US/Canada Travels for 2009

Lets do the numbers for the 2009 trip

Time frame: May 5 through October 4 2009

Mileage: 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers)

Vehicle:
Honda Element 2007 (described as the Toaster or commonly called, The Goatmobile)
Note: Vehicle will be left in Pennsylvania for my return trip next April 2010 for another adventure of sorts

Travel itinerary:
Honolulu – California – Nevada – Oregon - Washington- Vancouver Island - British Columbia – Alaska – Yukon - Northwest Territories- Alberta – Saskatchewan – Manitoba – Ontario –New York – Vermont – New Hampshire – Maine – New Brunswick – Quebec – Labrador – Newfoundland – Nova Scotia – Prince Edward Island – Massachusetts – Connecticut – Pennsylvania – Maryland – Virginia – North Carolina – West Virginia

Note: There were times where I had to cross back through various states as Peter Pan I am not.

Tires:
Michelin 215/70-16 purchased through Costco, Honolulu
Note: Costco provides free balancing and rotation of tires bought through them throughout the US/Canada. Fix all flats and if tire is road damaged, they will replace it with a new one with you paying only for the wear of the tire. In my case with the tire damaged in New Brunswick, Canada, it cost me $50.00 for a $200.00 new tire replacement.

Road Conditions:
The US was pretty much humbug, which means sealed roads overall. But the dirt and gravel roads were out there if you travel the small county roads.

Canada: The Yukon, Northwest Territories and Labrador had the most dirt /gravel roads traveled. Probably the worst patch was the dirt road from Churchill to Goosebay, Labrador for the potholes, just bloody terrible. One of the most enjoyable was the dirt road to the Arctic Circle, Yukon for the beauty of the landscape and remoteness.

Electronics:
GPS: Garmin ZUMU 550
Laptop: MacBook
Cell phone: Motorola with the Canada Plan (450 minutes monthly for $70.00)
EPIRB: Satilite emergency beacon
Inverter (12volts to 120 volts)

Equipment:
Air compressor for tire, 6-gallon water container, 2.5-gallon petrol can, shovel, axe, tow cable, battery jumper cables, fire extinguishers, 4 man tent, sleeping bag (20 degrees F), air mattress, mountain bicycle, bike rack, first aid kit, vehicle tool bag, Thule Cargo Carrier 8 cuft,

Photos
Facebook made the ease of sending out photo’s of the trip as I traveled. Before it was always when I would get back to Hawaii then do a series of Power Points. Which was time consuming and after the fact.

Cameras
Canon 20D SLR, Canon G9 Point and Shoot

Food:
You probably don’t want to hear this but…………. Energy Bars, hard-boiled eggs, juice, Hummus, bread and a proper cuppa when found. The only cooking I did was to boil eggs in my coffee pot. Multi vitamins, Motrin and meds for various ailments. Due to my well rounded diet, I found that my fingernails started to split, crack and just be a bloody pain. The cure for this was, believe me on this, women’s finger nail polish. Yep per, it solved a lot of grief.

Monies
In Canada it was all on a cash basis. Using a credit card drawn on an US bank subjected you to currency fluctuations plus the percentage that the credit card company would charge you for the conversion of one currency to another. In the US a different story altogether. The cost of petrol in Canada was double then what I had anticipated, this really cut into the cash flow. What I had planned originally was staying at various RV campsites, but looking at the cash flow for petrol had me sleeping along the roadside the bulk of the time. In Canada this was pretty much the norm for travelers, in the US more humbug.

Travel 2010:
Back to Newfoundland for a start, then west to where the road takes me. One thing for sure will be getting photos of Musk Ox and spending more time in Alaska during the fall. Another trip to the Arctic Circle and beyond from Fairbanks, Alaska this time.

Note: Visualize what a black truck looks like after sitting under a tree full of birds for 5 months……!!

Norm
The Greynomad