How to Avoid Hitting a Deer - Summer Driving
How to Avoid Bed Bugs - Road Trip Tips

Planning Your Summer Road Trip

August is Road Trip Month over on our Petro-Points Facebook page, so we thought we'd join in here on PumpTalk with a few weeks of road trip inspired posts.

Summer Road Trip Month

My road trip this summer involved driving from Vancouver to Calgary in one day and then driving back two days later. My tip to you - it's an incredibly beautiful drive but if you're doing it all in one day, make sure you know where all the rest stops are!

Some folks have a set trip they take every year - others are always looking for new places to visit. If you're looking for road trip inspiration this summer, here are a few ideas:

Visit the world's largest things. From the Vegreville Pysanka to the Sudbury Nickel, Canada is rife with "the world's largest" roadside attractions. Check out these lists from MSN Auto and McLeans for some inspiration on which to start.

Pick a theme. Want to visit every place in Canada that references doughnuts? There's a map for that! The Geist Atlas of Canada is one of the funniest and most interesting reference books I've ever read - it features maps of Canadian place names grouped into themes. The Angst Map of Canada, for example, features Doom Mountain, BC and Port Disappointment, NL - the Automotive Map features Gasket Island, ON and Sparkplug Lake, NWT.

While you may not want to visit every place ever mentioned in a Stan Rogers song, the Geist Atlas may give you some good ideas for your trip - and provide some fun trivia for the ride.

Take a literary trip. PEI is an obvious choice for any LM Montgomery fan, but Canada forms the backdrop for plenty of fiction and non-fiction masterpieces. Visit the Ontario farm featured in Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace or get in touch with your inner Jack London in the Yukon. You can also visit Placing Literature, where you can search for, add or check in at locations that have literary significance.

Eat your way across the country. Back in June, Vancouver-based food bloggers Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller embarked on an epic, four-month cross-Canada trip to try and get to know the country through its regional cuisine on their blog Feast: An Edible Road Trip. They meet local chefs, cook their own local fare and take great photos. While you may not have have four months to pursue your food passions on the road, their journey might inspire you to create your own version of an edible road trip!

Take in the scenery. Most Canadian road trips will feature pretty stunning scenery but for scene-specific drives, check out Zoomer's 7 Great Canadian Road Trips for some great scenic coast to coast driving ideas and links.

Do you have summer road trip plans this month? Have a favourite road trip route or destination? Let us know in the comments!

- Rose R. 

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Alexandra LeMay

Loved all these ideas for the great Canadian road trip. We just bought Feast: An Edible Toad Trip and are looking forward to our adventure!

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