North American Adventure

[1994delicaman]

WOW man looks like you got your work cut out

[thedjjack]

Let me know when you get to Vancouver maybe we could meet up

[VanVonVan]

Hello

If you want to meet up while in Manitoba( I assume you will be stopping in the wonderful metropolis of Winnipeg)
We should meet up.

Russell

[nxski]

Hello

If you want to meet up while in Manitoba( I assume you will be stopping in the wonderful metropolis of Winnipeg)
We should meet up.

Russell

Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know when I'm in the area.

[CREGAN]

I am also interested in meeting up when you are in Edmonton. I kind of want to see the super-moded beast in person Keep us all posted while you are on your voyage and we can work out meets along the way.

Craig

[nxski]

I am also interested in meeting up when you are in Edmonton. I kind of want to see the super-moded beast in person Keep us all posted while you are on your voyage and we can work out meets along the way.

Craig

Will do, I hope to see lots of the Delica community while traveling.

[R.Costa]

There is some pretty good wheelin' spots here in Oklahoma. If you like mud. It would be nice to see a fellow delica.ca member here.

[jessef]

Due to the length/summer heat down south I'd highly recommend to install an auxiliary trans cooler and gauge.

A few years ago when we took Granola down to Moab, it almost felt like the fluids were boiling. Had it not been for the aux cooler, I'm certain the transmission would have bit the dust.

You can call that an insurance policy

Envious of the length of time you've got. Going to be an experience for sure.

[nxski]

You don't happen to have an install thread do you? Or reccomendations for what to buy?

[delicioso!]

sweet trip plans! well, i'm in the greater toronto area and we have a little delica cult following in s. ontario, be sure to hit us up when you know the dates you'll be in southern ontario! we've done summer runs and maybe we can arrange something (with whoever's intersted) at around the same time.

i love southern and noerthern ontario, definitely a lot too see! plus 1 on lake superior prov. park and hwy 17 alongside it! (i'd consider that road in my top 5 faves along with sea to skye, blue ridge parkway/america's prettiest drive in virginia, columbia ice fields parkway, cabbot trail in cape breton, oh. and maybe the #2 through main/vermont).

i'd also suggest camping at kilarney provincial park and/or algonquin prov. park and doing some portaging if you have time, even just for 2 nights let say (there's an ancient oooold almost cool aid blue glacier lake in kilarney that's out of this world, called osa lake or ontario society of artists lake). you can rent canoes/gear there also. if you're in that area then you're headed south to the greater toronto area, then i suggest hitting manitoulin island (check out bridal veil falls, nice place for a dip and you can walk behind the falls) from espanola then taking the cheecheemaun ferry to tobermory ontario (dive capital of canada with crystal clear blue georgian bay waters....camping, cliff jumping, boating and hard core cave/wreck diving if you're in to that type of thing. tobermory is pretty little town with great fish n chips and little bars/shops for the ladies...there's also a cool art gallery there). oh yeah, speakin of fish n chips, there's a gem of a place in killarney for fresh fish n chips, cant miss it, red school bus. anyway, tobermory is about 3 hours from toronto.

not sure if you're planning anywhere close to niagara falls, but if you do, then a quick drive through niagara on the lake on the niagara parkway will be nice as well (once voted most prettiest town in teh world) and have some ice cream...take it a notch further and do a wine tour (just grab a map and go on your own and hit a dozen wineries w/in half a day easy and get your passengers tipsy/wasted, also the only place in teh world i reckon where true ice wine can be made, not as vast as the okanagan valley but special nonetheless). along the niagara parkway is the niagara botanical gardens with a really really cool butterfly conservatory which houses hundreds of butterflies and feels like you're in costa rica)....and the falls is always something else to see for the first time, kinda like the hoover dam, anyway, just little things.

there's also lots of wheelin spots in cottage country! minden ontario comes to mind when taking the delica for mild/moderate runs.

