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Banff, Alberta to Cranbrook, British Columbia

Total Miles of Trip:

Stopped for the Day:

We had nearly 200 miles to go today, which is a long day in a Model T, so we started it off with the breakfast of champions: McDonald's. We left Canmore, Alberta by 8:00am in heavily overcast skies and bundled up against the cold wind. We stopped at the Banff exit for Ben to put on an additional sweatshirt when this young man pulled up next to us to ask the age of our car. When we told him 1926, he responded, "I own a '52 Bentley and your car kicks its a--!"

Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour

On The Road Again

Yellowstone then Home

After working on the project for about 30 minutes, I had the race out of the wheel and walked down the road about one mile to the entrance of the wood pulp mill. Within 10 minutes, along came a driver who stopped and asked if I was looking for a bearing. I thanked him. took the bearing and started hiking back up the highway to Skookumchuk.

It took me only a few minutes to get the new bearing installed into the wheel and get the wheel back on the car. I was tightening the lug nuts on the 21” wire wheel when a motorhome pulled up in front of the garage I was working in. The driver got out and asked, “ Are you the guy who is looking for a bearing?” I thanked him profusely and discussed Model Ts briefly with him before he set off on the rest of his journey.

So, within a few hours, I went from being totally stranded in Skookumchuk, BC, in a Model T by myself with my 9 year old daughter and no hope of getting out, to having repaired my Model T and having an extra bearing to boot. I was on my way to complete the rest of my first Texas to Alaska Model T Adventure.

Day 35 - Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Runs great...

....Drive it home.

Runs great...

....Drive it home.

Getting to Anchorage

We had to backtrack about 30 miles to get to the road to Cranbrook and we were glad to get off the "interstate" that ran between the Icefields and Banff. Our new road, Highway 93, ran through Kootenay National Park and we went through a mountain pass within the first 5 miles. The traffic was light and most other travelers were tourists like us so they were patient until we could find a shoulder to let them pass. The majority of the view was on Ben's side of the car so it was harder for me to take pictures but it was a lovely drive. We made good time because, for the most part after the first pass, the road was fairly level. Near the end of the Park, there was a place for the truckers to test their brakes, code for "get ready; it's going to be a bad one downhill." The first and second drops were 8% grades. The next two were only 6%. Then, just before entering the section of the park called Radium Hot Springs, we hit one marked 11%. It was like an E Ticket at Disneyland! We came down past the Hot Springs, cruised around rock walls only inches from the roadway, ran through a tunnel with pedestrians trying to scurry across in front of us, and slid through an opening that appeared barely wide enough for two cars to pass! And then we were down into the valley on the other side of the Rockies where we stopped to take off out coats and scarves and catch our breath.

But, of course, I am the passenger and you will have to ask Ben how HE felt about the ride.

The rest of the drive to Cranbrook was flat and uneventful. We noticed how many more billboards there are after spending our entire trip thus far in a national park of one sort or another. We passed Lake Columbia, the mouth of the mighty Columbia River that crosses the west on its way to the Pacific, (Sorry, no pictures. Ben's side of the car and we didn't realize what it was until we were past it.)

We arrived in Cranbrook at exactly 2:00. Tomorrow we cross the border back into the United States at Roosville, where we understand that a small group of Model T people will be there to greet us. Sunday, we join 175 other Model T's for the National Tour being held at Glacier National Park. Some friends from home are coming and they are bringing our golden retriever, Marian Rose. I'm a little concerned as to which of us is going to have to ride on the running board to make room for her.