
To Try and Cross Canada
I recently had the pleasure of driving across Canada, well not all of Canada, but at least half, from the Rockies, through the Prairies, onto the Canadian shield and then finally descending into the so-called ‘Golden Horseshoe’ where a large percentage of Canadians make their homes.
While driving the vast distance a couple things came to my mind – both good and bad. First of all, while any person has an idea of how big the planet is most do not actually have a chance to run, hike, cycle or drive across more than a small fraction of it. Most fly and believe me that is in some aspects a very good thing. Without air travel the world would be much more insular and xenophobic. The very ability to get on a plane and then 12 hours later, feeling like you have just been hit by a truck, get off the plane and be on the other side of the planet has always held an almost magical significance for me.
However, with flying came the underestimation of distances. In some countries this is more pronounced, Canadians, Russians and Australians have a very good idea how vast their country is, even the Americans who are usually ignorant of such things know that it would take a long long time to load up the Winnebago, strap the kids in the back and then drive from Seattle to Florida. Those who inhabit the British Isles however, lack this knowledge like most Europeans – with their small distances and centrally located countries. They greatly underestimate distances, I had a British co-worker who was in Montreal on business for a couple of days tell me that he was driving past Thunder Bay to the ‘Lake of the Woods’ area for the weekend. To prove his point he held up a small map of Canada and said what will it take 5 or 6 hours? To which I replied, probably about 24 hours if you drive non-stop. He blanched as pretty much everything is 24 hours from London by air and you can drive from one tip of the UK to the other in roughly 12 hours.
I have had the pleasure to travel extensively throughout North America; however, this has mainly been by air. Oh sure the one driving vacation from Alberta to San Diego and back via Colorado was an eye-opener regarding distance, but it seems like you need a refresher every once and a while. And this enthusiasm for another driving vacation served me well on my drive from Edmonton to Toronto.
Wonderful scenery was had, leaving Edmonton we traveled through gently rolling wooded hills which morphed slowly into giant and seemingly everlasting fields of wheat as we traversed Saskatchewan. Entering Manitoba we were treated to the start of the ‘lake country’ where forests of coniferous and deciduous trees grow around many thousand small lakes. After that was the Canadian Shield, an area dreaded by trans-Canada travelers, but to my surprise I quite enjoyed it. The large hills, many lakes, rock outcroppings and cute touristy cottage towns were a nice change from the flatness of the Prairies. After all of the natural beauty was experienced, and numbness set in (rocks and trees are only SO interesting after all) the highlights of the long hours on the road were the small towns so prevalent on the Trans-Canada Highway. Tiny towns who all take it upon themselves to have small slogans such as “The nicest town beside a Dam in the World” or “Welcome to Dryden, Home of the Prongers” (Chris and Sean, two NHL hockey players) or “Everything you would ever need”. Outlandish to be sure but oh so interesting, I half wished we stopped and got a picture of some of the very cute (and sometimes hilarious) Welcome To: signs. But that would have added innumerable hours to an already exceedingly long trip.
One of the nicest feelings was that at any of these small towns (excluding a couple in Manitoba, where there is a large percentage of Francophones) you could pile out of the car, enter the nearest general store and have a conversation about how good Tim Hortons coffee is or any other banal Canadiana conversation. It boggles the mind to think that after 36 hours of driving we were really only half way across Canada.
It isn’t all sugar that’s for sure, while the Trans-Canada highway through Alberta (rich and prosperous), Saskatchewan (sparsely populated with fantastic roads) was in great condition and divided the entire way, as soon as you cross into Manitoba everything starts heading down hill. The road starts losing its divided nature, down to one lane each way, then as you enter Northern Ontario – it gets skinnier, you lose the hard shoulders and then finally out in the middle of no-where Ontario you actually have to drive about 20 KM on gravel roads – I kid you not. The Trans-Canada Highway, the only road linking this country has gravel sections – what is this 1954? Granted they were doing construction on that part of the road so the gravel was a temporary measure but, gravel – come ON.
I would recommend anyone from anywhere on the planet who ever has the chance to do the Trans-Canada journey by car or train (bus too if that’s your thing) you’ll be amazed at the geographical regions through which you pass, marvel at the natural beauty, laugh and smile at the small towns, chat with the gas jockeys who insist on filling up your car (no self serve in small town Canada that’s for sure) and thoroughly enjoy the experience. On my recent trip my wife and I were treated to deer, raccoons, porcupines, black bear cubs, bald eagles, hawks and as soon as you enter Ontario swarms of O.P.P. (Ontario Provincial Police) cars.

- To Try and Cross Canada
- by MaxPower
- Published on September 1st, 2003
More from MaxPower:
-
Xbox Live: Generation Next
The combination of playing on Xbox Live and obtaining stats via the internet and it is undoubtedly a great cross-functional media paradigm.
-
Product Labelling: An Exercise in Corporate Obfuscation
…the same people who drink Evian water because that’s good for you, and also enjoy the many health benefits of smoking…
-
In the Beginning…
And Jean said, “Let the government in Canada be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 Jean called the dry ground “Ottawa,” and the dismissed the rest he called “the West” And Jean saw that it was good..
-
Age of Empires III
The colonial setting and the ability to fight over North and South America makes for interesting situations, but the fact that they just kind of lumped Canada in with the greater U.S. areas like “The Rockies†kind of miffed me.
-
Governor General for What?
I can, and have, made a strong case in the past that the democratically elected government of Canada doesn’t speak for a majority of the population so how could an appointed ex-CBC journalist who has made a career of hobnobbing with the cultural literati speak for the average Canadian?
-
A Visit to a Nation’s Capital
What is really great is that you can even get a tour of the heart of a democracy. I can’t speak for all nations but I know that in England, the US and Germany you can not get full-fledged tours..
Other recent features:
-
Sónar 2010 – Barcelona, Spain
The festival attracts a lot of outsiders, but the Mediterranean, Spanish and more specifically Catalan nature of the people makes the festival what it is. Catalan people are passionate and this passion is infectious. The atmosphere is electric in Barcelona as a city and heightened by music and intoxicants at Sónar.
-
Summer Party Naval Styles at Seven RestoLounge
Oysters, like wine are affected by terroir and these Miyagi’s flavor profiles ranged with one showing a cleaner, almost tropical profile and the other being more salty, marine driven. As I was devouring the seemingly endless plates put in front of us, I sipped on a glass of fine sauvignon blanc.
-
R4NT Radio March 2010
R4NT Radio March 2010 um wow it’s been far too long since the last edition edition, featuring: Hector Hernandez, The Infesticons, Blockhead, Gramatik, Emika, Thunderheist, Parov Stelar, Eddy Meets Yannah, Anti-Pop Consortium, The Slew, Lighterthief, Andreya Triana, Parasyte Woman, Mathon, Venetian Snares, and Funki Porcini.
-
O Restaurant & Lounge revisited
Calgary has a diverse set of urban communities, most of which have the ubiquitous strip mall watering hole. In the South West community of Marda Loop, a reinvention of this paradigm has been established.
-
Predictions 2010.. and beyond!
So 2010 eh? Almost but not quite (no year zero they say) another decade? It seems like just yesterday that the world was waiting for Y2K. R4NT started publishing in March 2001, so we’re not quite 10 years old yet, but in internet years we are already a senior citizen.
-
Invictus
No matter what, the reality of Nelson Mandela is something that deserves screen time. Should this film even remotely intrigue the masses to take interest in this figure, the world would likely benefit greatly from it.