West Coast Trip 2004

to the 6th Annual West Coast MX-3 Meet

Recalled by James Gosteli

Well it was time for another Trip to BC for the Annual West Coast MX-3 meet. We all met up in NW Calgary at the Stoney Trail & 16Ave Esso Station at about 1:00 in the afternoon. The sun was shining and it seemed like a pretty good day for a Road Trip. Justin and his cousin came armed with a camcorder, which could prove interesting. We set our FRS radios to the same channel and did a quick check to make sure that Justin could hear us on his older radio. After doing a last minute tire pressure check we hit the road.

Getting ready to leave Calgary	Full speed ahead	Entering the Rocky Mountains	A long voyage ahead of us
	Castle Mountain in the distance	Are we there yet?

The cruise through the mountains was quite nice but for some reason Justin wasn't talking on his Radio. What we didn't realize was that Justin's radio could not do sub-channels and therefore he could hear us but we couldn't hear him. Justin and his cousin were really bitter since they thought we were ignoring them. We didn't realize this until just minutes before Golden, BC where Darcy and I switched off the sub-Channels.

We made a quick stop in Golden to grab snacks, pee and for me to fuel up my gas-stove of a V6. Then we hit the road again and planned a stop in Revelstoke for the others to fuel up. Justin & his cousin Mike came up with nicknames for the cars; Red Leader, Black Booty, and GoldFinger.

Pit Stop in Revelstoke

Still lookin' clean

Justin, are you still eating?

After a while of driving, we hit a nasty storm before Revelstoke. It was raining so hard that you could barely see where you were going. There were several lightning strikes in the area and we witnessed a couple of forest fires start. Soon after the storm we arrived in Revelstoke. Justin and Darcy fueled up their cars and grabbed some more snacks. Next it was time for Kelowna, our final destination of the day.

Now that's some heavy rain	Justin, are you okay back there?	Clearing a little	Are we there yet?
	Ignition	GoldFinger

The traffic to Kelowna was fairly light and Darcy seemed to enjoy speeding off ahead. We arrived in Kelowna at around 8:00pm and stopped at my Aunt and Uncle's place in South Kelowna to figure out where everyone was going to stay the night. My Aunt & Uncle offered their orchard for the rest of the group to camp in. This was very nice of them and this way we were all together. We then desided to head to BPs for some food and then returned to the Orchard to relax a bit before going to bed. There was a strange noise from the not so distant forest that night. It sounded like a monsterous beast or someone jumping on the side of a cow or something. But other than that the night was quite peaceful.

Video of cruising by Darcy's car

Lovely mountain scenery and curvy roads that justify driving at insane speeds

James & Justin in Darcy's mirror

Drive by video

Volkmann Orchards in Kelowna

The next day the sun was shining and the temperature was beginning to rise. I rolled out of bed to look at my watch and discovered it was only 5:45am. I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up to take a few pictures.

Can you believe it's only 5:45am?	It must be getting hot in there	Mike looks pretty comfy
A view from the orchard	I wish we could grow apples that well in Alberta	Who wants fish for breakfast?

I was surprised to see everyone getting up so early. Justin & Darcy snoozed in the tent while Justin's cousin, Mike, slept in Justin's car. Now we know why? According to Darcy, Justin snores like a "Dying Cat". Everyone (besides Darcy) felt well rested and easily woke up to the morning sun. The barking of my aunt's dog, Lady, probably had something to do with it as well. We quickly got our things together and went to the Beach before it got too crowded.

Awwe... Look at da big puppy	Darcy being greeted by Lady	This is never before seen footage of Justin awake at 6:00am	Rise and Shine
	Justin's cousin, Mike & Max, the travelling Gnome	What a nice place	Cruising through Kelowna

Gyro Beach was fairly empty when we got there. Darcy wasted no time and dove into the water. It water was a little cooler than we would have liked but it wasn't too bad once you got used to it. My Girlfriend Tracy eventually came in but Justin and his cousin took a bit more convincing before eventually going in the water. It clouded over a little while we were at the beach but as soon as we left, it cleared up and started to get really hot! Figures...

Arriving at the beach	A whole beach to ourselves	Nothing like a morning swim to wake you up	a little too cold for ya?
"oh it's not that cold"	"see, it's not so bad"	We found a body!	Darcy digging his hole
	Obviously Darcy was bored	Quick! Throw in the sand!
Do you wanna know what makes Darcy giggle like a little girl? ->	Do this!	Ahoy!!!	That sand gets into everything

Afterwards, we went back to the orchard to grab a few last minute things and hit road. My aunt convinced us to go pick some apricots and cherries to take with us on the trip. After that we stopped for a quick bite to eat and fueled up before leaving the city.

Damn it's hot!!!

"Strike a Pose"

MX-3s over Kelowna

The heat was becoming unbearable at a toasty 38 Degrees Celsius. Being stuck in some weekend traffic through West Bank didn't help matters either. After 30mins of scorching temperatures we eventually got up to a good highway speed. Justin's car seemed to experience some difficulties on some of the hills. We were beginning to worry that something would go seriously wrong. I was begining to envision my GS pulling Justin's car up the hill with a rope. After a while of driving, we made it to Hope to fuel up and get something cold to drink. Justin's car was not sounding very healthy with the occasional cowbells and scraping noises. We figured that it was most likely exhaust piping related and tried not to worry too much about it.

Heading up some massive mountains towards Merrit just outside of Westbank	Video - Barreling down the mountain highway before Merritt	Video - Justin does a flyby in "Goldfinger"
Welcome to Hope	I hope we can make it...	Entering the lower mainland

After another long stretch we hit a nice stretch of rush hour traffic just before Surrey. Good thing Kevin gave me instructions, before the trip, on a short-cut to avoid the traffic. We turned off on the 200 before Surrey and took the back roads to Kevin's place. Just as we were getting close to Kevin's house, a white MX-3 pulled out behind us. It was Kevin just getting home. Good timing or what?

After a few introductions, Kevin hauled out the hose and water bucket so that we could take turns washing the MX-3s. The front ends of our cars looked like a bug cemetery.

Afterwards we went inside and had a bit of a BBQ. We told Kevin all the crazy adventures of our trip and what we saw on the way. Later on we hooked up the camcorder to the TV and played back some of the highway drive footage from the inside of Justin's MX-3. Before we knew it, it was time for bed. Tomorrow was the big day of the West Coast meet.

Click here to view the West Coast MX-3 Meet 2004 section, recalled by Kevin Gee.