Alberta BOMBers......

[JHansen]

Spring has sprung-I'm thinking it's time for a road trip. I am in need of a digital camera-that means a trip to one of the big towns . Figured I might as well make an occasion out of it! I'm off next Saturday (the 25th if I'm figuring correctly) and will be heading somewheres north-so who wants to hook up for lunch and maybe a cool one or two? Good chance for everyone to meet up before the Diesel Dyno Stampede-remember it's now less than 8 weeks away! I'm thinking Red Deer because it's pretty central (no pun intended!) to everybody... ...



Who's in? If the consensus is to go farther north I'm in for that too-just trying to pick a spot that's relatively close to everyone... ... I know it's probably too far away for the guys in Medicine Hat but an easy 1. 5-2 hour drive for the Edmonton and Calgary guys-1. 5 hours for me and a hop/skip/jump for a few! I have to work the Saturday after that (June 1)-and June 8 is Dad's birthday and a housewarming for a buddy so I'm booked then as well. Guess we could even make it Sunday the 26th or June 9th as long as the Sony Store is open! Or I could just pick a different day to get my camera and make it a straight road trip.



I have most of you guys' e-mail addresses stored away so I'll be spamming those of you I recorded as well . Dunno if our fearless leader is back online yet or not-and I don't know if his phone # stayed the same after the move either. Hey Wee One-if you're monitoring this transmission give me a call-I have some other stuff to discuss with you as well!



Jason

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Well Jason looks like no takers so far, if it wasn't so far outa my way I'd join ya on a road trip or hooking up for lunch



The week after the Diesel Stampede I am planning to head on north and west from Calgary and take in a chunk of Western Canadian scenery before I head home. If you aren't doing anything right after the Stampede come and cruise along with me for part of it. Willyslover may travel along with me as well. I may get a wild hair and drive all the way to Yellowknife but that is a long stretch. I have no idea how good of a road Highway 1 out of N. Alberta is. I have never been further north than Edmonton and have an itch to go the "far north" this summer. But my limited time may be better spent going through the mountains of Alberta and BC. At the very least I want to go as far as Forth Nelson then follow Highway 97 all the way back from there thru Dawson Creek, Prince George and eventually back into Washington State.



If you have any tips regarding travel in these areas I'd be very interested in hearing them



Vaughn

 

[JHansen]

I did get 1 email back so far Vaughn... . so it hasn't been a completely dead horse yet! Figuring everybody that could buggered off for the long weekend-I can't even get ahold of Rod the Rocket at Wildcat. Maybe everyone got call display and started ignoring me.



I may just hook up with you for a while after the DDS-assume this means you're coming up for the big show. I'm on holidays during that time-I have to be back home by the 19th for our annual barbecue but other than that I think I'm free and clear. I've never been north of Edmonton either-isn't that poor? So I can't really help with the road report either. Think you're meaning Highway 2 though instead of 1-1 is the Trans-Canada running east and west-2 runs from the border north through Calgary, Red Deer, and Edmonton. cold Diesel is from Fort McMurray and Swamp Donkey is from Fort St. John-one of those 2 could fill you in a lot better than me on road conditions etc. If they don't jump in after the weekend is over I'll see if I can pry the info out of their fingers for you!



I am planning on coming down to your part of the world on one of my weekends off to hook up with some of the NW BOMBers. I am on a 9 and 5 schedule-poorest part is that my 1st day off is a Saturday so if I wanna make any Saturday events down there it'll pretty much be an all-nighter to get there-making me about as much good as a wet piece of cardboard by the time I get there... ... but I do plan on coming down sometime this fall when you guys are doing something and it fits my schedule.



Jason

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

You bet I'm coming to the show!!



That is a good idea to find out some stuff from Cold Diesel and Swamp Donkey. If I did go to Yellowknife I'd probably go Rte 2 & 44 thru High Prarie then straight up thru Peace River, Twin Lakes, & Fort Providence. On the return leg take the MacKenzie & Liard Highway to Fort Laird & back to Fort Nelson then follow 97 all the way home. I did some looking on the 'web and the reports show all the highways in NWT to be "in good and normal driving condition. " At Ft. Providence there is an ice crossing in the winter and ferry crossing in the summer season.



If I don't head to Yellowknife then I may go thru Banf, Lake Louise but then cut back toward Edmonton and catch western AB going north, working my way over to Dawson Creek. Depending on how I am doing for time I'll either head up to Fort Nelson or start heading south from Dawson Cr. via 97.



If I had time I'd drive all the way to AK but that is out of the question. A buddy of mine drove it last summer in his unrestored '68 Impala and it took him about 60 hours to make it to Anchorage from Washington. He was really pushing it to make it in 60hr and he averaged less than 50mph since the roads were really bad in a lot of places. That is a looooooong haul.



