The Van Retrieval - A Roller Coaster Day

The Mission: Retrieve our new (to us) van from Edmonton. Drive it back to Vancouver as quickly and safely as possible.

The Obstacles: 

Fleeting Daylight- In the height of winter we get 8-9 good hours of daylight if it's a sunny day. Yes, vans drive in the dark too, but the windy mountain roads make things a bit trickier.

Winter in General- Driving in Canada in the winter is a crapshoot. On any given day encounters with snow, slush, rain and/or ice can make a routine drive a real nail-biter. Combine that with unpredictable pockets of mountain weather, avalanche warnings and super cold temperatures, it's quite a climate cocktail.

Omicron- Nobody has time. 

The Plan: Fly to Edmonton in the morning, pickup the van, have breakfast, drive like a mad-man and make it through as much of the mountains as possible before dark. Sleep. Finish the 13 hour drive off the next day. 

So how did this flawless plan shake out? Well, like most Mary + Tyler ventures, there were some hiccups, silver-linings and chuckles along the way.

Part 1: Tyler left Vancouver well before the first light of day, and arrived in Edmonton to be greeted by unholy -35°celsius temperatures. After having breakfast with Micah and Melissa, Ty headed out and made great time through the mountains, only stopping once and a while to have an icy pee.

But was it -35°C, George?

The next morning Tyler braved the cold once more and had his sights set on the more temperate Vancouver. However, when he went to fire up the old girl, it did not start. Yup, vehicles, especially the senior citizen types, do not like the extreme cold either. So after faffing around and happening upon the only (retired) mechanic in town, it was decided that the van needed some TLC. It was towed to the next town to have the battery revived. That unfortunately left Tyler in a small mountain town with some cell coverage, no vehicle, no bus service and the next train wasn't due to stop for another week. It was time to thumb a ride.

Hitchhiking in the frigid cold is not for the fainthearted, but knowing Tyler, he'd likely be riding shotgun within a half-hour. So when Tyler later called reporting that he was currently on a milk-run delivering cigarettes and eating Mary Brown's chicken with Paul, the story 100% checked out. Paul, an absolute legend with a heart of gold, drove Tyler the 300 kms to Kamloops where he got a bus back to Vancouver (yes, we'd decided to completely abandon the van for the moment). Sure, Paul didn't take the most direct route, but Ty now knows the best fishing holes and ideal picnic spots to indulge in some sneaky beers and a bucket of fried chicken. I'd say we're now richer in more ways than one. 

Finally, after a long couple of days of sorted travel, Tyler thought he'd grab a quick bite before boarding the bus for the next six hours. Feeling pretty tired, vanless and defeated, and to add salt to the wounds, his pants inexplicably gave way and split open (turns out both vans and denim hate the cold). At this point Tyler was either looking particularly bedraggled, or his classic East Coast joie de vie was somehow still shining through, because his meal was generously on the house. So in the end, you could say it was an Even Steven sort of scenario.  

Check out a collection of video clips, love (voice)notes and updates from the road!

Part 2: The mission picked up a week later, and was thankfully, albeit time consuming, much less of a rigmarole. Tyler caught the early morning bus back to Kamloops where Sweet Paul was waiting for Tyler. Yep, not only did Paul pickup a complete stranger and drive him 300kms out of the goodness of his heart, he then drove that distance again to deliver the van. Paul is the true hero of this story, and serves as a solid reminder to go out of your way to help someone else out once and while--The chicken's on us next time, bud.

So, why did we go through the trouble of buying a van so far away? Great question. Turns out it's hard to come-by a van with a third captain seat (opposed to the full bench seat) in the back---which we need for our little gaffer. Maybe people don't typically want to vanlife with their < 1 year old. Maybe most people would opt for a more substantial rig. Maybe we should've just bought a tent, who knows? We do know that this van has all the right seats in all the right places, and that now the van build begins!

Proof that Tyler and the van are in Vancouver!