Arrived in Anchorage

Thursday, August 2, 2012

We arrived in Anchorage Tuesday the 31^st and are staying with Diana and John and their two dogs in their beautiful new house.   We were on the road for 16 days getting to Anchorage and covered 4800 miles.  I am going to use this down time to write about a couple of items that have been on my mind for the last week.

Resources in Canada

Land Area – driving across really illustrated to me how big Canada is.  Wikipedia says Canada’s land area is about the same as the US’ when you include Alaska.  It is actually bigger than the lower 48 states.  Additionally, the population is only about 35M, and it is concentrated along the US border, so they have a lot of relatively unspoiled land.

Water – This is just a visual impression from going across the TCH (Trans-Canadian Highway).  Lots and lots of lakes and rivers.  Out west in Alberta, BC, and Yukon, the number of really huge rivers is phenomenal.   Looking at the map, the lake and river density appears to be even higher up north.  Coupled with the small population, I would venture a guess that Canada will never have a water shortage, or, if they do, it will be much less severe than the rest of the planet.

Wilderness Forests – Vast – hundreds of miles of forest can be seen from the  TCH and Alaskan Highway, particularly in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon. Lots of logging trucks moving back and forth on the TCH.   Occasionally you see an outfitter/guide business, often with a small aircraft and dirt airstrip.  If hunting, fishing, and the outdoors are your deal, this would be the place to be.  Having said that, you might have trouble convincing your "sun and stars" to join you out there.  Your social life could be very limited.

Coinage – The smallest Canadian bill I have seen is a $5 dollar bill.  Below that, they have a two-dollar coin and one dollar coin, as well as quarters, dimes, pennies.  I was in a conversation with a hotel manager about the coins needed in the Laundromat and was told I needed a looney and two 25-cent pieces to run each machine.  At first I thought I had misunderstood, but then learned the one dollar coin is referred to as a “looney” (left) and the two-dollar coin is a “tooney” (right)(two-ny??).    See the photo of the two coins.

Cost of Beer and Wine in Canada – I had occasion to buy beer and wine in Airdrie, AB and was astounded by the limited selection and the high cost.  I am a bit of a beer snob.  I prefer Sam Adams to Bud Lite.  This liquor store had small quantities of about 4-5 brands of beer, none of which I had ever heard of.   I walked out with a six-pack of local honey-brown brew that cost $15.80.  I drank it and it was ok, but believe me when I say it was not THAT good.  In the US it would have been $8-$9, maybe less.  Didn’t hold a candle to Newcastle Brown.  This really surprised me because Canadians are beer drinkers.  I did some searching around the internet and found that the distribution and sale of booze is very tightly controlled in Canada (similar to how they do it in Utah).  Further, each Province has its own laws and system to manage this.  Some have state-operated liquor stores; others have opened the retail up to privately-run package stores.  However, they all add a significant markup to the wholesale cost as a form of taxation.  This why there are tight limitations on how much beer and wine an individual can bring into the country.  Next time I come to Canada, I plan to take full advantage of the permissible quantity of beer.

Cost of Gasoline - In MA I in have been paying about $3.50/gal for gas (87 octane).  Looking back on what we paid going across Canada and up into Alaska, it is all over the map.   The gas there is priced by the liter, so you have to multiply it by 4 and divide by 1.06 to get $/gallon.  The average price, the high, and the low we paid in Canada were $4.78, $5.28, and $4.52/gal.  When you drive 5000 miles, this can really impact the cost of the trip.  Here is the math.  The Tundra gets about 18 miles per gallon, typically.  At $3.50 per gallon, the gasoline cost per mile is 19 cents.  At $4.78 per gallon, our average in Canada, the cost is 29 cents per mile.  Over 5000 miles, the additional cost is $500!!

Canadian Rockies – Banff and Jasper – Mountains, valleys, rivers, and icefields are just hughnormous. The vistas are awesome.