Don’t do what I did. Driving up to 19 hours a day on is not a good way to get here! If only I made one extra stop, I think I would be a lot less exhausted by the time I started tackling the mountain pass of Coquihalla.
According to the EPA, the 2007 Accord 4dr/4cyl claims to achieve 31MPG highway, and 21MPG city. Almost all the driving performed above is highway. I guess I just proved that with regular full synthetic oil change, along with basic maintenance, even a 13 year old workhorse can easily outperform the EPA MPG rating! I visited the pump 8 times.
This entry will be my last entry for a while. I will be spending time with my Nephew for now. I will re-awaken this blog when I am ready to drive home again.
The stretch from Revelstoke to Vancouver was quite a nail biting experience. Everybody drives very fast, there is a lot of twists and turn on the mountain side, and there are only single lane roadways for many parts of it. I think having a car that was more suited for corner carving made the drive that much more enjoyable when I tacked it last year. Also, I was very well rested last year, where as this year, I have been driving non stop for 3 days straight! I was so stressed out, that I had to stop halfway through Coquihalla to stretch and relax for a bit. I was very much on edge throughout the whole time driving the final leg of this journey. I did not feel comfortable in having my Mother drive this stretch of the road trip, so I tackled it all myself. It was quite an aggravating 6 hours!
With that said, this trip was totally worth it the moment I was able to see my nephew for the very first time. He has quite the personality! I am totally looking forward to spending some time with him to get to know him better.
The car survived! There was relative little consequences overall. I will be taking it to my friends place in the next few days to perform oil change, and give it a quick once over to see if there have been any issues. At the same time, I will perform a final fuel fill up so I can calculate the total MPG consumption for this road trip.
My next post might be my final post for this road trip. I will most likely be flying back home, and leave the Accord for my Mother to use as a daily driver while she is taking care of my nephew. I hope my next road trip would be less hectic, and more casual. My first road trip in my BRZ were polar opposites compared to what I have accomplished this time. Hopefully I will have the oppurtunity to repeat that kind of roadtrip I had last year again some time in the future!
It is currently August 13, 2020, 11:24 PM local time in Revelstoke, BC. I am soooper tired. I have been driving 15+ hours for the past 3 days, so my apologies if I haven’t made an update yet!
A quick update on where I drove.
On day 1, I drove from Toronto, Ontario to Thunder Bay, Ontario. I started at 6:00AM, and didn’t make it to the Hotel at almost midnight!
On day 2, I drove from Thunder Bay to Regina, Saskatchewan. I started at about 6:00 AM, and didn’t make it to the Hotel at almost 10 PM local time. On the way, I also gained 2 hours from the timezone difference.
On day 3, I drove from Regina to Revelstoke, BC. I started around 7:00 AM, and didn’t make it to the Hotel at around 8:00 PM local time. This time, I gained about 1 hour from the timezone difference.
Unfortunately, this time we never had a chance to “explore” or “vacation” along the way. Our main objective was to make it to East Vancouver ASAP. Luckily, my Mom was able to help me drive a bit as I took short breaks to maximize the road time.
Tomorrow should be the final leg of this road trip destination. According to Google Maps, it should take approximately 6 hours to reach there from Revelstoke. I will post some more updates once I get a chance to unwind, unpack, and torment my new Nephew! I will also try to post some numbers of the MPG metrics of my Honda Accord, and compare it to how well it performs relative to my BRZ.
Until then, it is really late. I am really tired. Good night!
I’m preparing to do this again. Except this time, it is with a ’07 Honda Accord 2.4 slushbox with 220 000KM! I wish I was driving my BRZ instead.
I spent a lot of time prepping the car. Trans fluid, knock sensor, coolant, brake fluid, motor oil/filter, serpentine belt, new rubber, spark plugs, new LED headlights, etc etc. Driving a 13 year old car across the country is very different than driving a newer vintage car, even though I do try to work very hard to keep her in tiptop shape. I also subscribed to CAA for the first time, just in case.
