Checking out my 2011 Brownline Day Planner, I was on the move changing cities for one reason or other 415 times.
In the process I took 127 flights, drove about 150,000 kilometres and was home for 81 days. It’s a good thing I work with my wife or I probably wouldn’t have one.
With that much travel it’s hard to say what was the most memorable experience because for a car and travel junkie, the year was packed with fun, challenge and adventure.
But for this column I thought I’d pick the Best 11 of 2011. Eleven Eleven.
1. Driving Ralph the Pelican from Halifax to a sanctuary in North Carolina. The brown pelican, blown off-course to Nova Scotia on the winds of Hurricane Earl, was spotted dazed and confused on the roof of Ralph’s Strip Club in Dartmouth. Luckily, Hope Swinimer of Hope for Wildlife rescued the bird, named Ralph by the media, and cared for the young pelican over the winter. When I heard about Hope’s problem trying to get Ralph back to his home in N.C., I bought a Chevy Express van and drove him there only to find out Ralph was a female. Yo, Ralphette.
2. Staging 600 cars into an automotive parking mosaic at the Camaro Homecoming in Oshawa in July. Once it was done we arranged to have an aerial shot of the parking extravaganza and met plenty of Camaro addicts in the process. My finest hour in the world of staging cars.
3. Taking the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Some things just take your breath away and this did in more ways than one. Yahoo!
4. Winning the novice class of the Atlantic Sports Car Club’s (ASCC) annual winter rally. Wife Lisa Calvi and I have done plenty of driving together but never participated in a sanctioned road rally. We managed to win the Novice Class in an unassuming bright blue KIA Forte5 that could be your car. Go team!
5. Delivering valentines flowers on Valentine’s Day. The concept surfaced while driving a Mazda5 mini van around for a week. I liked its size, maneuverability and the sporty 6-speed manual transmission and thought, "Why not put it to work at a real job on the day of love and romance?" So I called Dean’s Flowers, a Halifax floral institution since 1919, and asked owner Holly Winchester if she needed a hand with deliveries on Valentine’s Day. She did and I saw plenty of teary eyes.
6. Talking a police officer out of a speeding ticket in South Carolina. When he drawled out that I was doing 79 mph in a 60 zone, I thought I was toast. But when he started talking about playing hockey with Canadians, I harboured some hope. Hope won, and I slowed down, hanging on to my fist full of dollars.
7. Roswell, New Mexico. Had a best laugh when my cellphone rang in a museum. Problem was my ring was the Sci-Fi iPhone ringtone and I was surrounded by UFO junkies at the UFO Museum. Everyone froze. Silence but for my giggle.
8. This one is in about 50 pieces, but every week I get excited when I have to move cars from Halifax to Fredericton to Moncton and back to Halifax. Three different cars, same road every week and I still get a kick out of all 950 kilometres. (Ed: Thanks Garry!)
9. Trying to blow up sticks of dynamite a half-kilometre away with a 50-calibre machine gun. Great way to finish up a three-day road trip competition between Los Angeles and Gateway, Colorado in a Volvo XC70.
10. Driving Chevy Volts all over Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula on the summer solstice. No wonder no one sleeps up there in the summer. They can’t take their eyes off the spectacular scenery and the wildlife that hangs out everywhere.
11. Finally getting one of my children to participate in one of our events. Oldest daughter Lucy and her fiancé Ron Francis came in dead last on the Toronto segment of Chevy Sonic City Challenge. They just gave up, returned to the start with their heads bowed in shame. Got to give them a talking to valentines flowers.
So with that in the rearview for 2011, let’s hope 2012 holds as many great memories. As long as Lucy and Ron bone up on their scavenger hunt skills for next year’s City Challenge, that is.
Happy New Year!
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