On May 7th, 2022 at around 4 p.m. our plane will take off from Munich on the biggest adventure of our lives so far. We want to travel North America for about a year, bringing with us our two sons Leo and Casper (Leo was just 4 years old at the time and Casper was 2 years old) and our Labrador Lotta. Our Sprinter is already on the ship because we dropped it off at the port in Hamburg last week and now we're flying after it...
Our trip begins in Montreal, because this is the only place where there is a direct flight from Munich on our desired date. Since we are traveling with a dog, a direct flight is mandatory and we even take a detour, renting a car in Montreal for four days to drive 1,200km to Halifax to pick up our Sprinter there.
Eastern Canada
(Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario)
The route takes us from Halifax, Nova Scotia, north to Cape Breton and from there by ferry to the island of Newfoundland. After three weeks there, we head back to the mainland and through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick along the St. Lawrence River to Quebec. We decided to also circle the Gaspésie peninsula before diving into the metropolises of Quebec and Toronto. Along the Great Lakes and past countless mosquitoes (which is why we are making faster progress than planned), we continue on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) towards the interior, we cross Ontario on one of the most beautiful sections of the TCH, which is characterized by many Lakes with many more water lilies.
The middle of Canada
(Manitoba, Saskatchewan)
In Manitoba and Sasketchewan we drive parallel to endlessly long freight trains, whose horns are always present, to the Canadian prairie of the Grasslands, before we finally start the journey from there to the deep north.
The northern west and north of Canada
(Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon)
Passing Calgary, we reach the Canadian Rockies with shining eyes, where we immediately feel at home. We cross Alberta and the Banff and Jasper National Parks for a few weeks before we reach the Pacific after about 5,000km in the north of British Columbia and have officially crossed Canada from east to west. After a short detour to Alaska, USA, we sink into the vastness of the Yukon via the Stewart-Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway and reach our northernmost point near Dawson City in August. From here it's about 600km to the Arctic Ocean, the destination is attractive, but we decided to return south.
The southern west of Canada
(British Columbia: Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver)
Now we're really heading back into the northern Rocky Mountains and finally letting the approaching summer drift us slowly and shimmy from lake to lake, all of which we paddle with the SUP. Through Clearwater and Kamploops we are getting closer and closer to the hotspots in southern British Columbia and are now finding ourselves more and more often between smoke and forest fires. We love the sporty and extremely cycling region around Whister and Squamish and go on many tours ourselves.
Then we take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, accompanied by whales and dolphins, and we drive on the quiet Sunshine Coast to Mile 0 of Highway 101 to Lund. From Powell River we head to Vancouver Island, where we cross and depart the southern island in about three weeks, always spending time looking for orcas and other whales and marine life. In Tofino we feel right at home with the surfing vibe and the chic town of Victoria is also well worth seeing.
We stay in Vancouver for a few days and from there drive to the Okanagan Valley, spend a week in Summerland on a horse ranch and with the incoming autumn wind we cross the border into the USA (Washington State) after 168 days in Canada.
USA
The northern west of the USA
(Washington State, Oregon)
Entry was very friendly and uncomplicated. We have now received a 90-day tourist visa for the USA, but we need a little time to complete the unique experience of Canada and arrive in the USA. But the varied nature in Washington State and the first flakes of snow on the Washington Pass and the North Cascades make it easy for us to arrive here and pass a new part of our adventure. We let ourselves be infected by Seattle's music and pride scene and decide to take the route along the Pacific further south and not go inland. The wild and often sparsely populated sections by the sea are very beautiful and autumn always covers the coastal road in a mystical blanket of fog. Here it is possible to simply drive on the beach by car. We are very enthusiastic about Oregon, there are starfish on the crazy rock formations on the Pacific slopes and next door there is a wild surfing scene in the water. We love Portland and Bend too, the nature is so breathtaking with the colorful hills of the Painted Hills and the canyons like Smith Rock make everything so diverse.
California
With the arrival in our own sprinter in the state of California, we first have to come to terms with it, we feel exhausted and the situation seems so surreal. We drive through the autumnal Redwood National Park and reach the beginning of the legendary Highway 1, which leads us back to the coast and which we will follow for the next 100 kilometers. Entering San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge is once again an ultimate highlight, as are the well-known towns of Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Pfeiffer Beach and of course Big Sur. We already know the region and specifically look for old and new places and then end up in the hills above Santa Barbara and Montecito for a few days because we feel so comfortable here. Through Ventura and Malibu we reach the Pacific Palisades just outside Los Angeles, take a short detour to Venice Beach and Beverly Hills before we leave this much too large metropolis of Los Angeles and continue on to the Mojave Desert.
Through the middle of the USA
(Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico)
We want to drive part of the 395, stop at the incredible Alabama Hills and have our own hot tube at the Hot Springs in front of Mommoth Lakes. It is already the beginning of December and driving further north makes no sense and so we flee from the first cold front of this winter. We can't resist taking a look at pre-Christmas Las Vegas via Death Valley, Nevada. Via Valley of Fire and Zion National Park we go through Arizona to Utah into the Moab Desert. The mountains are calling us, we want to go to Colorado, maybe finally spend Christmas in the snow again, take a quick look at Richy Aspen and land on Christmas Eve at around 3,200 m above sea level at Cooper Hill behind Vail.
Through the southern states of the USA
(Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi)
The corner is really nice, very sporty and we like that, but it keeps us moving forward, through New Mexico we reach our family in Dallas, Texas, spend some very relaxing days here and experience a completely different America in Louisiana. New Orleans has been on our bucket list for a long time and now we are finally back by the sea, more precisely on the Gulf of Mexico. We stay by the water, through Alabama and Mississippi to Florida, the road always along the sea if possible.
The southern east of the USA
(Florida: Miami, Keys and Key West)
We want to go to Manatee Springs and Crystal River to swim with the manatees. But things are slowly getting serious, our trip is coming to an end, we have to hand the Sprinter in at the port in Brunswick, Georgia in about a week. So we cross the interior of Florida and take a look at the NASA site at Cape Canaveral before we spend our last night in the sprinter along the sea via St. Augustine. Our flight leaves Miami back to Munich in a week and for this last week we borrowed a rental car with which we drove down to Key West and explored Miami.
In total we drove an incredible 30,573km in 35 weeks and 5 days (exactly 250 days in total). This trip was wild and wonderful, unique and filled with countless adventures and moments that will stay in our hearts forever.
Picture above: Polarsteps app (highly recommended)