Anyway if you come down this way in the fall we are having a dyno event in Spokane on Sept. 7th. Had a great time at it last year. Here is the link for more info on the NW BOMBers website forum:

http://www.nwbombers.com/board/ikonboard.cgi?s=3ce85e8e0355ffff;act=SF;f=1



Vaughn

 

[JHansen]

You know-I signed up on the NW BOMBers board but I haven't posted anything yet-just lurking around seeing what's going on. Sept. 7th is a working weekend for me..... but I'm sure one of you guys' meets will correspond with my days off. Maybe I can convince some of the other ABC fellas to BOMBvoy down there. I really gotta remember when I do cross the border not to refer to the purpose of my trip as a BOMBing meeting-I imagine you'd get the anal probe for that one now .....



Looking forward to meeting you at the Biggest Outdoor Show on Earth and its sideline the Diesel Dyno Stampede!



Jason

 

[JHansen]

Back to the top for one more kick at the can so to speak. Looking more like Edmonton now to save cold Diesel a couple hours worth of driving . Any of you guys that are interested lemme know ASAP so we can set our plans as Saturday is fast approaching!



J

 

[rspinks]

Jason thanks for the invite but I probably won't make Edmonton this weekend, gotta get one more sledding trip to Revelstoke in this year. I'm definitely in for the DDS however, only 7 more weeks to go. If the weather is forecast solid rain then maybe I will get to Edmonton.



Vaughn there's a tremendous variety of scenery to be had in Alta and BC. I've been lucky enough to live in almost all areas of BC and now in Calgary, I'll have a look at a map to get the highway #'s straight and post some recommendations here for travel routes.

 

[osmith]

Heya

As you can tell by how long it took me to respond to the thread, I'm rather busy.



I'm working up north for the fire season and it doesn't look like I'll be able to meet on saturday.





maybe next time.....

 

[JHansen]

'S-ok boys-I just wanted to make sure I hit everybody I could think of so there were no hard feelings that you weren't invited! You guys were on my spam list-I know there's a few guys on here from Alberta who aren't..... if you wanna get in on the weekend meet post on here or drop me a PM. We're still wavering as to exactly where it's gonna happen-waiting for a few more emails to flood my inbox.



DDS is gonna be a blast! I'm going in Thursday night to take in some of the Stampede festivities-by Saturday I may be only a puddle where once there was a thunderstorm . Ashamed to say I've lived within 2. 5 hours of Calgary my whole life and haven't been to Stampede since I was a wee lad. This year that's gonna change!



J

 

[rspinks]

Osmith I'm not surprised you're busy judging by the amount of smoke in the air this week. Good luck and hopefully you get some rain (snow?) to help you out. I see you have 305/70's on you truck, do you have any wear issues on the fronts? Cold Diesel has a problem regarding wear with 305/70's, posted on the 2nd Gen No engine/drivetrain forum.

 

[osmith]

Thanks for the well wishes,



Yeah we could use some moisture in this province . I'm a forest officer in the slave lake district and all available hands are set for a real burner this year if we don't get any h20.



I'll look over at the other thread you mentioned to see if I can be of any help to the guy with the same size tires.

 

[cold Diesel]

Better late than never. I just caught this thread as I have been in Mexico for a couple weeks. Vaughn if you need any info on northern alberta ask away. I have seen most of it, although lots in the winter when the ice bridge is open to Fort Smith.

See ya this weekend Jason... ... somewhere!

 

[MDKram]

Lunch in Edmonton

Gentlemen, it looks like we will be meeting in Edmonton. The plan is to meet at Mo's Sports Bar (5420 Calgary Trail South) at about 12 to 12:30 this Saturday (May 25). Mr. Hansen will be stopping by my house before hand and others are welcome for a pre lunch ether injection. Send me a PM if you want directions.



Regards, Marc

 

[cold Diesel]

I sent ya a pm Marc but I will be there tomorrow as well. Happens to be near the stealer who I have to take my truck to for some repairs!!

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Did somebody say my name????? Vaughn, if you are looking for info on the Alaska Highway let me know. I am a fountain of knowledge.



Jason, put me on your ABC spam list! I will make it to one of these events within the next 5 years. Sometimes it sucks to have to have a job. LOL



-- email address removed --

 

[JHansen]

Yeah John I used your name in vain there a while back . I will add you to my contact list here. Hopefully you can make 'er down to the Diesel Dyno Stampede-it should be a good time! Know what you mean too about jobs interfering with the important things in life. I really need to find a job that pays me $25 an hour or so to sit around and drink beer. Maybe if I lose 40 pounds or so and get some plastic surgery I can become a gigolo-that might be alright!



We had a good day in Edmonton-6 of us swapped stories and drank some brew..... I learned a few things-hopefully everyone else did too! Pete took some pics when we were leaving of the guys and trucks still there (Bob had gone already)-maybe he'll post them for posterity. Probably the next time we hook up will be Calgary on the 13th and 14th of July-although I'm sure I'll be making a central Alberta swing again before then if anyone who couldn't make Edmonton wants to hook up... ... don't know exactly when that'll be though.



J