UHaul is going to love the miles you put on the truck if you take that route! :P

Yeah,

From all the info gathered so far, I think I'm gonna take the US route and visit Yellowstone along the way.

Thanks for all the helps guys! Will come back and post pics when I'm done with the roadtrip!

So, when exactly are you going? Revscene should put together a "care" package for you and the missus.

We can collect the stuff at the meet, if it's not too late. Just a thought.

We are heading on the trip on Aug 20 if nothing changes at last minute. We have to be there before Sep 1st. :)

So, won't make it to the meet. :(

So, are you originally from the Vancouver area?

Well, I came to Van after graduating from UVic, came across RS while looking for a set of rims while studying at UVic. Have been living in the lower mainland for the last couple of years on and off (I travel to China/HK/TW a lot for work) so... I'm not so sure if I qualify as originally from Van. :D

Just read the post on Ladybugs in this forum and it got me thinking...... the bugs were like ladybugs without the spots or any red. Sure enough, a web search resulted in a bug called diving beetles.

Insects of Alberta - Diving Beetles

Well, HeHe, good luck on your trip. Keep in touch. While I was on the trip, I stopped by all McDonald's and Starbucks along the way and Skyped the wife. Free WiFi, ftw!

In fact, while I was in Ottawa, I took in Mosaika. Awesome light show, btw. I watched the show with the wife via Skype - used my iPad2 with signal from the visitor centre across the street. The show is free of course, being outside and all. Definitely a must see.

Mosaika - Sound & Light Show on Parliament Hill, Ottawa

I guess the big day is tomorrow. Travel safe, my friend, and don't push it. Never drive tired.

Let us know how it goes and if possible, let us know whenever you can how things are going. From the hotel courtesy computer, for example.

Yeah, I'm still carrying all the muscle pain from moving everything onto the truck.

Will head out tomorrow after a lunch with a few friends and will make our first stop at Spokane. :)

One last question for those who have move from coast to coast, how do you transfer your discount level for car insurance? I'm now an ICBC roadstar but not sure how much I'll get once I get a car over there.

I'm not sure how it works in Ontario, but when I came back to BC, I just showed them my old policy showing the discount and they gave me the same discount.

Ontario is private insurance, so you'll just need your record from ICBC and show it to a company in Ontario, then hope for a good rate. The closest to "roadstar" in Ontario is having 6 "stars", ie 6 perfect years of driving. Everything else is negotiable with your insurance provider, ie no loss of stars for an at fault accident, ...

If your driving record is that clean in BC you'll hopefully be very surprised with how low your insurance will be in Ontario, I'm betting it'll be 30-50% lower.

Thx! I will get some quotes from agents before I buy a car then.

After 3 days of long ass drive, several redbulls, one blown tire and some cherry coke later, we are in Chicago.

We didn't go to Yellowstone at the end because we couldn't get the hotel we wanted for 2 days and the one available is too long of a drive.

Overall speaking, I think the US drive is worth the hassle. The officer at the border just asked us where we would be heading and for how many days and waved us through.

The convenience of all the service stations and gas price (I just filled up this morning for 3.549!!!) is nothing short of amazing. If I would to do it again, I wouldn't make any reservation on hotels though. I'll just drive until I think it's enough for the day and go into town to look for motels.

2 out of 3 days, I had to push it all the way until midnight (including time change) because of unseen incidents (blown tire, viewpoint delay...etc). And the funny thing is I was supposed to finish both day around 8:30 just right after dark.

We will spend another day here in Chicago and would be on our way to Niagara Falls after that.

Will post some pics after I finish with everything. Thanks for all the suggestions, the CAA worked out great (getting free parking while reserving a hotel for downtown Chicago!!! yay!) and all those little tips helped my trip tremendously!

Wow, we thought we would never hear from you again, LOL.

Chicago, huh. Lake Michigan is cool.

Navy Pier

Millennium Park | Explore Chicago

Hit any dear or other creatures along the way?

Didn't hit anything, but had seen loads of roadkills along the way. :D

Heading to Ottawa tomorrow. So, will post again once I get my internet running.

Awesome. Good to hear everything is going well. One more day. I guess you're not looking forward to unloading that rental.

Will stay tuned on this end.