16 US States and 4 Canadian Provinces. (Banff NP and Jasper NP), July 2022

[eg23]

Good luck on your adventure !
if you run into troubles on your way to the Souris swinging bridge let me know.
I am in Brandon and will do what I can to help.
Good luck and enjoy the adventure!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Re Winnipeg - you'll prob end up parking at 'the forks' and wandering around but ...there's an excellent natural history museum in town and/or you can visit the MB Legislative Building.

On your route I'll mention: Brooks Aquaeduct, Chasm PP, the big motorcycle in Clinton, skywalk whistler, sea to sky gondola and/or Shannon Falls.

Btw, Hat Creek closes (or used to) at 5:00 or 5:30 because no staff would stay later (haunted).

Banff and Jasper will likely be very busy. I don't know if you have reservations but some stops can be hard to fine parking. Likewise Whistler to Vancouver - likely a circus. Plus the border wait. That ones gonna be a long day.

Thanks for the tip about the Natural Museum in Winnipeg and other attractions along my route I may checkout the museum. But yes, I always end up at the Forks because that is where I have eaten the best Fish 'N Chips! So, any trip to Winnipeg is never complete until I drive to The Forks to eat Fish N Chips.

Interesting info about Hat Creek. I plan to stop there and it will be way before 5pm, since my destination for that day is still 3 hours away from there and I plan to get to my destination before 8pm.

Being that Summer is peak season to visit the national parks in Canada, I know Banff and Jasper would be very full of tourists, but we are prepared for the long waits.

Now a few questions, if I may ... how do you cover so much ground? Is it having a hotel booked ahead so that you can end your day late and start your day early ?

I like to be very structured and extremely detailed in many things I plan for and do, so all our hotel reservations have been done and some already paid for. It is very interesting to mention that we have 3 nights in a mixed dorm Hostel in Banff and 2 nights in mixed dorm hostel in Jasper. That would be interesting since I have never ever slept in a hostel nor a mixed dorm hostel, for that matter. I will see if some interesting stories will come out of this experience.

Most of my long road trips are over 20 days long. This one is 26 days long of which we have to stay 25 nights in many different hotels and in many cities. So, I have a folder with every single hotel booked. Date, name of hotel, address, phone number, confirmation number, cost of hotel, how many nights and if paid in full yet or not. I need all these details in a folder for easy assess and to be able know our destination every day and what address to put in my GPS. In the same folder, I have every day of the road trip listed with very detailed activities and what route even to take depending on some side attraction I discovered during my search.

I like having this information and I make this for every single road trip I make. It is something I enjoy doing and it is not set in stone, but I know I have a reference book in case I don't know what to do on that day.

And about the hyper milling, I think I understand the concept but how do you make it work in practice ?

For eg the Red Coat Trail you mentioned is 2 lanes with a narrow shoulder, straight but sometimes bumpy. Much of the BC route is 2 lanes and winding with periodic passing lanes. When a road is busy, when there's a transport truck trying for momentum before a hill climb, when someone wants to pass, how do you keep an even speed ?

Not being critical, sincerely curious.

Talking about hypermiling, my 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid's EPA is rated for 48mpg city and 47mpg highway. When I personally hypermile, it is for city driving. Though my Accord is rated for 48mpg in city driving, when I hypermile, I get over 55mpg to 66mpg. My best hypermiling number is 66mpg and getting 810 miles out of my small tank size of 12.8 gallons. It is very common for me to get above 60mpg when I hypermile in the city. Let me show you some of my pictures of the kind of mpg I get out of a full tank of gas when I hypermile. I hypermile mainly in city driving where to be honest, I am often slightly slower than the average driver. But in the national parks, that is the speed that is required. Slow and steady. So, I should be good in Banff and Jasper or around town in Calgary or any other city for that matter.

When it comes to highway driving where we sustain speeds of and above 60mph (or 100kmph Canadian), it is hard to hypermile and get excellent mpg numbers since the car does not get into EV mode often. So, the best I can get is about 35mpg, which is still better than any other cars I have ever owned before. So, while I can hypermile on those 2 lane roads, I will not hold traffic. So, I will maintain traffic speed and or allow a car behind me to pass me up. But when I have 7 hours drive or more ahead of me, I have to go faster than the speed limit or it will take me too long to get to my final destination.

And my most current mpg has been 56mpg and 59mpg. So, great gas mileage when I hypermile.

 

[billiebob]

June 10th, the ice is gone from Lake Louise.


And the road opened into Morraine Lake, Valley of Ten Peaks and the $20 view.

 

[billiebob]

Thanks for the tip about the Natural Museum in Winnipeg and other attractions along my route I may checkout the museum. But yes, I always end up at the Forks because that is where I have eaten the best Fish 'N Chips! So, any trip to Winnipeg is never complete until I drive to The Forks to eat Fish N Chips.

Interesting info about Hat Creek. I plan to stop there and it will be way before 5pm, since my destination for that day is still 3 hours away from there and I plan to get to my destination before 8pm.

