2022 Summer Cruise
The 2022 Summer Cruise is planned already. Mark your calendar July 7th-10th !!!!! I think it is going to be another great event. I haven't heard any complaints yet. I am going to take you on a driving trip through the mountains, past some different coloured rivers, water and pools. All the time staying in Canada travelling past small towns, along some winding roads, with gorgeous views, maybe check out a fruit stand or two then some more winding roads to make your tires work.
The cut off date for commitment is June 10th. You have to let me know if you are coming prior to this date and have your rooms booked as well. All the hotels have been preplanned and rooms have been blocked for our group. There are only 10 rooms blocked, if you are interested in coming this year, let me know early in case I need to block more rooms. There is already 4 cars going on the trip, don't hesitate to get a hold of me.
If you are interested in attending the next summer cruise please email me. rdscc99@gmail.com or text/call 403-350-1200
If you haven't been on one of these epic trips, join the club and come out for the fun!!!
Previous Cruises:
2012 - Kelowna, BC
2013 - Kalispell, MT
2014 - Great Falls, MT
2015 - Coeur d'Alene, ID
2016 - Kelowna, BC
2017 - Kalispell, MT
2018 - BC Road Trip
2019 - US Road Trip
2020 - BC Road Trip - through Nelson, the beloved sacred land of Adam
2021 - BC Road Trip - From Valemont to Osoyoos
2018 Summer Cruise Recap
The 2018 RDSCC Summer Cruise was another epic trip, 4 days, 7 cars, 11 crazy people, over 1750kms and 0 traffic violations (again).
2002 BMW M5 – Jerry and Anita
2004 Honda S2000 – Reimer and Lorraine
1988 BMW 325is – James and Monica
2007 Lotus Elise – Bryan and Lori
2017 Shelby GT 350 – Adam
1998 BMW 328is – Chris
2015 Porsche Cayman GTS – Kelvin
We met at our usual spot in gas alley and were ready to hit the road at 7:00am. We were short one car, but they were going to leave a little later and meet us there. 5 cars departed, and we ripped down C&E Trail then onto the back highways winding our way down to the Shell on Hwy 22. We met our 6th car there and after a quick fuel stop we made some miles down Hwy 1A to the mountains. We navigated some beautiful corners before getting to Seebe and heading back east to the Casino at Hwy 40. These roads were just going to be a tease for what we would drive the next day. We saw virtually no traffic so far that hindered us, and our rally continued down Hwy 40 to Longview. Some of us found out that if you bring up the rear of the pack at slower speeds that you get to see wildlife. For those of us leading the pack, we never saw the grizzly bear and there were no photos to corroborate the story………haha. We made it to Longview just in time for the parade to end and for the highway to open up again which was perfect timing so that we could all regroup again. The trip down to Hwy 3 was flawless and we pulled into Blairmore to feed the hunger at Jason the Pie Man Sports Bar & Restaurant. The food was amazing and really hit the spot. The last short jaunt over to Fernie took no time at all, checked into the hotel, washed the cars and then we headed to Fernie Brewing Co. After sampling some beers, we headed downtown to check out the new Fernie Distillers, the last car finally made it to town now, so James and Monica met us at the distillery. Their Fog liqueur was awesome, and the cocktails were so good that I had to have 3 of them. We headed back to the hotel to freshen up for supper and a couple more drinks.
