Calgary to Spokane

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So my Tom Tom GPS worked great for all of about 50 feet as we left the Palliser this morning, until we had a detour at our first corner! LOL Luckily I know the downtown area a little bit so got us out onto Memorial Drive and then onto Number 2 South. So all is fine again until the GPS has us turn onto a township road then wants us to go onto a little gravel side road for 35 km! I don't think so! We decided to ignore the unit and make our own way along Number 2 South until we hit the Crowsnest and turned West. The Tom Tom FINALLY stopped telling us to make a U-turn and figured out the correct way to go. So instead of the GPS telling us where to go, I told IT where to go, if you know what I mean! LOL

The day started out cool so we left the top up until lunch at the Husky in Cranbrook. On the way there, we made only one stop, at Sparwood, BC to see the world's largest truck. I just can't resist a touristy photo op like that! There's only one Titan 33-19 in the world, bought by Kaiser Resources for coal mining in the 1970's. Any time the truck broke down, they had to wait for parts to be made for this one of a kind truck. In 1990 the truck's turbo charger broke down and it was decided that the repair costs were too high so it was parked and remains in Sparwood as a tourist attraction.

It was a great drive from Cranbrook with the top down most of the way to Creston then across the border at the Eastport crossing. About an hour later we stopped to put the top back up just before the rain started but within an hour it was clearing again and we rolled into Spokane around 4:30pm. We stopped at the Comfort Inn & Suites Spokane Valley on I-90 and walked in the door with a coupon I printed off of hotelcoupons.com and got a great deal in a very nice hotel with a free upgrade and free breakfast. I brought along a stack of these coupons that I printed in Calgary the night before, for a several areas we will probably stop at along the way. There are some fantastic deals, BUT, they are only for walk-ins. As we didn't want to make any reservations in advance anyway, this will hopefully continue to work well for us.

After checking in, we walked over to a nearby Applebee's for supper then back here to do some writing and relax with my book to end a great day. Tomorrow we're off to Seattle.

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Photos

Road trip card
This anniversary card from Chris several years ago tells the story that is now coming true.

Worlds Largest Truck
The one of a kind Titan 33-19 in Sparwood, BC.

Miata on the road
Okay, actually a photo I shot of Chris driving in Saskatchewan, but a nice shot to illustrate this road trip I thought.