Canadiana

Sometime last year, I came across a website called hittheroad.ca. The concept of delivering cars either across the country or back and forth from the US for snowbirds seemed interesting, and it was something B-Rod and I talked about trying out at some point. I thought about doing it after we moved, we saw trips that interested us, but we could never seem to get around to putting our application together. And then . . . . Covid-19 hit and lockdown and free time and restrictions on travel. We made a vow to enjoy our first summer in Kelowna, and we did. But with fall creeping in, a continuation of free time, and nowhere international to go safely, hitting the road sounded like a wonderful adventure. I don’t really have a bucket list, but the one thing I have always wanted to do since university is a road trip across the country. So when the time and opportunity to take a vehicle from Calgary to Toronto arose, we jumped on it.

Now to clear up the question we have been constantly asked. We were not paid to transfer this vehicle. The gas was paid for, we did not have to subject our own cars to wear and tear, and we got to try driving a Mercedes Metris (and a bright red flashy one at that)! As people that have the good fortune of having flight passes (so we only had to do this trip one way), time and seeing this as an opportunity for an adventure, this arrangement was fine for us.

B-Rod has always said the equivalent of an hour of flight time equals a day of driving. Looks like his estimate is fairly close!

• road trip
  • Day 1: Calgary, AB – Moose Jaw, SK (about 690km)
  • Day 2: Moose Jaw, SK – Kenora, ON (about 860km)
  • Day 3: Kenora, ON – Schreiber, ON (about 675km)
  • Day 4: Schreiber, ON – Sudbury, ON (about 800km)
  • Day 5: Sudbury, ON – Toronto, ON (about 385km)
  • TOTAL = 4.5 days, 3,410km
• plane ride
  • Toronto – Calgary
  • TOTAL = 3.5hrs

We picked up a BRIGHT RED Mercedes van in Calgary and were shocked to hear that it did NOT have cruise control!! What????!!!!!

It didn’t end up being as bad as we thought it would be without cruise control, and the code mobile successfully drove us through 4 provinces.

It was a lot of driving and eating miles to get to the other side within the time allotment we were given, but we were sure to take some time to stop to see some cool stuff along the way.

We also saw our fair share of “big stuff” on our way across the country (interesting fact . . . there’s a website that lists a lot of these should you be interested in looking for some big stuff 😝 – bigthings.ca)

We saw animals and the beauty of nature including . . .

When we pulled off the highway to go to a post office, the GPS directed us to a strange yet official post office. The Canada Post sign was on a regular house in a town of what appeared to be 5 dwellings with no people and nothing else resembling a post office from what we saw. As we backed out B stopped the van, and we proceeded to have the following conversation.

B-Rod “Is that a real bear?!”

Rocky “Yes, yes it is!!!”

Overall, it was a pretty amazing experience and adventure where we both learned a few things. We’re fairly good at spending 24/7 together and still getting along. Two full days of driving is plenty before we miss moving around and walking and going on bike rides and any sort of physical activity! Road trips are great, but having significant stops in between to really experience and do things is ideal (which isn’t really possible on a vehicle transfer). This country of ours is vast, different, truly amazing and is something you can see even while simply driving through it!

In the end we were able to return the code mobile to meet with its fleet (which included 8 other identical vans plus a green mobile). Thanks for the ride code-mobe, the fun adventure and the opportunity to see more of our beautiful country!