On the second day we left Fernie at 8:07am (Reimer made sure that I knew we were running 7 minutes late, haha) westbound on Hwy 3 and then veered off onto the Lakeview Arrow Creek Rd. The first bit was freshly loose chipped and hadn’t been swept off yet, but I was not about to give up. You never know what might be around the next corner if you don’t look, so I had to go look. I found pavement with no rocks and started grabbing gears. This was the first taste of what everyone was going to get for roads for the rest of the day, corner after corner after corner. Then hwy 3A to the ferry was nothing short of the most incredible road I’ve ever been on. It was like we were on a closed road course. There was very little traffic to deal with except the bikers from Quebec that would not be courteous to our itching urge of opening up the throttle. The road was a car driver’s dream. We didn’t make the ferry time that I wanted to at Kootenay Bay, but this probably was the best thing as it gave us time to relax after the last stretch of road and have more time before the next stretch of road that was ahead of us. Once we were off the ferry at Balfour it was another unbelievable 36 kilometres of highway up to Kaslo. We stopped at the Kaslo Hotel & Pub for lunch which had mouth watering food and beautiful views of the lake. On the way up to Kaslo for lunch we passed by Ainsworth Hot Springs which we had planned to go back to for a soak. The Hot Springs were very nice and relaxing, there are natural caves there that you can go back into and enjoy the water as well as the pools to soak in. The relaxation in the water was exactly what we needed at the time to break up the day a bit. Now that we were all relaxed and tired from the hot pools it was time to get the blood flowing again on the highways. Hwy 31A from Kaslo to New Denver through the mountains was some of the most exhilarating driving that I have done in a long time. The roads we saw on this part cannot be matched again. From New Denver up to Nakusp the highway was still amazing, but after the last couple stretches it was a little more relaxing. We were able to get checked in to the hotel and a little bit of relaxation before it was time for a cocktail and supper.
The third day was a winding drive up to Galena Bay at top speed to catch the ferry across to Shelter Bay. The highways in this area are incomparable to any other. The ferry ride was short but enjoyable. Kelvin, Jerry and Anita were stuck behind a truck that couldn’t get started to get off the ferry, so they had to push the pickup off. It was a short drive up to Revelstoke in the congested ferry traffic to the hotel. We couldn’t check in right away as we were there early so most of us headed over to the Revelstoke Mountain Park to ride the Pipe Mountain Coaster. The coaster was very cool and added to the whole trip and the highways that we had been on, corner after corner, dips and curves, fast sections and mountain air. After the Pipe Mountain Coaster, we headed back to the hotel to check in. All our rooms still weren’t ready so over to Mt Begbie Brewing Co to sample some more beer. The beer was good and the appetizers there were good, but they need to pave their driveway…………gravel and sports cars are not friends. We were all able to check in after the sampling so back to the hotel to settle in. We decided on going downtown to the music festival that happens every night to listen to some music, have a few drinks, and eat some food. Almost in that order too. We ended our night at the Regent Hotel lounge and opted out of the taxi back to our hotel, so we all got some exercise and walked off the food and drinks for 2.4kms.
The last day of the trip we departed Revelstoke a little late because the waitress wasn’t cooperating with how we wanted our bills separated. Topped up Kelvin’s coolant and then hit the road to Canmore. It was an easy drive to Canmore, with some construction along the way, but nothing horrible. Lunch at the Wood Restaurant in Canmore was perfect until it started to rain, then downpour, and then hail. By the time we were done lunch it had stopped and almost dried up and we found no damage to the vehicles. Leaving Canmore Adam, Reimer and Lorraine parted ways to their other destinations. The rest of us took off on Hwy 1A to Hwy 22 and up to the Shell again. Pit stop for bathrooms and we all said our good-byes there as that was the last stop together on the trip. Easy drive up Hwy 22 to Olds and then up the Deuce to Red Deer.
I had said back in March that “along these routes I see prairies, foothills, windy roads, bridges, mountains, wildlife, back country paved trails with "get out of my way bicyclist cause I'm coming through" straight-aways and corners, a couple ferries, beaches and either white water rafting or a mountain coaster ride all before we get home again." I am pretty sure that I lived up to what I said. I may have understated what the roads were going to be like because I wanted to keep some of the surprise element alive…………
I must thank everyone that came along and made this yet another memorable trip. I hope you enjoyed it enough to come again next year wherever that may take us.
