Albert & BC owners unite-spring 08'

OK. Thanks.

I'll see if I can get flights to get to my meeting and back all on the same day on the 12th so I don't have to miss more than the one day.

This is gonna be a blast!!

an added bonus The Great Race is coming through Canmore on June 11, 2008. Hope this does not cause accomodation problems. Merry Xmas! http://www.greatrace.com/newsite/

here are my recommendations for accomodations in Canmore. All units have full kitchens, well appointed & are walking distance to downtown for all eating and shopping/grocery needs. Also most offer underground parking. Canmore is a small town with about 11,000 permanent and 4,000 part time residents. There is a very congested area with short term vacation rentals which I would stay away from....construction is under way on many buildings with no parking and big equipment travelling the streets. It is the "Kananaskis Way" area. www.canmorealberta.com

1. www.bellstar.ca
- go to "Canadian Rockies" tab -
Canmore Crossing building

2. www.ultimaterm.com
- go to "Canmore" tab
Boardwalk building; Canmore Crossing building; Penthouse at Cascade; any private house rental.
Owner of Ultimate Properties - Eric Watson

3. there are also a variety of B&B's - www.bbcanmore.com

4. the Bear and Bison Inn - no indoor parking but very nice. The owner used to be the chef at the Banff Springs Hotel....excellent food. 15 min walk to downtown. Cafe, small store, restaurant and liquor store nearby - www.bearandbisoninn.com/

5. the Creekside Country Inn - beside the Bear and Bison Inn is a more basic choice and more affordable. No indoor parking and a 15 min. walk to downtown. Cafe, small store, restaurant and liquor store nearby. www.creeksidecountryinn.com/

Hope this info helps.
Would be great to have a good turn out!

Blake

Blake:

Is there one place among the choices you have listed that has potential to serve as the primary hub for the event?

Also, are you suggesting that we make reservations right away? In other words, is the event now confirmed and a definite go? If so, then we will need to firm up the exact dates. Will it be June 11-18 or June 10-17?

- Peter

Bake,

Is there a tentative event/route plan? Are people meeting somewhere (Calgary?, Canmore?) and then going to somewhere else, or just loop around?

You mentioned the Great Race. Is there a plan to watch them zoom by, or are you suggesting that we make sure we're nowhere near?

It would be helpful to know because those of us from out East have lots to plan and coordinate if we come, and I in particular would like to try to arrange to see some friends in Kelowna afterwards (or before?). Knowing the general plan would help in my planning and booking of accommodations as well.

Thanks!
Mark

all suggestion are within walking distance of one another. Canmore Crossing has three large buildings and will have the most units available. All building have underground parking. This would be the "hub" location. If a group wished to rent a private home, which can be quite large, this may become an alternative spot to meet. My house will certainly also become an entertainment spot also.
Asfar as dates....I would suggest the 13th-16th of June being the core days and the event running from the 11th-18th of June. This will allow flexibility, especially for those coming from far who may wish to visit a bit more of Western Canada.
I don't believe it is necessary to book right away. High season begins when the school are out for he summer. My guess would be to book by the end of Mar/beginning of April. Probably good to give a call and check with the property management companies that I listed....Bellstar and Ultimate. Make sure the questions are directed towards the Canmore Crossing and Boardwalk buildings. You do not want to be on Kananaskis Way.

Blake

as far as routes go...my plan is the four core days(June 13th-16th) are "out and back" trips from Canmore. Peter mentioned a two day round trip. He may want to lead a group who wishes to discover another area. There are a few "loupe" routes that come to mind...I shall ask Peter make a plan. He is familiar with the area. My plan would be to stay in Canmore and be the host for those who may arrive early or late. I would like the four main days to stay intact as Canmore day trips. Make sense?

Blake

I really need to read my text before posting.....sorry about the grammatical errors.

I believe the four core days are the important ones. Days surrounding these dates are best to be flexible. Everyone has a different agenda...people to visit and things to see. I will remail in Canmore for the week.

Blake

Blake:

I will get to work on generating suggestions for he longer, overnight trip. I'm thinking that a run to Nelson might be a good bet. There are a variety of ways to get there and back, all of which go through some beautiful country with amazing, winding roads.