Being that Summer is peak season to visit the national parks in Canada, I know Banff and Jasper would be very full of tourists, but we are prepared for the long waits.



I like to be very structured and extremely detailed in many things I plan for and do, so all our hotel reservations have been done and some already paid for. It is very interesting to mention that we have 3 nights in a mixed dorm Hostel in Banff and 2 nights in mixed dorm hostel in Jasper. That would be interesting since I have never ever slept in a hostel nor a mixed dorm hostel, for that matter. I will see if some interesting stories will come out of this experience.

Most of my long road trips are over 20 days long. This one is 26 days long of which we have to stay 25 nights in many different hotels and in many cities. So, I have a folder with every single hotel booked. Date, name of hotel, address, phone number, confirmation number, cost of hotel, how many nights and if paid in full yet or not. I need all these details in a folder for easy assess and to be able know our destination every day and what address to put in my GPS. In the same folder, I have every day of the road trip listed with very detailed activities and what route even to take depending on some side attraction I discovered during my search.

I like having this information and I make this for every single road trip I make. It is something I enjoy doing and it is not set in stone, but I know I have a reference book in case I don't know what to do on that day.



Talking about hypermiling, my 2020 Honda Accord Hybrid's EPA is rated for 48mpg city and 47mpg highway. When I personally hypermile, it is for city driving. Though my Accord is rated for 48mpg in city driving, when I hypermile, I get over 55mpg to 66mpg. My best hypermiling number is 66mpg and getting 810 miles out of my small tank size of 12.8 gallons. It is very common for me to get above 60mpg when I hypermile in the city. Let me show you some of my pictures of the kind of mpg I get out of a full tank of gas when I hypermile. I hypermile mainly in city driving where to be honest, I am often slightly slower than the average driver. But in the national parks, that is the speed that is required. Slow and steady. So, I should be good in Banff and Jasper or around town in Calgary or any other city for that matter.

When it comes to highway driving where we sustain speeds of and above 60mph (or 100kmph Canadian), it is hard to hypermile and get excellent mpg numbers since the car does not get into EV mode often. So, the best I can get is about 35mpg, which is still better than any other cars I have ever owned before. So, while I can hypermile on those 2 lane roads, I will not hold traffic. So, I will maintain traffic speed and or allow a car behind me to pass me up. But when I have 7 hours drive or more ahead of me, I have to go faster than the speed limit or it will take me too long to get to my final destination.

And my most current mpg has been 56mpg and 59mpg. So, great gas mileage when I hypermile.

Many thanks for the notes on hyper miling and the Accord Hybrid. My TJR rarely gets over 20mpg highway and never over 20mpg on town. I'm looking at something 2WD which will half my gas bill. I'll have to look closer at the hybrids.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Canadians or Americans who know how to convert Canadian gas prices to US gas prices, can you help me out here. Is there a formula to use to always easily calculate and convert Canadiian gas prices to US gas prices of how much a gallon is in the US?

Say from the picture above. A Shell gas station in Banff is selling gas in Canada for $193.9 per litre Canadian dollars. What is the US equivalent of this cost?

Can I get a formula to easily calculate that to give me the price in US dollars per gallon?

All I know is that Canadian price of $193.9 per litre is about $7 US dollars per gallon. Now, that is making me scratch my head about the cost of gas for this trip which will be about 7,000 to 8,000 miles long. Gas prices in Canada is no joke.

 

[NOPEC]

Canadians or Americans who know how to convert Canadian gas prices to US gas prices, can you help me out here. Is there a formula to use to always easily calculate and convert Canadiian gas prices to US gas prices of how much a gallon is in the US?

Say from the picture above. A Shell gas station in Banff is selling gas in Canada for $193.9 per litre Canadian dollars. What is the US equivalent of this cost?

Can I get a formula to easily calculate that to give me the price in US dollars per gallon?

All I know is that Canadian price of $193.9 per litre is about $7 US dollars per gallon. Now, that is making me scratch my head about the cost of gas for this trip which will be about 7,000 to 8,000 miles long. Gas prices in Canada is no joke.

1 US gallon equals 3.78 liters. Today, $1 USD gets you $1.28 CD. So, if you round off L/USG to 3.75 and the exchange rate to ball park 25% more for your dollar over ours, basic high school math (the only kind I know..) should take care of it and get you pretty close.

For a long time, gas in Canada has been way more expensive than in the US. We just hold our noses and don't look too hard at the numbers on the pump whirring by. Your quoted Banff prices are a bargain compared to other places in the west, we are $2.12/liter here in my neck of BC this morning.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Many thanks for the notes on hyper miling and the Accord Hybrid. My TJR rarely gets over 20mpg highway and never over 20mpg on town. I'm looking at something 2WD which will half my gas bill. I'll have to look closer at the hybrids.

