Introduction
It's been weeks since we returned from our grand journey east and our lives are finally back to normal. Quiet moments have reappeared. However, after this trip, something is different. A genuine sense of joy and gratitude is there, deep in our hearts.
The green lines are our route
We traveled 233,668 Kilometers (14, miles), visited every province of Canada, touched the southern and the eastern tip of the nation, experienced the expansiveness and the beauty of this vast and friendly land. We met some very interesting people and befriended some. Altogether, we spent 78 nights away from home, of which 17 nights camping, 9 B&Bs, 17 motels, 6 hotels a5 hostels and 2 on ferries. During the trip, we felt like we worked seven days a week, about twelve hours a day; moved every day, especially on the days of camping. When we started our journey, Vancouver was experiencing its record hot summer. When we turned around from St. John's, it was fall already. On the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (Second Monday of October), we encountered the unseasonable snowstorm in Winnepeg and started to drive in below freezing temperature across snow covered prarie and Canadian Rockies for more than two thousand kilometers. Many envied us for being able to afford such "long vacation". Actually, when a vacation is so stretched in time and space, it is more like an ordeal.
1. In the Beginning
The seed of this eastward trip was sown in the summer of 2006 when we drove into the Arctic Circle. In the village of Tuktoyaktu, Northwestern Territory, on the shore of Beaufort Sea, Din-sue took a picture of me with the "0 Kilometer Mark of Trans Canada Trail". Later, we learned that there are three such marks, the other two being in St. John's Newfoundland on the Atlantic and Victoria, British Columbia on the Pacific. Well, since we have made it to the probably most remote one, and Victoria is only half a day's journey away, how about going to the Atlantic? The idea of going to St. John's started to linger from time to time. We want to go. But when and how?
The distance chart on the map says it is 7,403 kilometers from Vancouver to St. John's. Wow! Probably we should fly there then rent a car? Or should we drive? To and back plus touring around a bit will add up to about 20K. It's a little scary. But our friend Evelyn in Minnesota would like us to visit with her for a couple of weeks this summer. Well, if we drive to Minnesota, we are more than half way already. If we do not rush, if we maintain our good health, if we are careful, this can be done. Well, if we do decide to drive, how do we begin to plan? Read the map. Study the map. Imagine ourselves on the map. The more we thought about it, the more concrete the trip seemed to become. In the meantime, we began to talk about the trip. The more we talk about it, the more pressure we felt to eventually make it happen。
In our previous trips, we tried to plan in detail and arrange daily accommodations. However, plans often turned into pressures to keep promises. This time, perhaps we could attempt a different approach. Actually, due to the scale of this trip, detailed planning proved to be impossible, especially for the return part. All we did was to "peg" down a few places up to Quebec City, and leave the rest to spontaneity and necessity. We were very flexible and were ready to accommodate anything, including camping or sleeping in the car. We also planned to cook our own food in principle.
When we shopped around of a new car in the spring of 2009, we put into consideration the requirements of this trip. Reliability is without doubt a number one concern. Then, in order to conserve gas, the vehicle must not be too big. To be safe, it should have all wheel drive. To double up as a bed in case of necessity, it must allow both of us to lie flat comfortably. We finally decided on Subaru Impreza because it has all these, is highly acclaimed as a good all around car, and reasonably priced.
At first, we wanted to name this trip as "a journey of discovery", and jokingly intended to "discover how far we can hang in there". As it turned out, we hanged on quite well--at least we two retirees managed to accomplish what we set out to do and returned in good health and good spirit. And, indeed, we were rewarded with many wonderful discoveries on all fronts.
