Road to Nowhere


Day 5 – Ice Ice Baby
I have clearly made a rookie error. Every time I wax lyrical about the views, they get eclipsed the next day. So it is again as we drive up the remarkably picturesque Icefields Parkway towards the Columbia Icefield. We are trying to take some photos en route, but not...

Day 4 – The Restaurant at the Top of the World
A day of settling into the digs and exploring the local area. Think we picked the right week to come here. Seems to be the first week of the summer season and not too many people about, which suits us just fine. Taking a look at the local Kicking Horse attractions...

Day 3 – Ridiculous, just ridiculous
So, time to leave Calgary and head for the hills. We perhaps haven't seen Calgary at its liveliest - it still being a month until the famous Stampede. Not that I have a particular hankering to see this event, but it would be fun to be here so that I could keep telling...

Day 2 – Dinosaurs, Hoodoos and Bandits in the Badlands
So. Having only just gotten to sleep (or so it seemed), I was rudely awakened by a blaring alert on my phone at 3am from the Canadian government (or at least the authorities in Alberta) were sending out an alert to everyone. I fully expected it to be a terrorist...

Day 1 – The Era of the Smart Journey Meets the Mind of the Dumb Traveller
Four hours. Four hours! That's how long it took to get from Nottingham to the airport parking at Heathrow. An unusual amount of congestion even for a Friday on the M1 as well as constantly changing speed directives from the "Smart" motorway. It may be my imagination...
Canada Beckons …
... and its time for the traditional road trip playlist. Slim pickings for songs about Canada, so have gone with the Canadian artist angle, which is much more fertile ground. (Note: Slim Pickens is not a Canadian artist but is - fun fact - the actor who rode the atom...

Day 18 – From Swamp to Swamp (to Swamp)
So, the final day and some 12 or so hours to kill before the late flight. Ethan has found some places to visit which may be of interest but may also conceivably just be box-ticking exercises aimed at getting another State in (Maryland). He was keen to go to Baltimore,...

Day 17 – The Lincoln Link
Last full day in DC today, although we have some time tomorrow before the evening flight and a car to get around (it was cheaper to hire a car for the day than to get a cab to the airport!). It turns out that there is a Smithsonian outpost at Dulles with some cool (I...

Day 16 – Washington Wash Out
Looks like Washington is getting some of the rain from the tail end of hurricane Harvey on it today. We seem to have been just ahead of the worst of this for the whole trip with Tennessee getting a considerable soaking after we left. Of course, being the...

Day 15 – Where now Captain Howdy?
We're casting our net a bit wider today. Heading out of the centre to the zoo and to explore the historic areas of Georgetown and Foggy Bottom. We're probably not going to spend much time in Foggy Bottom, but I just like typing it. Shady Grove is another...