Bryan Lea
2017 Recap
The 2017 Summer RDSCC Cruise was a lot of fun again: 5 days, 4 cars, 7 awesome people, 1710 kms and 0 traffic violations again on July 1-5, 2017
This year the trip was a little staggered as there were people that wanted to come on the trip, but couldn’t leave at the same time as us. So this year the trip started with 2 lonely cars converging at Starbucks in Gasoline Alley at 7:00am. A quick coffee and breakfast (I took some sauce with me on the trip as it ended up on my shirt) as well as a farewell and safe drive from a local County Peace Officer (he was a friend of ours, but wouldn’t give us a lights and sirens escort to the county line) before we headed south on the back roads. I lead the way through some nice back country down through Innisfail, Bowden, Olds, Didsbury, and Carstairs before we turned west to head towards Cremona. Being that it was Canada Day when we hit Cremona we were almost in the middle of the parade, but we decided not to register our cars as a float so we continued for some fuel and pit stop at the Shell on Hwy 22. We took off south on Hwy 22 and continued through Bragg Creek. When we hit Black Diamond, I noticed a fellow Lotus owner in a Lotus Exige at a set of lights. Little did we know that we should have turned right at those lights to stay on course, but we gawked at the car and continued straight. It only took a few kilometres to realize that we missed our corner so we turned around and got back on track. Hwy 22 south of Black Diamond and Longview always seems to have this weird effect on the car club. There is always someone that wants to join our group and try to keep up. We had another BMW and white Dodge truck that kept good pace with us the whole way down. I am sure the people in the black Lexus had to change their shorts after they failed to shoulder check before passing and almost side swiped us, but we will never know as they turned west with the truck on Hwy 3. I think we were hoping for the BMW driver to stop and say hi when we stopped in Pincher Creek for fuel, but he was a little shy. The top came off the Lotus and the sun burn began when we left Pincher Creek (I wasn’t smart enough to put on sunscreen). The border crossing was a little strange this go around as the border agent wanted to know what I did for work, how much I made a year and how I could afford my car. Pretty sure only one of those questions is relevant for crossing the border. It was another beautiful drive down to Browning, Montana with a safer stop at the casino for bathrooms this year, and then we continued to Hwy 2 across to Columbia Falls and down to Kalispell. Once we arrived at the hotel we saw Mark and Patty, as they left later than us, but took a more direct route down. We all got checked in and then headed across to the Montana Club for drinks and snacks. We lost Patty for a couple hours as she found some great thrift deals across the street at a store. We all stocked up on some drinks from the gas station and then gathered for a night cap in Mark and Patty’s room. The other Mark arrived a little while later and joined us for a night cap which resulted in there being 2 chairs missing from the breakfast room which seemed to be a mystery for the staff there all weekend. (lol)
In the morning on Sunday we all met for breakfast and then headed out to the airport to meet Frank and get a tour of his boss’ hanger. After the tour, he took turns taking us all for flights in his Cessna 170 over Kalispell and Whitefish. Not quite as much fun as previously in the Harvard, but it was still really cool to see everything from the sky. While everyone was up taking turns on flights we also walked over and chatted with Hank Galpin and admired his amazing airplanes as well in the next hanger. He had this really cool 1928 Travel Air 6000 that he spent 10 years restoring. After all the flights, we let Frank get back to his wife and camping and we headed over to Moose’s Pizza for some crazy cheap drinks and great pizza. After lunch we dropped off Lori and Patty at the hotel, then the rest of us went for a drive all the way around Flathead Lake. We finished off the night with drinks and supper at the Montana Club. Mark D must have got a call that night about his hot water tank leaking as he bolted in the morning to get home and fix it.
On Monday morning we all met at Syke’s Diner for breakfast and then took off up the Farm to Market Road and the Star Meadows Road and then carried on to Whitefish and up to Big Mountain Resort. Once up at the resort we bought tickets for the Alpine Slide so that we could get down to the lodge and relax for a drink. In the afternoon, everyone except me took off to Foy’s Lake Beach for some sun and sand (my shoulders were still sore from the sunburn on the way down). We finished off the night with some really good Mexican food at Casa Mexico and some drinks at Montana Club after that.
Tuesday morning was another set of goodbyes as Mark and Patty had to leave a day early to get back for meetings. Once we said our goodbyes Jerry, Anita, Lori and I walked up Main St to watch the 4th of July parade. The parade was good as always but there were no marching bands which seemed odd. After the parade we took off up to Whitefish to have lunch at Bulldog’s Saloon as they take Canadian cash at par for drinks. Bulldog’s is known for their amazing burgers so we had to try some and we had to admire their decor as well. Whitefish has a mountain town feel to it much the same as Canmore or Banff, so it was pretty cool to walk around and check out the stores. On the way back from Whitefish, Jerry’s record store was finally open, so he had to stop and pick up some more gems. We decided to head down to Lakeside early to make sure that we were able to find a spot to park, so off to Spinnaker Bar & Grill we went. We enjoyed some drinks and supper before heading across the street to the beach for some chaos and wonder that ensued. There were kids and people everywhere that were setting off fireworks on the beach road for over an hour straight. We didn’t feel all that safe even on the dock with them doing that as there were some that fell over and shot right into the crowds of people. We watched thousands of dollars of fireworks set off before the actual 4th of July main fireworks show started. We were “firework-ed out” before the real show even started.