Due to the pandemic, I won’t be able to stop and sight see as much this time. My goal is to just drive as much as I can to reach my destination, and self isolate for 14 days before I can finally see my nephew! I hope he doesn’t cry when I finally meet him for the first time in real life…
Hello and welcome back. I never had intentions to restart this blog so early, or in such circumstances. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, I am sure you are all aware of the recent development of the Covid-19 Virus. I don’t think anybody is immune to the consequences of the effects of this virus around us. I personally have been stuck at home for the past several weeks. As you probably have guessed, I had an amazing time last year with my road trip. I promised myself I would make this trip again as soon as weather permits, with the intention to finally meet my Nephew. Due to obvious reasons, things unfortunately might not be going as planned.
I placed my car under hibernation since November 07, of 2019. I had every intention to bring her back to life as soon as spring approaches, and begin my adventures all over again. The original date I planned was to wake up my car on April 17, 2020. Obviously this timeline is no longer feasible.
I have been in regular contact with my Nephew almost daily over video chat. Watching him grow and evolve has provided me great joy and happiness. Despite such advances in modern technology, there is no substitute for meeting someone you care about in real life. Observing the news every day tempers a significant portion of that delight. Just this morning, I have heard from a news conference that they are estimating this lock down can last beyond August!
I hope this situation tapers off soon. Placing life on hold because of this situation has taken a significant toll on our mental health and well being. I will continue to follow the best practices as asked of me by the medical experts, such as social distancing, and minimizing unnecessary travel. But I would be lying if I don’t admit that this whole scenario has been without a struggle on me mentally. I love to travel. Driving is a passion of mine, and being able to complete a cross country road trip last year was everything I dreamed of. I had every intention to perform the same task again this year.
I truly hope 2020 won’t turn out to be a write-off. It feels so unfair to have so much taken away, through no fault of anyone. Where do I go from here?
To those of you who know me, know that I am normally a very private guy. I am not one to usually make public posts, or share my personal thoughts in such a public setting. However, I felt making a blog like this would be the best medium to share pictures, and update my friends and families on how my road trip has progressed. Now that the trip has concluded, I see no need to continue to write in this blog post. I will keep it alive to share with my friends, however, it will be “tomb stoned” for the foreseeable future.
At this time, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the following friends and families members in no particular order.
My Mother – for putting up with sitting next to me for 50+ hours driving to Vancouver. I am grateful for having the privilege to share such an amazing experience with my Mom. I would’ve loved to drive more family members, however, there wasn’t enough room in my car! LOL
My Brother and Sister in Law – for hosting me and putting up with me for my duration, even at such a stressful time in your family.
My Nephew – for being my excuse to come visit you again! You have amazing timing! I can’t wait to meet you in real life.
Josh, John, and Olivia – thank you for such an amazing experience in assisting me in the purchase of my dream car. I can not imagine a more perfect vehicle for making this amazing dream road trip.
Bud, Bret, and Gabe – for introducing me to the amazing world of cars. You guys taught me that a car is more than just a tool to take you from point A to point B. You three are directly responsible for the fact that I will never drive an automatic vehicle ever again!
Ed Bolian – Chances are you will never see this. You taught me that memories created driving a vehicle is worth infinitely more than the resale value of the vehicle itself. Though I lack the deep pockets required to drive in such a reckless fashion as you did for the Canonball events, know that you are a big inspiration and directly responsible in encouraging me to enact in such a crazy goal!
You – for reading my tiny little blog. All both of you. I hope you enjoyed following my dream.
Back home, safe and sound. I spent several days cleaning her up!
So with that said, I must bid everyone goodbye. This concludes our broadcast day. beeeeeeeep
Here are the technical stats I have compiled for the road trip. I tried to keep as much significant digits as possible to minimize rounding errors.
Total Dates
2019-08-23 to 2019-10-01 (39 days)
KM Traveled
11 202
KM/L
12.49946998
MPG (Converted) (combined)
29.40062832
MPG (Converted) (highway)
30.59802
MPG (Converted) (City)
22.20564
Fuel Consumed (L)
896.201
Fuel Total Cost (Canadian Pesos)
$1,269.45
$/KM
$0.1133235136
According to Subaru, the BRZ has 29MPG Highway, and 21MPG City. I have visited the pump a total of 29 times! If you are interested in seeing the full spreadsheet of how I created these numbers, please let me know and I will post a PDF.
