Alright, so it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything (more on that later)…

Last week, the 8th according to the time-stamp of the photos, Harrrison, Alex and I went riding up on Diamond Head. It was a classic Squamish riding day, starting to rain just as we left the driveway. (more…)

A lot of people have emailed me to ask what Ernie has been up to. No, Ernie didn’t go to Peru with us. I thought about it, but with all the camera gear that I was carrying (plus all the bike stuff) Ernie decided that he’d rather not travel like he did to England, and thus stayed home. Photo Ernie came with us to California…but we didn’t get any photos, he was behind his camera the whole time.

Big Ernie has spent much of the winter on the ski slopes. Shortly after arriving Warwick’s Mum came and picked Ernie up and took him to get his ski pass. It has his photo (smiling of course) and his name…which he didn’t quite spell correctly when he filled out his form. Warwick’s mum tried to help, but the Austrialian girl working the season’s pass counter didn’t know who Ernie was…so “Big Earnie” is permanently printed on the ski pass.

Saturday we went up to Warwick’s Mum’s place for Easter dinner. Ernie was dying to see his friend’s Sue, Charlie and Snowdon (the dog)…so he thought he’d come along.
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So when we last left our dynamic duo we were travelling across the yellowhead highway just outside of Edson. Now, as the four silver macs (yes, four of them now!) burn away in the living room I’m trying to figure out how to address the last day of our drive.

The trip from Edson to Jasper was fairly uneventful…but once we got into Jasper things picked up a little. Chad and Matti had warned us that the speed traps in Jasper are pretty strict, and often. We took it easy through Jasper and its a good thing we did. The cops were out in mad force, lots of people pulled over. But it wasn’t the cops that were the problem. The animals were out in full force, many of whom where quite curious to know what those big metal things on the four tires were. Nothing like slowing down to 20 in order to play “you go left…no I’ll go left…no you go left…no I’ll go…” with the local wildlife. Driving through Jasper I was struck with a thought…why is it, that we have so many incredible National Parks, and I can no longer remember how many there are? Or, worse so…why is it that I’ve been to so few? It’s true, if I do a National Park I want to get the ‘real’ experience…in a tent. But with the amount of RV and cabin facilities there are in most national parks…almost everyone should get to experience them. So, here’s the list…where are you going to go this year?

Soon we were out of Jasper National Park and into British Columbia. We had made it. We were actually here. I thought the smile on my face was big before, but here it was again, trying to trade places with my ear-lobes. We stopped at Mount Robson (photos at the bottom), which is British Columbia’s tallest mountain, and the tallest point of the Canadian Rockies. It was here that we had a bit of fun in the icy parking lot. All of which can’t be proven, unless the US had some camera recording at that point.

Once we got Ernie back in the car, we were heading a little bit south towards Blue River. I thought we were stopping in Blue River to have lunch with Warwick’s friend Laura. Quite frankly, I was looking forward to the stop to get out of that rally seat…but it was not to be. As we drove through blue river I radioed Warwick to ask what was going on. “Aren’t we stopping?” “nope…gonna keep on truckin’.” Hmmmm…

Off we were to Vavenby, where things started to get interesting again. At first I thought we were seeing a little smoke in the trees. Then things started to look like a lot of smoke coming out of the forests. But there was no smell of smoke…and that’s when it both hit us, and enveloped us. This was saskatchewan all over again…it was fog, thick fog. This time we could see a little more then the 50 feet in front of us, but neither of us was looking forward to the prospect. It was a tense drive from Vavenby, through clearwater and down to highway 24 where the fog cleared just before. We stopped at a small gas station for a quick snack and to wire up the Hella 500’s on teh black stallion. I had to cut the wiring at Chad’s while fixing the rad. After we were wired up, Warwick turned to me and said we were turning off the highway.

The entire trip up until this point I had been dreading going through Kamloops. There isn’t anything particularly wrong with Kamloops…Aaron and I just didn’t exactly have a fun time the last time I drove through (cue discussions about four police cars and the words “put your hands out the window!”). Warwick’s new plans called for skipping Kamloops entirely. But even better, it was all about the twisty roads.

A lot of the next few hours is lost to me. Warwick and I were ripping up the twisties through who-knows-where BC. I lost track of what direction we were traveling in. We were just cruising the twisties having a great time. Roads were wet, heavily sanded and for a few kilometers snowy as well. We were just having fun cruisin around, enjoying the trip. But the fun was really just beginning…

The final leg of the trip called for heading down Duffy Road into Pemberton. Duffy road is an amazingly twisty and super steep road that drops down into Pemberton. The choice to do this route was a bit of a gamble…we knew Duffy was snowy, which could make the drive pretty tough. Try doing it all-season season tires and you’re being stupid. The first clue is the sign that says “tire chains or good winter tires with good tread required beyond this point”. Hmmm…Ah well, we’ve got CAA for towing and we need more adventure!

It was wicked. The trip up was a rip of slightly sidways driving, enjoying each corner in the dark as though it were a very real version of Colin McCrae rally III. At some point Warwick pulled over and said “we’re heading down soon”…and that’s where I started taking it easy. For the most part the road was no problem what-so-ever, both warwick and I were having a tonne of fun. We stopped at a wide section, for a quick “wow that was a blast!” chat between cars. That’s when things got a little ugly.

As we were getting lower the weather was changing, and so was the road. The road was getting wetter, and it was within the first few corners I discovered just how fun those all-season tires were going to be. As the car started sliding right…the road was turning left. The rest of the downhill was a slow crawl into pemberton. For the last stretch of road home we experienced pouring rain, snow, big wet-fluffy-snow and more rain. It didn’t matter…we had so much fun anyways. I wish I could have videoed the whole thing…it was just that good.

