On March 12, 2012, my husband Kevin and I hit the road for a 5 day drive across Canada to start a new life.
Kevin had acquired a job as a radio personality on CJCD in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, so we went.
The trip started out on a dreary day in Southern Ontario at my parents house in Port Stanley. Within a few hours we were at the Sarnia border ready to cross into the United States only to be slowed down by a snarly CBSA guard who couldn’t believe that we were driving across the country in a Toyota Yaris with only our clothes and a few household items. After a few more questions, he was finally convinced and we were on our way. I immediately fell asleep once we were in the US, between the sound of the road and the heavy rain, I had been lulled into a deep sleep while Kevin continued to drive.
I was exhausted and burnt out. We were flat broke, in debt and stressed out after a couple of tough years trying to make a living as newlyweds. The past year was especially rough on both of us working and living in Wasaga Beach. Unfortunately the life we expected to happen there ended up being a lot more difficult. There were moments when we had to choose between milk or bread at the grocery store. It was humiliating and tiresome. When Kevin got the job offer, there was no hesitation, we were moving again.
As we traveled in the state of Michigan, weather started to improve. We headed west towards Chicago, Illinois and had the fortunate opportunity to see the city skyline unexpectedly when we took the wrong turn off of the Interstate. Finally after 10 hours on the road, we stopped for the night at a Motel 6 in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Denny’s was our favourite restaurant of choice before hitting the road each morning. I was quite fond of the banana pancakes and Kevin couldn’t get enough of the Grand Slam. It was now March 13th and we were headed north towards the Dakotas. The roads seem to pass by endless shades of brown fields and billboards. An uneventful drive that brought us to our next stop to the infamous town of Fargo, North Dakota.
What a crappy motel with linoleum floors and beds out of a college dorm. It was cheap for a reason and well, we were broke still.
Day 3 brought us back into Canada to a border crossing we will never forget. Portal, North Dakota was a ghost town with one lone guard, who must have been about 80. He had two questions for us: “Got guns?” No, we said. “Got 10,000 bucks”. Definitely not, we said. He waved us through and we were back on Canadian soil.
So here we are in Saskatchewan with nothing but more brown fields for our viewing pleasure except for one pit stop at “Dog River” aka Rouleau. It was super fun to drive onto the deserted Corner Gas set and take photos. Sadly we missed their re-opening by just weeks.
So here we are in Saskatchewan with nothing but more brown fields for our viewing pleasure except for one pit stop at “Dog River” aka Rouleau. It was super fun to drive onto the deserted Corner Gas set and take photos. Sadly we missed their re-opening by just weeks.
As the sun set on our third day on the road, we drove into Saskatoon with plans to crash at another Motel 6. So far we had never booked lodging in advance so we didn’t expect to find every hotel and motel in Saskatoon booked up. Lady Antebellum was in town and there was no room at the Inn for weary travelers. After hitting up a few places, a front desk clerk took pity on us and got us a place outside of the city. By this time it was 10pm and we were starving for dinner. Pizza seemed like the best option so Kevin called up Dominoes hoping to take advantage of the thirty minutes or less guarantee. Thirty minutes turned into two hours because the delivery guy could not find our hotel. When he did, thankfully the pizza was free and cold.
The next day was thankfully less exciting as we drove into Alberta, taking a detour into Grand Prairie to treat ourselves to a luxury hotel and visit a friend for some pints at the local pub. It was a refreshing break on this week-long trip.
It was now the 5th day of our trip and we finally saw snow! For the entire trip thus far, the weather was unseasonably warm which we were grateful for. The snow meant we were closer to our destination. We drove a lot this day as the final road from Alberta to the Northwest Territories is a long and quiet straight away. The highlights of this drive were stopping at the North of 60 sign and driving on the frozen Mighty Mackenzie! (Our GPS was confused and if it could scream, it would have).
By 6pm, we had rolled into Yellowknife, our new home. It was our first big road trip to bond as a couple and dream of our future. We had left Ontario in a leap of faith and hope for a better life.
Last week we celebrated 10 years of being here and we have no plans to leave. Yellowknife is a great place to live, work and grow. I’m not the person I was when we arrived in 2012 and when the time comes for us to forge a new beginning, Yellowknife will never be forgotten, it will be full of cherished memories.
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