I think the best sedan hybrids now in the market is either the Toyota Camry base model or the Honda Accord base model. Mine is a 2020 Honda Accord base. Buying any of the 2 would be awesome. I bought my 2020 Accord brand new for $25,300 out the door. After putting 50,000 miles on it so far, I got 2 solid dealership offers to sell my car to them for $25,000. I was going to sell it but changed my mind when I saw that I had to add $8,000 to the $25,000 to buy a brand new 2022 Honda Accord base model.

On the highway, doing 70-75mph, the Camry Hybrid gives you better mileage than the Accord Hybrid. But when it comes to city driving and add hypermiling to it, both Accord and Camry gives you about same mpg.

On my current tank of gas, I am getting 59mpg after 310 miles so far. This is 50% city driving and 50% highway. I am not at half a tank yet on my 12.8 gallons tank. So, on my road trip, driving on the highway between cities, I will not get the best mileage, though I will still get 30-35mpg. But when I get to any city I will be staying at, you better believe me when I say I will make sure I am hyperming and getting way over 55mpg driving in the city all the time.

 

[billiebob]

though I will still get 30-35mpg. But when I get to any city I will be staying at, you better believe me when I say I will make sure I am hyperming and getting way over 55mpg

In Canada don't forget our gallon is bigger..... so using Canadian numbers 55mpg in the USA is actually 66mpg in Imperial gallons.
Keep that in mind when talking to us Canucks about gas mileage. When I say 20mpg that is actually 16.65mpUSg. Same everywhere else in the world

 

[billiebob]

Amazingly the Toyota Prius turns 25 this year..... Like any Toyota or Timex it just keep on ticking. 25 years with little controversy and no bad press.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Getting my car ready for my 8,000 miles road trip that starts in 11 days. I topped off all fuids today. Next week I will balance and rotate my tiresand then go for an alignment. And set my psi to 45psi.

I have put 5,000 miles on my current oil and was debating if I should change the oil before my 8,000 miles road trip or not. I even made a post about it on bobistheoilguy.com.

Change my oil Before or After road trip?

But I changed my mind today and decided I will use this same oil and drive for 8,000 miles more and change the oil when I come back from my road trip when the oil would have been in use for about 13,000 miles and 4 months. It would be way past the oil monitor life of zero.

I will change the oil when I get back home. I will also change my transmission fluid, even though it is not time yet to change it again.

My car takes 0W20. But I have been using 0W16 and today, I topped it off with 10W30 since I was almost half a quart low. I topped it off and will take the remaining 1/2 quart bottle with me on this trip to top off if needed.

When I get back home, I will use these 4 quarts below to change my oil. I have no problem mixing oil weights. My car calls for 0W20, but it will be fine mixing this combo of 2 quarts of 0W16, 1 quart of 0W20 high mileage and 1 quart of 10W30

Free Lifetime Alignment done at Firestone. PSi set to 45psi. Car is now ready for a long 26 days 8,000 miles long road trip starting in 10 days.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Mileage at take off for my 24 hours drive to Fargo, ND. I started my journey at 8:30pm.

3am gas in Edmond, OK.

Beautiful sunrise in Kansas.

 

[ITTOG]

Mileage at take off for my 24 hours drive to Fargo, ND. I started my journey at 8:30pm.

3am gas in Edmond, OK.

Beautiful sunrise in Kansas.

Probably the biggest hill you will see in Kansas along I35.

Have a safe trip!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Some random pictures I took.

Emerson port of entry

A quick stop to take this beautiful pic

Then off to the Forks to eat the best Fish and Chips I have ever had. I always go here every time I visit Winnipeg.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Long drive today on the Red Coat Trail with some stops for attractions.

First stop was Canada's longest suspension pedestrian bridge in Souris

I used my drone to take pictures.

We met a very friendly couple who live in this beautiful quiet neighborhood. They told us a lot about their miniature horses that they do shows with. It was interesting to learn some new stuff.

Beautiful museum next to the bridge

Next road sign attraction was in Redvers, SK.

I stopped and spent about 15 minutes taking pictures here and looking around. Then got back on the highway and 15 minutes down the road I met the fatal crash that had just happened like less then 30 minutes before we got there. No telling if we were saved by stopping to take a few pictures here.

Finally made it to Moose Jaw and stopped to take a picture of the workd's tallest Moose.

Since this was close to our hotel, I decided to stop by again for some night shots.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

6/30/2022. 30 minutes drive from Regina, Saskatchewan.

Fatal Accident on SK-33 West in Saskatchewan. Dead bodies burning in fire.

Fatal accident today on the road. Driving on SK-33 West in Saskatchewan we suddenly saw a lot of smoke ahead of us and were wondering what was burning. We came up to a long line of parked cars. I got out to inquire and found out it was a fatal accident that just happened about 30 minutes before we got there.

Head on collision between a car and a semi truck. Dead bodies burning in both vehicles, they told us.

Because of the accident, no through traffic would be allowed until the accudent scene has been cleared of all dead bodies and an investigation into the accident done. They directed us to a detour and all cars started making a uturn.

God bless the souls who lost their lives in the accident. Be safe out there driving during this holiday season.

Detour road to bypass the fatal accident

View of scene of accident from detour road