All Photos Eva Holland
Eva Holland crunches the numbers on a cross-Canada drive from Eastern Ontario to the capital city of the Yukon Territory.
Starting Point: Ottawa, Ontario
Finish Line: Whitehorse, Yukon
Days on the road: 12
Days spent actually driving: 9.5
Kilometers driven: 7866
Time zones visited: 4
Provinces and territories passed through: 6
Dollars spent on gas: $960.98
Highest gas price paid: $1.19 per litre
Lowest gas price paid: $0.84 per litre
Cups of coffee/tea consumed: 24
PB & J sandwiches made and eaten roadside: 4
Power Bars choked down while driving in lieu of a lunch stop: 3
Fast food meals eaten (including Veggie Delite subs and Tim Horton’s bagels): 6
Fast food meals eaten (not including Veggie Delite subs and Tim Horton’s bagels): 1
Cups of Mr. Noodles prepared in gas station microwaves and consumed while idling in the station parking lot: 1
Strangers at gas stations who spotted my Ontario plates and told me I was “a long way from home”: 3
Days in which that sort of exchange was my most substantial conversation with another human being: 4
Gas station restrooms visited: 17
Gas station restrooms with sketchy malfunctioning locks that resulted in a trucker walking in on me: 1
Establishments dubiously named “The Beaver Motel” spotted en route: 2
Motel rooms rented (not at The Beaver Motel): 4
Dorm beds crashed in: 2
Friends and relations imposed on for couches, hide-a-beds and spare rooms en route: 3
Outrageously marked-up pay-per-view movies purchased in motel rooms: 1
Number of minutes spent waiting in line to see “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in a mining town in northern British Columbia: 30
Number of times I was served by an Australian on a WHV at a coffee shop/restaurant/hostel in the Rockies: 5
Wildlife spotted roadside: 1 buck deer, 10+ elk, 4 coyotes, 2 bighorn sheep, 1 grizzly bear, 1 bald eagle, 5 moose, 1 fox, 60+ bison
Giant roadside “world’s largest” sculptures visited: 3
Number of times I topped up my wiper fluid: 4
Number of times I cleaned caked-on mud off my headlight covers: 3
Number of times I forgot to clean my headlight covers and drove blind through the darkness for an hour, following the tail lights of the car ahead of me and hoping for the best: 1
Days I spent dreaming about my next trans-Canada trip: Days 1 through 9
Days I spent vowing never to do another trans-Canada trip, and questioning why I ever wanted to do the first one: Days 10, 11
Days I spent dreaming about my next trans-Canada trip all over again: Day 12
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
Who doesn’t like a good road trip? If the open road is calling you check out 6 Rules of the American Roadtrip & The Great Matador Roadtrip: Vancouver to San Francisco
About the Author
More By This Author
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18 Comments... join the discussion!
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Come on up!
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This is a trip that I’ve always wanted to take. I’ve had friends who drove the trip in an RV that they delivered for a company. Sounds interesting. Now I’ll have your numbers to consult for the long drive across Canada.
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Definitely recommended, Donna! Let me know if you ever decide to go for it.
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These are freaking awesome, especially The Beaver Motel.
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Ha, indeed.
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Loved following your journey via Twitter/blogs, Eva, and this just caps it off. So psyched for you.
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Thanks, Hal! I’m psyched too. Keep me posted as you guys start the homecoming process.
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Departures did the exact same thing, except they went all the way to Nunavut.
PS: If you didn’t know Departures is an incredible Canadian travel show.↵ -
Sounds sweet – though they must have flown in. No roads into Nunavut that I know of.
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Yeah they did.
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Awesome. See you up in the Great White North one of these days?
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I sure hope so! You still aiming to be around Van in February? I land on the 20th.
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Yep, we’ll be landing on the 17th. See u there! We’ll go watch a team Canada hockey game in a pub somewhere
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Nice!! It’s a plan.
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My brother road his bike across Canada (coast to coast). Took longer than your drive (just a bit), but he enjoyed it. I can’t imagine biking or driving. I just can’t do anything that long — I get antsy after 3 hour drives!
Love your post though! It captures the trip rather nicely and we can all relate.
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Haha cool stats. I especially like the one about New Moon! =)
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Me and 12 friends had a hitchhiking race from Halifax to Vancouver 4 years ago with HI letting us stay at the hostels for free… took us a week. A great way to travel
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