Wednesday was our departure day and as we drove out of Kalispell and past Columbia Falls we could see all the remnants of the celebrations from the night before littered all over every parking lot that we drove by. We took the Going to the Sun road back and it was a scenic drive as always. Crossing the border back into Canada at Carway was a better experience than on the way down. Quick pit stop in Fort Macleod for lunch and then it was a straight shot back to Red Deer from there.
These trips are always fun and always accompanied with amazing friends so we will have to see what next year will have in store for us.
Bryan Lea
2016 Recap
The 2016 Summer RDSCC Cruise was a lot of fun again, 4 days, 4 cars, 8 awesome people, over 2000 kms and 0 traffic violations again.
The trip started with the 4 lone cars converging at Starbucks in Gasoline Alley at 6:30am (well 6 of us did, Jerry didn’t have Anita pushing him to be punctual). A quick coffee and breakfast and then we were heading west. Jerry had some tire problems so we made a quick pit stop in Rocky Mountain House at Bumper to Bumper for a valve stem tool, but not before a gravel hauler was road raging on Kelvin on Hwy 11. After the quick stop we continued west to Hwy 93. On the way we stopped for a photo op at Abraham Lake where we took a photo on the first RDSCC Summer Cruise. Cruising down the Icefields Parkway in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains we were only slightly delayed by construction. Dodging construction all the way to Revelstoke we headed south on Hwy 23 to the Shelter Bay ferry after grabbing lunch to go. I had a lovely chat with the chump driving the pilot car on the way south then we had to wait an hour for the next ferry. This was an excellent time for some R&R and a Klondike bar from the concession. While waiting we spoke to some truckers that figured their logging trucks could do well on a road race, so after we got off the ferry we gave one of them a good run through the corners to Nakusp. We just barely made the Needles ferry where one of the deck hands thought Jerry was our dad (lol). The run from Needles to Vernon on Hwy 6 was worth all the delays and construction we had to suffer through. The relaxation in the hotel lounge felt good on the first night since we were never pulled over on the way out (probably because the black Vette never came).
Friday started with us checking out some sights at Mission Hill Winery. There was less to explore this year as they had lots of the areas locked down (I am sure Lori and Ford had something to do with that in 2012 when they broke into the barrel room). We followed this up with a private tour of Arrowleaf Cellars from a high school friend of mine that owns it with his parents. It was cool to see the barrel room, the processing room and how they are able to do most of the work with very little staff. The afternoon continued with a beer at the house of one of the founders of RDSCC, Fred. After all you can eat fish and chips, Anita joined our group from her quick flight to Kelowna. The celebrations continued in the hotel lounge that night.
Saturday started with a run down to Penticton to reminisce the drive on the Green Mountain Road. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of driving that road. We took turns leading and following and moving the GoPros around so that everyone was on some footage. We climbed up to Apex Mountain on the switch backs and saw the ghost town that is The Village in the winter. There were some amazing views, neat buildings and a cool sno bunny troll that Monica befriended. In the afternoon Wicked Wine Tours took us to five wineries to sample some of BC’s finest wines. Our driver and owner, Nick, put up with our antics and we didn’t scare away the other four people that filled our tour. The steak for supper tasted so good after the long day.
Sunday, we made our way back, but we never stuck to the main roads. A rip up the Salmon River Road to Salmon Arm and then a refreshing ice cream at Dutchman Dairy was a great way to start the day. The race to Canmore continued and then a refuel at Rocky Mountain Flatbread was welcomed. Kelvin led us back from Canmore on Hwy 1A and then we snaked our way through the back country of the foothills and ranch lands to Red Deer. I think we found our new tour guide of the back roads for next year.
If anyone wants more info on the annual summer cruises that we do or to hear more stories ask myself or anyone of us that went on the trip.
This year the trip was a lot of fun, we got to know everyone a lot better and grow better friendships with everyone.