i rode my motorcycle to the east coast once and really loved up UP state newyork/south of montreal, vermont, and into maine....the obvious route is the #2 i believe (pretty drive), not sure how far east you'll head but you might as well hit the east coast if you're in maine, lol! take the ferry from st. stephen to digby after you cross back into canada, NB. there you have the south shore in novascotia, pei, and the cabbot trail! and august is the best time to be there to see some whales and gorge yourself with lobsters. there's a nice hostel in pleasant bay on the cabbot trail. anyway, bangor and bar harbour maine are the places to hit offcourse for your classic fishing town ala cape fear.

last thing, you've gotta hit the blue ridge parkway in virginia...no trucks allowed, perfectly paved roads that go on for 8 hours along a mountain ridge (mentioned earlier too i believe), just breathtaking scenery and your delica will love cruising at 80 on it. oh yeah, and savannah georgia i'd say would be one place to hit along that drive to florida (steeped in history and just a beautiful little old town, where forest gump was filmed...a walking tour or even a ghost tour would be fun, i think it's the most haunted city in america!).

a small sugestion for accomodations in the summer in case you haven't thought of it, most universities rent out their residence dorms for cheaper than your local motels, bed, shower, everything you need. anyway, have fun with teh plans, it's an awesome trip already! (jeeze, labrador and newfoundland isn't even on this list yet! lol. on my bucket list!)
cheers.

[nxski]

WOW, tons of great information to keep in mind! Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

As for accommodations, I'm hoping to sleep in the van most of the time. I have black out curtains all the way around and have practiced parking over night on the street many times in Vancouver and no one has ever given me trouble.

[delicioso!]

lol, i always get carried away, especially with this type of trip planning and it's january and i'm stuck indoors waiting for summer, lol. my bad, just noticed the order of your trip and that your coming up from the states... so from maine, it's quebec/montreal (i'm assuming you're gonna see old quebec city? gotta see street buskers in old montreal too! and the drummers on the mountain on sunday for all your hippie needs ;) byo bongos), then ottawa, then toronto...then you could hit the niagara region on your way to waterloo, then head straight north to tobermory....or you can hug along the 21 on lake huron (tonnes of nice towns and camping there, like the pinery in grand bend) then it'll lead to tobermory/camp there, ferry to manitoulin/or camp there, then maybe hit kilarney, actually, there's a tonne of good camping up there in all the prov parks...you'll pass through killbear prov. park for sure, awesome place for wind sports and just gorgeous scenery! i'd suggeset this route over the 401/400 up to barrie then sudbury, trust me, i've done it dozens times, shorter, much pretttier and more relaxed (also a loong uphill stretch on the 400 that'll tax your tranny/engine too, yeah get that aux cooler). then you'll be in cottage country, hit up bala (and catch a great band at the key to bala), bracebridge, gravenhurst, etc.. if you're runnin out of time then cross into the states in sault st. marie and get under manitoba...but you'll miss lake superior and hwy 17...

yeah, jealous of your free time too! feel free to give me a buzz if you need more tips or, knock on wood, you get into car trouble (i know a couple mechanics in our land cruiser club). and it'd be my pleasure to show stuff on a map over some drinks on a patio downtown somewhere. cheers.

[delicioso!]

WOW, tons of great information to keep in mind! Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

As for accommodations, I'm hoping to sleep in the van most of the time. I have black out curtains all the way around and have practiced parking over night on the street many times in Vancouver and no one has ever given me trouble.

and there's always walmart parking lots!

[nxski]

WOW, tons of great information to keep in mind! Thanks to everyone for their contributions!

As for accommodations, I'm hoping to sleep in the van most of the time. I have black out curtains all the way around and have practiced parking over night on the street many times in Vancouver and no one has ever given me trouble.

and there's always walmart parking lots!

That brings up a good point. is it still legal to camp in Wallmart parking lots?

[jessef]

yes but I have always found better options.