JoshK Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 For next time I go to Canada that is...? Well, apparently the rumors of out-of-province (and probably out of country even more so) cars getting fucked with is true. We got broken into in Vancouver on the first night of our trip. What made it worse is the one thing the bastard stole was our MP3 player which was all of our road trip music. Major suck. The dudes at the speedy auto glass up on w. brodway were quite possibly the coolest folks ever tho. They did everything to make sure we were taken care of, the care was secure for the night and then fixed ASAP the next day. The said that with their backlog it would be 2pm but they would try thier hardest to have to done before noon. They called us at 10am and it was done. It's too bad one character can put a sour note on a trip but the rest of it was so awesome and everybody we met was so great it was easy to look past that. Anyway, I guess it's an excuse to do the MP3 player search all over again. Quote
snoboy Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 Well duh (sorry for apparent lack of sympathy, really I know that it sux to be burgled) but Vangroovy is a big city like anywhere else, stuff gets ripped. I really doubt the junkie (note broad sweeping generalization) who ripped you off gave a hoot where you were from. As has been said many times, one data point does not support a theory. Quote
cj001f Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 Snoboy- Are you daring to suggest that leaving high demand consumer electronics inside your vehicle in a big city is a bad idea? Quote
AlpineK Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 The real question is why do you need to go through Vancouver to get to the Canadian Rockies... Quote
JoshK Posted March 28, 2004 Author Posted March 28, 2004 It wasn't visible inside the vehicle. Snoboy, interesting, but every other person we spoke to seemed to believe that out of province plates is generally the deciding factor between the junkie picking your car or somebody elses. We went trhough vancouver since we were doing a loop trip to show my girlfriend lots of different parts of the province, etc. I would never ever ever go on TC1 to get to the rockies again. That thing is a sorry ass excuse for a highway, and it as about as direct as going to alaska through china. Quote
scott_harpell Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 Well in a province where 19% of kids have at least tried meth, I am sure your generalizations are well founded snoboy. It is a serious problem here. 72% of all thefts are meth related. Quote
jordop Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 It wasn't visible inside the vehicle. Snoboy, interesting, but every other person we spoke to seemed to believe that out of province plates is generally the deciding factor between the junkie picking your car or somebody elses. We went trhough vancouver since we were doing a loop trip to show my girlfriend lots of different parts of the province, etc. I would never ever ever go on TC1 to get to the rockies again. That thing is a sorry ass excuse for a highway, and it as about as direct as going to alaska through china. You would have had a much shorter drive if you had gone to Jasper via Barrier/Blue River. I am guessing you went to Banff via Revelstoke. It is exactly 7 hrs from my house to the parking lot at Mt Robson, but about 10 to Banff. Quote
salbrecher Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 Is the reverse true in the States? Do cars with canadian plates get broken into more often? I'll probably be road tripping in the U.S. for a few months this year, Yosemite, red rocks, J tree, Sierras? Quote
murraysovereign Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 It wasn't visible inside the vehicle. Snoboy, interesting, but every other person we spoke to seemed to believe that out of province plates is generally the deciding factor between the junkie picking your car or somebody elses. Simple enough explanation for that: if I had a minute or two in which to pick a car, break in, root through it, and get lost, I'd probably opt for an out-of-province plate over local plates because the tourist is more likely to have a bunch of stuff in the vehicle with them. So if I was b&e'ing cars in Alberta, I'd look for Ontario or BC or Washington plates. If I was operating in Washington, I'd look for BC or Oregon or Florida plates if I had the choice. Thieves may be worthless peices of scum, but they're not stupid. I would never ever ever go on TC1 to get to the rockies again. That thing is a sorry ass excuse for a highway, and it as about as direct as going to alaska through china. Look at a map of BC. If you want to drive east-west, you have very few choices as to routes for highways. Mountains have a way of getting in the way, forcing you to go out of your way to get around them. In all of the Canadian Rockies, there are maybe a half-dozen viable routes for highways to follow, and none of them permit straight lines. If you want to go to Alaska, that's no problem, because the ranges run north-south, and you can travel in a pretty direct line all the way from Hope to the Yukon. But if you're going from Vancouver to Banff, you're going to have to take a pretty circuitous route no matter which highway you opt for. In fact, the Trans-Canada is one of the more direct options. Might as well just accept it, relax, and enjoy the trip. Quote
Distel32 Posted March 28, 2004 Posted March 28, 2004 Is the reverse true in the States? Do cars with canadian plates get broken into more often? I'll probably be road tripping in the U.S. for a few months this year, Yosemite, red rocks, J tree, Sierras? I doubt it. Bring some canadian Quote
JoshK Posted March 29, 2004 Author Posted March 29, 2004 Look at a map of BC. If you want to drive east-west, you have very few choices as to routes for highways. Mountains have a way of getting in the way, forcing you to go out of your way to get around them. In all of the Canadian Rockies, there are maybe a half-dozen viable routes for highways to follow, and none of them permit straight lines. If you want to go to Alaska, that's no problem, because the ranges run north-south, and you can travel in a pretty direct line all the way from Hope to the Yukon. But if you're going from Vancouver to Banff, you're going to have to take a pretty circuitous route no matter which highway you opt for. In fact, the Trans-Canada is one of the more direct options. Might as well just accept it, relax, and enjoy the trip. Oh, yeah, that is totally understandable, I was just bitching about the constant stops in crap towns and the lack of two lanes the entire way. I've been spoiled by I-90 and I-5 I guess. Actually, I was wondering that...are we the only country that has a true **FREE**way system? I know any industrialized country has highways, but I have yet to see another place where you can get on a freeway and go nonstop anywhere in the country without having to stop inside a town, etc. Quote
