Apr 29, 2017
Worth the effort!
Today our morning began with a wonderful breakfast compliments of the hotel in the restaurant just off the atrium.
It was a full meal from homemade porridge to quiche, to grilled tomatoes to wonderful pastries and everything in between. So much fresh and tasty food.
At one point Colin went up to our room on the fourth floor and from up there took a photo of me down in the restaurant. This new camera captures incredible detail.
We arrived back in Kelowna two weeks ago today. Colin only returned to Las Vegas from seeing Mommio three weeks ago today. During this last trip to Mexico Colin thought that we should upgrade our tow car.
So less than a week ago we listed our 2006 Chevy HHR and it sold within 48 hours. We decided to list it after we saw the Jeep in Penticton last Saturday. Good for Rod on spotting the type of vehicle we were looking at.
So we really did like the Jeep but it did not have a CD player which Colin prefers to use. So he kept looking online. Finally he spotted something in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
So last Thursday we headed out on a road trip in the Mercedes.
One might say that in less than a week, we sold a car, traded a car and purchased another car. No wonder my head is spinning and I am tired.
The plan was for us to arrive in Medicine Hat early Friday morning and be on the road back home no later than noon that same day. We spent Thursday night in Brooks and would spend Friday night in Golden, BC and be home on Saturday. We didn’t find out till about noon on Friday that we would not even be able to see the vehicle until after 5PM that day. Hence the lovely hotel accommodation. However we were somewhat upset. We actually initially only saw the Jeep about 6PM and did our first inspection and test drive.
However it was well worth the wait as the dealership had taken the car to an auto body shop to do a few touch ups but of course it took much longer than expected. Long story short there was glitch after glitch. Some of the documentation was out of date which necessitated a new mechanical inspection which they did this morning. Then we had a 50 minute wait to get the Alberta Registry to issue us an transit permit and so on and so on. Not serious problems but mostly time consuming and a comedy of errors. So our trip ended up being delayed just over 24 hours which of course had its own set of problems. The pain of the event is over and it is time to start enjoying our new purchase.
Adios Mercedes and hola to our 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.
The Jeep will serve as a work vehicle for Colin as well as our new toad. We are happy to be down to two cars and one RV. Our new to us vehicle has so many extras including Quadra Lift which is an air suspension system that you can control from inside. You can raise the chassis up 4 inches for more clearance. Traveling on the highway is like floating on a cloud; the chassis actually lowers to aero mode which is more aero dynamic. When you park, the chassis drops down for easy exit and entry.
Colin loves his new car.
We finally left Medicine Hat about 1PM today already worn out. However the Jeep was like a dream ride and the seats were very soft. It was close to riding in our RV.
We weathered a few rains storms.
We had a seven hour drive ahead of us but enjoyed the prairies for the first part.
We didn’t get into the Rockies until after 5PM and the light was not so good for photos but we enjoyed the mountains nonetheless.
So many incidents to share but we are tired and need to rest for the final leg of the journey. One fellow, just as we entered Banff insisted we pull over, he wanted to tell us that we had no license plate and that we would get arrested. We explained that we were in transit and had the proper permit. We had already heard this a few times but this fellow almost forced us off the road in order to stop us.
We arrived in Golden, BC about 7PM. Sadly we had to change from our booked hotel as it just looked so very run down. It took a bit to find something acceptable.
We really enjoyed our drive today in the Jeep and look forward to many miles of fun and exploration. Meanwhile it is time to hit the sack as tomorrow is another day of will we be able to get it done or not.
Late night thoughts…..
~ the main reason we drove all the way to Medicine Hat was because this was on the only Jeep Grand Cherokee in all of Canada, that had both a beige exterior and interior which is what we really wanted. The one we saw in Penticton last week had a black interior plus it was not an Overland and this one had the CD player. The deal we got was more than sweet.
~ I thought that we were back on PST time but not true. Not until we reach Revelstoke. That means that we kept the restaurant open 30 minutes later than their closing time and that we have a wake up an hour earlier than anticipated. Why did I not know that just driving from Alberta to BC did not mark the time change?
~ I only packed clothes and underwear for three days, not four. Also meds and vitamins.
~ I will never ever travel anywhere without a nightlight again.
Done for the night……..
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Another nice new toy you have, hope it serves you well.
Loved your mystery trip and loved the pictures of the Rockies. Last year when we down sized to a smaller house we also sold my bright yellow VW beetle and my old 97 Explorer that I had had all those years and was in such perfect condition. We bought the Honda which is a very towable car for our little RV – all in a matter of three days. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Colin, enjoy your new Jeep; they are nice, sporty cars.
Your new tow vehicle looks really nice, I am sure that you will both enjoy it.
Ruth
Great new vehicle. You are going to have so much fun with it.
Looks and sounds like a great Jeep. I liked seeing your pictures of your trip. The Rockies looked beautiful. Interesting to hear your Jeep ride was more comfortable than in the Mercedes. I look forward to more pictures with your new camera.
That sounds like what we did last summer when we went from 3 to 2 vehicles but we didn’t do a road trip to make it happen. I hope you have a nice safe final leg home.
We have also been looking for a new tow car. This new one must flat tow. Not many new cars for sale flat tow, and we are still having sticker shock! Agree with you about the night light! Rarely do we stay in hotels, and we have to leave the bathroom light on all night so we can find our way to the loo.
Nice to be down a vehicle, the insurance bill gets crazy. Sometimes a short road trip is like a holiday, gets you out where you might not necessarily go and is a break from every day life.
The Jeep looks much more comfortable than the HHR and a real sweet ride! Also nice to no longer have to deal with maintaining and insuring 3 cars! Congrats for finding one in beige that will match your RV so nicely!!!
Enjoy the ride! I bought a small LED night light at the dollar+ store and now it lives in my toiletries bag. Ditto 2 large removable hooks and the extra tape strips for them. Too many rooms don’t have robe hooks anymore, or not enough of them. Safe journeys home!
We love our Jeeps! Our niece has a Jeep Cherokee and we have the Jeep Trail Blazer. Nice get away trip for you. We enjoyed all the pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Nice! Sylvia’s brother has a Grand Cherokee. They really like it.
During the winter of 2015/2016 when we were stuck at home Eric converted all of our old music CD’s, tapes,and old LP’s to digital music and stored it on a portable hard drive. Now we just load music onto our cell phones or a flash drive to play. Our new 2015 Jeep Wrangle sport has a hard drive and also USB ports for the flash drives so it’s all easy. In Mazatlan we play the music over our 5th wheel stereo the same way. Eric just deletes and changes music as he wishes and takes it off the portable hard drive which has about 130 gigs stored. Nice and easy!
Wow, that’s great!
Little jealous, to be honest. I’ve always wanted a Jeep. 🙂