I hope that next year we can see more new faces and keep all the ones that attended in the past.
There are photos in the gallery on our website that you can check out.
COMING SOON!!!
Next year’s trip is in the planning, see ya then.
Bryan Lea
2015 Recap
The 2015 RDSCC Summer Cruise was a success, July 1st to 5th. It was 5 days, 8 cars, 16 people, 106.5 hours of fun, over 1700kms and 0 traffic violations.
The run started with coffee and breakfast in gasoline alley and then we took off down highway 2 and 2a to Olds. We headed west and then down highway 22 with a quick stop at the Shell gas station just north of Cochrane. We had a lovely chat with a constable and another RCMP officer from Cochrane reminding us that it was Canada Day and that giving out tickets on Canada’s birthday was not something that he wanted to do. (pretty sure it was the black Vette’s fault that they stopped to talk to us) From there we continued our journey to highway 1a and headed west to Morley and then onto highway 1 to highway 40. We took the scenic route to Longview on highway 40 and then another quick stop for fuel, fluids and a stretch. Leaving Longview we acquired a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT 8 that had to prove it was faster than the Lotus, but then it soon gave up. Once on highway 3 we pulled in for a photo op at Lundbreck Falls, 2 years ago when we were there it looked like Niagara Falls it was flowing so fast from the flooding. We left there to head west on highway 3 through the Crowsnest just in time for the black Vette to get us pulled over again. I guess the holiday trailers on highway 22 didn’t like getting past by sports cars. The cop was nice and quite annoyed that he had to deal with a driving complaint. After the Lotus and the black Vette got a warning we continued to Sparwood for lunch since we were stuck there a couple hours due to an accident on the highway. The border crossing was uneventful and it was a hot drive the rest of the way down to Coeur d’Alene to the hotel. We all stayed at the Best Western and had reserved parking with the security cameras looking right at the cars. (by request)
Silverwood Theme Park occupied all of the next day with lots of rollercoasters and waterslides. We discovered that after an all-you-can eat bbq buffet it is not best to go on the After Shock rollercoaster. We ended up with one unhappy rider visiting the bathroom and wasting a very affordable and delicious buffet lunch. At the waterpark we also discovered why there is a weight limit on the Avalanche Mountain, any heavier and I am sure the tube would have left the slide on the corners it was going up so high. (we still had 45lbs before we were at the max weight though, lol)
On our 3rd day into the trip some of us enjoyed a beach day in the sun and water as well as a lake cruise for 90min on one of the Lake Coeur d’Alene Scenic Cruises. It was hot, really hot, but we were able to see all the fabulous homes (mansions) and get some historic information about Coeur d’Alene while enjoying the bar service on the top deck. On our way to supper that night we took a relaxing drive out there on E Coeur d'Alene Lake Drive and E Yellowstone Trail. I might have forgotten about a short stretch of gravel on that route, but the 3M on the Porsche did its trick and it helped everyone else forget about the 500’ drop offs with no guard rail on the corners. I made reservations at the Wolf Lodge Inn that night and 12 of us were able to make it. Jerry sampled the swinging steak (he ate balls) and then shared it with whoever else wanted to experience balls in their mouth. (I did not partake)
On July 4th a few of us went down and watched the parade in the morning. A little bit of shopping, kind of a down day, then down to the docks for the fireworks. The fireworks show was better than I have seen in a long time.
5th day was a travel day back, early breakfast and on the road back. The trip back was quick, fewer stops and no traffic tickets.
Below are a few videos of the fireworks at CDA that I found on you tube.
A video from a drone of the fireworks at CDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyatSjXxbJg
Finale at CDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFHBbBps_lA
Finale at CDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZIESBlFkLM
If anyone wants more info on the annual summer cruises that we do or to hear more stories ask myself or anyone of us that went on the trip.
This year the trip was a lot of fun, we got to know everyone a lot better and grow better friendships with everyone.
I hope that next year we can see more new faces and keep all the ones that attended in the past.
There are photos in the gallery on our website that you can check out. http://www.rdscc.ca/AutoCross/Photos/tabid/64/Default.aspx?path=2015+RDSCC+Summer+Cruise
Next year’s trip is in the planning, see ya then.
Bryan Lea