Canada’s pretty big – it’s amazing how big it is, especially after flying over it yesterday. It’s amazing to me that one can go on the Internet, and with a few button pushes later, get a set of tickets to get across the country in one day. Especially when it will take well over a week to return by car, whatever that will end up being.
The night before I left we had gotten a little bit of snow. Typical of early springs the past few years in Cape Breton, we had a nice 10 degree Celsius day Sunday, then the temperature dropped quickly below freezing and it started snowing. It left an icy mess the next morning.
Not entirely sad to leave the snow at home…
However, the flights were still on time. I made my way out to the airport for check in at 12 PM Atlantic time, and proceeded to wait the hour and a half for the flight to leave. The first leg of my trip was on a de Havilland Dash-8 100 series. They perform yeoman service in the Maritimes and elsewhere, running between the smaller airports in the region.It seemed to be well maintained, with the interior well kept and modernized.
Taxiing into Sydney
The flight into Halifax is only about an hour from start to finish. In a car, it’s about 4 hours and 15 minutes. There was a bit of turbulence coming in for the landing, and we made it with no real drama. I was in for a surprise when I looked at my tickets – they did not have the gate numbers printed on them. Looking at the flight status monitor in the terminal filled me in, and I made it to the gate and the hour layover for the flight to Ottawa.
Boarding the E190
For this flight, we travelled on an Embraer E190. It was larger than the Dash 8, but didn’t seem to be any larger for seating comfort. This flight took about an hour and forty minutes, and we landed without incident.
There was very little time to get to my next flight – Ottawa to Vancouver. The last part of the trip was on an Airbus 320, bigger again than the E190, but the aisles were quite narrow. I settled in and watched a few movies on the inflight entertainment system. The skies were hazy and clouded, and I couldn’t get a good view of much of anything.
Upon landing in Vancouver at 8 PM Pacific , I grabbed my bags and made for the hotel shuttle. I got settled in and managed a few hours sleep. It was about 12 hours of travelling time, plus an hour on each end for travel to and from airports. The total flight distance was 4817 KM.
Contrast this with the picture at home above
It’s nice to see spring under way. After a long winter, it’s just nice to see everything in bloom. We won’t see this for another month and a half back in Cape Breton. Now the task is to grab my father and father-in-law at the airport, and start looking for a car. Stay tuned…
Well done, the adventure begins. Best of luck to you guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vxDDcTc64c
If you need musical background to reading this, try “Canada’s Really Big” by the Arrogant Worms.
Right on, I’m looking forward to this whole series! Glad you made it there at least without incident.
If the A320’s aisle seems narrow, that may be the airline’s fault, as its fuselage is wider than its narrow-body Boeing competitors.
Air Canada doesn’t use Bombardier CRJs✈? Traitors!☺
Air Canada doesn’t use CRJ’s but their regional brand Jazz uses them a lot. Nice plane in the air but the overhead bins are tiny…
Are we still doing car suggestions? 1969 Beaumont in Gumby Green…
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/5525729513.html
Restored eh? Uh Huh.
I know, it’s kind of funny isn’t it?
That word has no meaning anymore… If I ever sell my VW I’m going with “substantially refurbished”
Not being that familiar with Canadian GM cars, that Pontiac Beaumont looks like a Cheviac Malimont.
I prefer the regional jets that were flown by Horizon (Alaska) without any overhead bins. Bags are gate checked for free and awaiting pickup as you exit the plane.
For whatever reason, I find the E170 and larger Embraers more comfortable than the smaller Airbus planes.
Boeing’s fuselage width dates back to the 1950’s and the coach seat is 17 inches wide. Airbus is 17.8 with an only slightly wider fuselage. More width = more drag so the variation is minimal for the same mission. Because of four across seating, an E-190 seat is a more comfortable 18.25 inches wide, with no dreaded middle seat.
While most flyers hate the MD-80/90/B-717 series, I prefer them because of wider 18 inch seats and fewer middle seats with the five-across configuration.
I can remember is this listing was referenced, but this looks like it could be tailor made for your trip:
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/ctd/5520665813.html
I am guessing that around 2.5k would take it home, that leaves a nice margin for preventative maint.
Or this: https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/cto/5525444487.html
https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/5492841926.html
A loaded Olds 88 Royale Brougham with a slick top, standard wheel covers and no AC. That may be one-of-a-kind!
The ad states it has AC, but a look at the dash confirms it doesn’t. I never understood why people would neglect to order it just because they live on the coast.
I always considered it a mandatory option simply for resale purposes. It makes the car marketable all over the country, not just western BC. Yes, in this case the owner kept it over 30 years, negating my argument, but what about trade every 3 years people?
Furthermore, the parents of a friend of mine bought a totally stripped ’79 Parisienne in Saskatoon before they retired to Victoria (he was a real cheapskate, dealer had to put a radio in it so it had one option, a power antenna!) and 5 years later couldn’t get a tinkers hoot for it it Victoria because of no AC.
I’d assume that cars sold in Canada have always come with heaters for obvious reasons. I don’t know when heaters became standard equipment on US-market cars, but I’m pretty sure they were optional as late as the early 1950s. I can’t imagine buying a car without a heater, even if I lived in Florida. So many possibilities—a move, a vacation trip, a cold snap. I’d rather be in extreme heat without a/c than in extreme cold without a heater. And what about defrosting the windshield?
I don’t know if this is true, but I once heard that in the 1950s a batch of British-built cars without heaters was sent to Kenya—after all, everyone knows that Africa is hot, right? No one told them that Nairobi is 5450 ft above sea level.
It was pretty common in Vancouver right through the Eighties to find cars without AC. It’s just not necessary here and most peoples cars spend their lives doing commuter duty.
Get a caddy, good luck .
https://plus.google.com/+ErjolaKekaj/posts/RX67xHijVbQ
Do check out the site castanet.net in the sunny and dry okanagan. Lots of interesting stuff in your target price range. Let me know if you need something checked out..
Good luck !
The car I ended up with was from Kelowna!
What did I miss ?
Before you head back east, take a side trip up Hwy. 99 a/k/a the Sea to Sky Hwy., to Whistler. Very scenic road that runs along Howe Sound. The road really calls for a sports car, not a lead sled, but so be it.
I also recommend the Tomahawk for both food and atmosphere, with First Nations decor:
http://tomahawkrestaurant.com/index.html
I had breakfast there some years ago, and i figured that since I was in Canada, when the menu said bacon, it meant back bacon. It did!
I Never travel that road unless it’s in a sports car .
Many years ago I travelled that road with a young lady in her 1979 Datsun 210. With an automatic. Not exactly the best car for the road, but very enjoyable.
I had heard it got some of the character improved out of it when the Winter Olympics came to town.