Kelowna, BC to Denver, Co - Part One (4400 km of Fun!)

[William-07GT]

Ok, I have to admit this is the second time we have decided to do this trip at the very last moment. The first time was exactly 10 years ago. While the vehicle has changed (an old Mazda MPV, the first time), the choice of road did not.
I really like the drive past Big White and entering the US at the Grand Forks border crossing. The slight uphill climb and the twisty back roads are a perfect choice for the Mazda 3. (mmm, I would love to try this with the Speed!) Down through Spokane and even more twisties in Idaho and just as you get into Montana. Yes, not only is this a really long trip, about 2200 km each way, but we made this straight through. That's about 26 hours each way. We took turns of course. The plan was 2 hours on and then 2 hours of sleep. But my wife really like the idea of saying she was the person that drove out of and into each state along the route. I am sure she was just enjoying the 3 through the tight turns and then going as fast as the law would allow on the straights. Needless to say, the Garmin 765T (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=14926#nuvi765t) with it's speed limit warnings came in pretty handy. It also makes a perfect trip record on your computer afterward.

The 3 handled very well and was a joy to drive. Even in the snowy bits, she held the road well. I made sure we had winter tires (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Ultra+Grip) on and it was a good choice as when we left Denver 5 days later, a big snow storm had just gone through. But more on that later!