• Road Trip Preparation
• Road Trip Journal

STATS:

• Trip Duration:            22 Days
• Destination:              Alberta, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Yukon, and North West Territories
• Vehicle Type:            Chevrolet Impala 2007
• Rental Place:             Hertz - McLeod Road, Calgary
• Estimated Total KM:   6,000
• Actual KM Traveled:   8,000
• Passengers:              3

Day Number 1:  Saturday July 14th 2007:

The plane was scheduled to depart from Toronto at 3:30pm and as planned it was right on time.  We arrived in Calgary's airport just after 5pm local Calgary time.  Upon arrival we found out that one of our camping bags has ripped on one side during the flight.  Andrew volunteered to saw it back together, we'll see about that.    We arrived at the motel soon after where we were greeted by a somewhat strange lady with a funny accent, who helped us get settled in by handing us over a huge key to a motel dorm number 1.  We walked into the room to find out that the theme of the room was "off white" that goes for everything from the bed sheets to the colour of the napkins.  The advertised pool on the website was empty with just enough water for some frogs to make a permanent home in it.  Frankly we were not impressed.  When we settled in we went for a stroll down the street to purchase the necessary food and beverages to get us through the day and night.  We settled in for the night after eating Mr. Subway sandwiches and taking a 100psi shower that almost ripped our skins off.

Injury List:  Mariusz: 1.      Chipped a tooth on a beer bottle - I guess he was very thirsty.   2.      Almost cut himself, trying to exhibit his hunting knife.  3.      Injured his toe walking into one of the bags.   Andrew: 1.      No injuries sustained.   Agata: 1.      No injuries sustained

Day Number 2:  Sunday July 15th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 2.jpg (648.52 kb)

Today we woke up early in the morning to pick up our rental car from Hertz rental place and the journey across the mountains begun.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking, nothing like I've ever seen before.  Mountainous terrains, lakes, rivers and beautiful valleys, it was breathtaking.  We stopped to see Lake Louise, and Lake Moraine which were very lovely and beautiful.  We drove a long distance today and before sun set we decided to settle down in a campground we chose on a map.  Upon the arrival, we received the news that all the sites were occupied and we were forced to look for other accommodations......Here is where the nightmare begun.... We were advised that close by was a forestry camping and might have some sites available.  The campground we were advised of was called Skimikin Lake.  We drove on a secluded and empty road and finally arrived at the campground just before the sun set.....Now... Where do I begin???  We drove in and found some campgrounds occupied but no people around... one campsite had an axe stuck to a piece of wood and cats were making barking noises... It looked like a scene from a horror movie.  Finally we spotted some people who informed us about the procedures for booking and gave their opinion about the better sites in the park.  Andrew and Mariusz paid the park host money for the night and we drove in to find a site.  We found a nice site that was almost surrounded by water... the dusk started to settle in, and Mosquitoes took over.  I sat in the car for nearly 1 hour close to tears because there were so many Mosquitoes that you could not avoid them or prevent yourself from being bitten... it was horrible.  The guys managed to open the tent and start a fire.  Mariusz wore a life jacket to prevent his back from being bitten - apparently it worked.  We settled in for the night...

 

Injury List:   Mariusz: 1.      Sustained 1245355 Mosquito bites. 2.      Walked into a log scraping a large portion off the skin on his leg.   Andrew: 1.      Sustained 2556 Mosquito bites.  Agata: 1.      Sustained 45 Mosquito bites.

Day Number 3:  Monday July 16th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 3.jpg (798.83 kb)

After experiencing a horrific first night camping, we were terrified of what would lay ahead of us.  We packed up quite quickly and continued our drive towards Vancouver.  All of us were score from mosquito bites... some of us more score than others.  We drove through the mountains and lost of curvy roads and finally arrived at the outskirts of Vancouver just before dusk.  We decided to settle in to the nearby Provincial Park called "Golden Ears".  We obtained a gorgeous site that looked into a rainforest, exposing some of the biggest tree trunks that I have ever seen and moss was hanging down on most of the trees in the forest.  Soon after arrival we placed our bathing suits on and went for a swim in the lake located close to the site; the water was cold but we were too excited to care.  We sat comfortably by the fire and enjoyed the mosquito free environment.

Injury List:   Mariusz: 1.      No injuries sustained.  Andrew: 1.      Injured his thumb by hammering tent pegs into the ground.  Agata: 1.      No injuries sustained.