My decision to move finally hit home ‘for real’ on this final drive. It hit home while I was driving the Duffy. We had done the drive in the summer before, but now I was doing it in my own car…I was driving the final road to Squamish…my new home…in MY car. I was driving my freaking rally car in BRITISH COLUMBIA!! This was no rental. This is no vacation. I’m here, I’m actually here.

On the drive between Whistler and Squamish I started to worry a little about the fact that I didn’ t have a job lined up. I started thinking about the fact that I hadn’t totally nailed down my housing situation. I started thinking about the family, and that I really wasn’t going to be seeing them too soon at all. Then I’d need to shift or do something else that would bring my mind back to the car and I realize where I was, what I was driving, and I’d start laughing all over again.

The photos:

Ernie parking the car at Mount Robson

The “we made it to BC shot”.

Ernie and I hanging out just before Warwick started drifting circles around us…

-Dave

At Mt Robson. Ernie had to pee, so we took the time to take a few photos and have a break.

We may or may not have enjoyed the Audi’s on the ice parking lot. We might be accused…but we aren’t admitting anything.

Warwick is sold on the black stallion, and asked me to find him one. After watching warwick allegedly doing the most perfect drift session around me and out of the parking lot…I have to agree, he needs one of these cars!

1:35pm, no cell coverage.

-D

With the Tim Hortons girls this morning. While my bagel was being made they were all coming to the window to check out my passenger.

Something tells me I’m going to be the butt of a lot of jokes in Kenora!

Warwick and I are currently enjoying the high-speed internet at the comfort inn located in…ready for it? Beautiful Kenora Ontario! That’s right…we’re still in ONTARIO!! Oie.

Well…today started in Sault St Marie, a little later then we originally planned. I think we left at nine, instead of the ‘planned’ six…but hey, you can make that time up on the road right? I’m pretty sure that the MTO decided that there was going to be a tonne of ice or something on the road. That’s the only thing that can explain the first hour we spent driving through massive amounts of sand and salt on clear roads. I’m scared to know what my paint looks like on either car…it’s going to be a nightmare.

As we make our way up the side of Lake Superior we began to understand why the MTO had gone nuts. Snow, snow and more snow. It was awesome. Slow, but awesome all the same. We’d climb up hills and the road would disappear beneath snow…come down into the valleys and the road would be clear. I did discover, however, that I’m driving on the tires of death. They are fine in a straight line, even under braking in a straight line. But as soon as they hit a curve, it’s BAD news. The front end just slides towards the outside of the curve. It made the snowy sections interesting…lose Warwick in the curves, catch up to him on the straights.

The black 90q is drinking oil bigtime. It’s losing about 1L every 450km, but I can’t find a leak. I pulled the plug on cylinder #1, no burning oil visible…but that doesn’t mean 2 through 5 aren’t! Switched the car over to dyno oil from synthetic which should help it out quite a bit.

We had a bit of a scare while entering Terrace Bay. The sun had just come out, and was pointing right in our eyes when we entered the town. All of a sudden I saw Warwick hard on the brakes…as my brain was going ‘whaaa…’ I saw the 60km/h sign. We were easily coming in at 100, more likely 110. And, you guessed it, there was the OPP suburban sitting on the side of the road. We got it down to 60km/h before we crossed the sign…but that didn’t cover the fact that we were doing over 90kph on the highway before the sign! The OPP did a U-turn, and came right up on my rear bumper. I thought for sure we were dead. He followed us halfway through the town and then turned off onto a side street.

Alright, I’m getting tired…so how about some photos from our adventure?

Here I am drilling holes in the bumper of the new Audi…so that Warwick will have some light on the highway. Hmmm…that’s a bit of stuff to ship eh?

Prepping the two Audi’s for the trip. The rallycar on the right…the “black stallion” on the left. The black stallion will be Warwicks ride for the trip. My back and I are going to try and survive a trip cross-country in the rally car.

The official parting shot…SD Ernie is coming along for the trip.

Here’s the first shot ‘on the road’. We’re just north of my house, but this type of road is pretty much exactly what we’ve seen the entire trip.

Ernie isn’t so impressed to find the mini-bar empty at the comfort inn…hmmmmmm…

So Warwick’s caption for this photo? “Chances are good this is how you a) met Dave b) remember Dave, or c) always see Dave. Under the hood of his car, fixing something or other.” Sigh. I’m actually tightening the alternator belt…it was squealing so bad I was sure we were going to lose it before we got to Thunder Bay. One of those ‘last minute’ things I didn’t get around to doing before we left.

You should also check out Warwick’s Blog I’m not sure what he’s writing about this trip…but I’m about to find out…

-Dave

We just left my house. Had an awesome talk with Dad today, mom wrote the best letter.

I let Ernie stay with mom, we’ve got SD ernie to take to BC with us.

Well…off we go! The adventure begins!

-Dave

Liz,

I screwed up and I’m sorry.

What can I do to make up for it?

-Feeling horrible

—–Original Message—–
From: Ernie H.
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:03:51
To: Dave H [dhord @ the-crackberry]
Subject: Ernie does England

Hiya Bert…

So, yeah, I got a little excited about my travels and got totally
wrapped up in the adventures that I forgot to send news home! Maybe it
was because I was finally free from all the paparazzi back there, I
just didn’t feel like taking many pics.

Anyways, Warwick and I have had an awesome trip, and he’s brought me
back to Whistler for some more R&R.

So, here’s what happened on our trip…

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