bit to get used to her and then consulting with some very important people, we determined that this car would for the next couple days be named and referred to as Megeedo (because I’m one of “those” people that likes to name stuff!)
The first order of business was getting Megeedo on the ferry (which I was a bit late for and in a bit of a panic that I may miss my booking). Part of my excitement of this adventure was actually riding the ferry. For the short period of time where B-Rod lived in Victoria while I lived in Vancouver, we had gotten to know the ins and outs of the ferry very well. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on it, and I was so looking forward to being on the ocean!
It was a perfect day on the ferry, and I sat out on the deck enjoying the sunshine. Soon after the above shot was taken, I was looking out into the expanse of ocean and thought I saw some movement. I kept my eyes peeled to see a couple fins. No one else seemed to notice. I got so excited that I had to get the attention of a guy sitting close to me to point it out to him. Just after I did . . . . one of the Orca whales breached. We figured it was a baby as it seemed fairly small AND . . . . still no one else seemed to notice the activity except for us! It was such a special moment and a great start to my adventure.
Meegedo and I then got off the ferry to really hit the road.
Our first destination and stop for the night was going to be Kamloops. Fortunately, Megeedo had cruise control (during our first hit the road adventure, the Mercedes van we were driving did not!). Unfortunately, connecting my phone to the stereo system was the one feature in Megeedo I could NOT figure out. I spent a bunch of time reading manuals, googling and trying things out, but I could not get it connected through a wire or through bluetooth. I had cued up a bunch of podcasts and music to listen to on the road and tried with earbuds, but it just wasn’t the same as having it played through the stereo. Then about an hour before reaching Kamloops, I stopped at a rest stop and found something that had been left behind in the woman’s restroom . . . .
After a few hours of driving, we stopped in Kamloops where Megeedo had a rest and I had a chance to visit family (who totally forgot that I was even coming! 😆)
The first day of driving had been perfect road trip weather – sunny and warm. The next day went from cloudy to basically pouring rain for the rest of the ride. How fortunate that I had a book to get absorbed into as the few stops I made were not for very long. Still, there’s a different beauty to scenery in Canada in the rain.
The plan was to stay in Jasper for the night and just wander around, but when I got there the town was a bit too crazy busy for me and too rainy to really enjoy walking around in anyways, so Megeedo and I just kept going and ended up in Hinton.
The next and last day we were back on the road. I thought it would be another rainy one, but as we got closer to Edmonton, the sun started to poke out and eventually dissipated the clouds to create a fairly decent day!
It was a short trip to Edmonton, so I took the opportunity to visit a special friend before dropping Megeedo off at her final destination.
My final adventure . . . . wondering if I’d get on a flight home as there was only 1 seat listed on the next two available flights back (have you been in an airport lately . . . . they’re CRAZY!!) The CSA handed me a boarding pass, told me it was my lucky day and just like that another adventure had been had. Guess what the only extra thing I came home with was? That audio book I found in the washroom just before Kamloops! Turns out Kamloops to Edmonton isn’t quite enough time to finish an 8 CD audio book!