Day Number 4:  Tuesday July 17th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 4.jpg (778.27 kb)

We woke up to some rain showers this morning, but the rain stopped just in time to allow us to pack up.  We had a planned excursion today to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge.  This is the place where Mariusz begun his new catchy word.... When I asked him what he though about the Capilano Bridge on a scale from 1 to 10 - he said onnnnnnnnne!!  Everything after that was a onnnnnnnnne!  Oh joy.  Capilano Bridge was very beautiful, it rained a bit but in the forest we didn't feel it that much.  The trees were enormous and the Tree Top Adventure was amazing.  After seeing the Capilano Bridge we started our drive towards the Horseshoe Bay Ferry, were we planned to depart at 4:40 heading towards Vancouver Island.  The sail was about 2 hours long.  Upon arrival to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island we began heading towards our destination point - Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.  We were greeted by a friendly "host" in the park who had a somewhat overlarge belly with a pocking out belly button.  He was very helpful and assisted us in finding a site.  We were to settle down for 3 nights in this park.  After an eventful day we sat by the fire and fell asleep.

 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.       No Injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  Burns some hair on his arm by playing with the fire.   Agata:  1 No Injuries Sustained

Day Number 5:  Wednesday July 18th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 5.jpg (555.27 kb)

We woke up in the morning to some rain showers, but by the time we got up the rain stopped and it got warm enough to wear shorts and a tee-shirt.  We decided to go for a hike to explore some of the water falls in the area.  The weather was good for a while allowing us to venture off the trail to find a nice and quiet place to get into the water.  We dipped ourselves a bit in the cold water but the rain soon begun falling so we quickly packed up and begun heading back to the camp.  After lunch we drove to see Cathedral Grove.  The drive to Cathedral Grove was very nice; curvy mountainous road exposed some of the largest trees in B.C.  The rain continued to rain heavily at times so we put our rain jackets on and venture into the rain forest trail.  The walk in the forest was unreal and amazing; I felt like I was in a fairytale, lost in a gigantic forest.  This was definitely something that I will never forget.  After the rainforest adventure we drove back to the camp and the rain continued falling for the remainder of the evening and night. 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Andrew:  1.  No injuries sustained.  Agata:  1.  No injuries sustained.

Day Number 6:  Thursday July 19th 2007:

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:   Day 6.jpg (659.35 kb)

We woke up in the morning to yet another rainfall, but that didn't stop our plans.  Today's planned excursion was to drive to the west side of the island to a town called Tofino.  Also located at the west cost is the Pacific Rim National Park which we planned to explore as well.  The drive was fairly short compared to what we were used to.  Upon arrival to the Pacific Rim N.P. we explored the Huge!!! Beaches of Tofino and ventured into another rainforest trail.  Later we drove to Tofino and had some Fish and Chips for lunch.  Lots of greasy food kept us going and energized for the entire day.  Surprisingly the sun came out in the afternoon making it a pleasant day.  Andrew went for a swim in the Pacific Ocean, and came out tasting like a salt cube.    We drove back to the camp and sat by the camp fire for the remainder of the evening.

 

Injury List:  Mariusz:  Sustained 2 Mosquito Bites.  Andrew:  Spilled pomegranate drink on him making his "recycle" shirt unusable.  Agata:  Sustained 2 Mosquito Bites. 

Day Number 7:  Friday July 20th 2007:  

DISTANCE DRIVEN ON THE MAP:  Day 7.jpg (572.77 kb)

We woke up early today at 8am and once again the rain caught up to us.  The misty rainforest rain lasted about an hour but we had to pack up in the rain anyways because we had to catch the 10:40am ferry from Horseshoe Bay in Nanaimo.  We arrived in Nanaimo around 10am to the dock and waited in a huge lineup to board, we were one of the last few cars to get on this ferry; lucky us, at least in one sense.  The ship we boarded was very new and luxurious;  it was the newest ship they had on the waters; I believe that it started sailing on April 2007.  Aboard, was cafeteria, play area for kids, games zone, and internet access, and overall it felt like Titanic of 2007.  We purchased some Nanaimo Bars on the ship; since we were leaving Nanaimo.  We thought that it was funny.   The ship sailed for about 1 hour and 40 minutes.  Upon arrival we were greeted by more rain... of course it always rains here...

We began driving upwards towards Whistler in torrential rain falls and curvy roads.  The rain was not our only delay this day.  The road stretch from Vancouver to Whistler was under construction, that covered over 100KM; this was because the roads leading to Whistler were being widened, in preparations for the winter Olympics in 2008.  Anyways, by the time we arrived to the beautiful and charming Whistler we were tired of the constant traffic and rain that followed us everywhere.  We continued driving further up north through the mountains.  We stopped in a small town called Looloet where we ordered some Pizza but the kitchen staff misplaced the order and we didn't get our pizza until 40 min later and the waitress offered it to us at no charge.    The rain finally stopped after we left Looloet and the roads improved as well.  We arrived at Lac La Hache Provincial Park around 8PM where we camped overnight.  Overall it was a day where we took very little pictures mostly because of the rain.