cj001f Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 Never driven in Europe, eh? England, Germany,... As for the *Free* part - America's the capitalist country that subsidizes it's roads (as opposed to the socialist's who charge for them!) Quote
AlpineK Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 If you had a brain Josh you would have skipped Vancouver and taken I-90 to Spokane then headed north through Idaho to Cranbrook, Golden and the Rockies. I've had my truck broken into right in front of my house, so I don't think you can draw any conculsions based on license plates. Quote
EWolfe Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 I've had my truck broken into right in front of my house Your new house? Quote
EWolfe Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 I hear those Norwegian gangs are out of hand over there Glad it wasn't at your new place, sucks though. Quote
JoshK Posted March 29, 2004 Author Posted March 29, 2004 If you had a brain Josh you would have skipped Vancouver and taken I-90 to Spokane then headed north through Idaho to Cranbrook, Golden and the Rockies. I've had my truck broken into right in front of my house, so I don't think you can draw any conculsions based on license plates. Apparently if you fucking read, you would have seen that the entire point was to go through Vancouver. My girlfriend really wanted to go there as part of the trip. I would have gladly headed right through Idaho and up (the way we came back) and climbed ice for 6 days if it was my choice, but it was a trip for the both of us. Quote
AlpineK Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 Oh I read what you wrote. You sound like an ugly american whining about how everything isn't like this in the good old usa. Quote
JoshK Posted March 29, 2004 Author Posted March 29, 2004 Oh I read what you wrote. You sound like an ugly american whining about how everything isn't like this in the good old usa. Whatever, that couldn't be further from the trip. I probably noted to my girlfriend 100 times during the trip stuff that I liked so much more about Canada than the various fucked up things that exist down here. I love it up there. The fact remains that TC1 sucks compared to the interstates, and that one I am sticking by! About the breakin, in no way to I label that as a Canadian problem. As I said, the way people treated us and helped out following that incident was just awesome. Lots of people went out of their way to get us fixed up quick and on with our vacation. I think the problem with out of province plates is something you'll see alot in any place, however. As I said, everybody we had to mention the breakin to said that they generally go out for out of provine vehicles, probably for the reasons listed above. What I would like to see happen is the US get rid of the southern half of this country and unite the north with Canada Quote
ketch Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 Josh, sorry to here that your venture into BC was a bummer. I would hav eto agree with your observation that in general the pepes are cool. I haven't done TC1 in a long time but the real trick was to just relax and go along for the ride. If I remember right the builder was a real shakespere fan and many of the markers were names rather than Km's I travelled it a few times (back when the rocks were still warm ) and just had to kick back and figure out what was in the guys head here. Glad to here the rest of the trip went off good Quote
murraysovereign Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 If I remember right the builder was a real shakespere fan and many of the markers were names rather than Km's I travelled it a few times (back when the rocks were still warm ) and just had to kick back and figure out what was in the guys head here. You're thinking of the Coquihalla Highway, not the Trans-Canada. That highway largely follows the route of Canadian Pacific Railway's old Kettle Valley line. The head engineer, a fellow named McCulloch, was indeed a big Shakespeare fan and named all the various sections after characters from the Bard's plays. When the highway was built following the same route, the original names were kept, and are now attached to the various interchanges and avalanche control gun positions. So as you drive from Hope to Merritt, you pass spots designated "Othello" and "Iago" and so on. That railway was an incredible piece of work, even by today's standards. If there are any rail buffs out there, pick up a copy of "McCulloch's Wonder", which tells the whole story - including the Shakespearean connection. Quote
ketch Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 Ya, my bad it was the Coquihalla. Same tripp differant part. I think the answer is still to kick back and enjoy the ride but the TC is not as fun Quote
AlpineK Posted March 29, 2004 Posted March 29, 2004 The fact remains that TC1 sucks compared to the interstates, and that one I am sticking by! So you expect a giant highway through a extremely low population area that traverses a bunch of mountains. Quote
JoshK Posted March 29, 2004 Author Posted March 29, 2004 The fact remains that TC1 sucks compared to the interstates, and that one I am sticking by! No, as ketch says I'll just adjust my expectations next time and enjoy it for what it is. As it was I was hoping for fast travel and didn't get it. As we've discussed at length here it obviously isn't the best way to get to banff from seattle, but it at least it allowed us a loop so we could see new things the entire time. Unfortunately it was nasty weather the day we went east through chilliwack. I was hoping to see tomyhoi since I had been up there just 2 days earlier. So you expect a giant highway through a extremely low population area that traverses a bunch of mountains. Quote
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