Now – a couple of notes on this road trip. We did about 4000 miles in 9 days. A couple of days were long ones – around 650 miles - but that was to get back from near the Canadian border to SoCal in 2 days. We broke the trip up in sections of time, driving 2-4 days, and then relaxing for a couple, before heading on (those days aren’t counted as driving days), so while it was longish drive, it wasn’t push, push, push for the entire time.
The car, a Toyota Sequoia SUV ran well. We averaged over 20 mpg on the entire trip. Admittedly, when we got back, I think you could have started a “bugs of the Pacific West Coast” collection from the front grille. There was enough room in the car for everything including camping equipment without any problems, including a full sized ice chest and a smaller one up near the driver. And with a rooftop cargo box to put the light and fluffy, but bulky items (sleeping bags, pads, and a duffel of clothes), the back wasn’t more than half to two-thirds packed. Nothing in the back blocking any of the view or visible out of the driver’s rear view mirror.
We found free high speed connections in pretty much all the hotels we stayed in, although one of them required you to call the desk for a free logon password. These were a combination of wireless and wired connections (bring a network cable!). Even where there was no cell coverage at the hotel, we were able to check email from the hotel room.
Weather varied from 27 F and blowing snow in Whistler, to about 102 F in the California Central Valley near Sacramento. Sprinkles of rain in a couple of places, with pouring rain in Seattle going north, and over night in Jasper. In mid-late June, there was still significant snow in the Cascades and Sierras, and some of the roads, trails and visitor amenities (campgrounds, tours, boat trips) were not yet open.
The busiest place we visited was undoubtedly Lake Louise – beautiful place, but wayyyyy too many people for my taste. Friendliest hotel was the small one in Cache Creek we stayed, where the owner knocked $20 off our expected rate because she thought corporate was charging too much. Best Scenery – Crater Lake on a day with bright blue skies. Rudest drivers – downtown Vancouver and Seattle. Heaviest traffic – congestion near Magic Mountain/ Valencia coming south into LA due to overturned truck on the I-5 Best wildlife along the road – Jasper National Park.
Regrets – more time to explore the Athabasca Glacier and Ice Fields Parkway, more time to visit wineries in Willamette Valley, to try to Safari Jet boat tour in BC, more time