If people wanted to drive for a few more hours each day, or stay more than one night afield, then we could make it to Penticton or Kelowna, which would be an interesting experience of a unique part of Canada for those folks coming from out East. If we did it as the first thing on the schedule, then we could arrange to meet the drivers from Vancouver and Victoria at the mid-point of their drive to Canmore. In the alternative, we could do it last thing, and in that way accompany the West Coast guys half way home. You have previously suggested this as follows, "...if we wanted to do an extended loop and meet the BC gents, the group could go over Highwood to Hwy 22 and meet in Fernie(golf). Come back through Fairmont(golf & hot springs) Invermere(swim/waterski in Lake Windemere), Radium(hot springs), Golden(Eagle's Eye restaurant at the top of Kicking Horse Resort), Lake Louise(Post Hotel for cocktails/supper), Banff(fun for everyone) and back to Canmore."

I'd like to hear from everyone as to your preferences for the intensity of each day's driving. The alternatives range from early morning starts and driving all day to more leisurely days with the emphasis on sightseeing and shopping. My recommendation is to err on the side of the former. Some of the day trips from Canmore can be made easy so as to give us a good mix, but I would think the overnight trip is our one chance to get into some serious driving terrain and to cover some ground in a way that allows participants to see more of the geographic variety of Western Canada.

- Peter

I am starting route planning, and have not heard back from anyone as to your preferences for intensity. We have two clear choices; stay close to Canmore and meander around at a leisurely pace, or plan for longer driving days and overnight stays in order to get to the prime roads. Silence will be taken as consent. If I do not hear otherwise, I will default to the longer drives option with the overnight stays in the BC interior. I am into long drives on deserted winding mountain roads through spectacular scenery, so if you want to take it easy instead, then you better speak up and make your preference known!

I have confirmed the availability of my mechanic to come along to drive the truck and trailer. The trailer can be used for extra luggage, spare tires, etc in addition to bringing broken cars home. I will supply the truck and trailer. To keep the costs down, I will also supply the mechanic's accommodations and transportation to and from Canmore. He will be taking time off work to do this, so I suggested we would be willing to pay him an honourarium of some kind, as well as his meals and other disbursements. If we get enough people confirmed for this, the cost will be nominal.

There have been few firm confirmations, so be advised that I am now going to start hunting you guys. You will be receiving e-mails and phone calls, so talk to She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed so that you can say for sure if you are in or out. The guys from out East are really going out of their way to load up a semitrailer full of their Panteras and dragging them 3,000km to get to this event, so the least we can do is let them know there will be some of us here to welcome them.

Hi Peter & Blake,

First of all thanks for doing all the planning and prep work, this sounds like it will be a lot of fun!
As for the routes, I'll put my $0.02 in.
I'm personally not big on the idea of long drives over 2 hours at a stretch. I agree this limits the nice roads a bit, but there's still lots out there. I know there's nice twisty highway in the interior (Nelson, up the pass, over to Ainsworth, etc) but that's a bit far for me. I would prefer the local drives like Radium, Golden, Lake Louise, maybe a bit of the icefields parkway for pictures, maybe highwood pass as well. Is the road up spray lakes to mt. shark paved? That could be a nice drive as well. The drive from Castle Junction to Radium is maybe my favorite road in the world so that is a must. The good "twisty" road is probably going in to Golden. Are there others?

Andy

I'm with Andy on the drives over two hours (and he has nice new comfy seats that I do not...). Get up late, eat, drive, rest, eat, yak, drive, yak, relax, drive, eat, sleep... only leaves a few hours of driving.

Please make sure that we allow for some photo-shooting time. As my wife will tell you (sometimes even without being asked), it always take way too long to coordinate a bunch of old guys and their cars into nice groupings. Plus, any "on-the-road" shots require a drive ahead, set-up, return and then the drive-by. I'm not suggesting this will be all about the pics, but this will be a unique opportunity and I'm sure George will want to make space in the PI Magazine for a multi-page spread of this event. I haven't even included time to climb mountains to get those cool over-head shots (since we don't have helicopter budget).

Ultimately, for me, getting together and meeting/sharing is every bit (or more) important than long fantastic drives. I'm confident there will be plenty of both from what I'm reading. I hope all you west-coast guys have your cars ready.

Also Peter, I like the sounds of the trailer and mechanic and am pleased to chip in some.

I have to agree with Mark and Andy. Shorter day trips are fine with me. Meeting all you people and talking to long time pantera owners is what I'm looking forward to the most.

Also, I would be happy to offer a shuttle from Calgary International to Canmore for anybody flying in. Any day, any time, doesn't matter.

Doug M

I am also in favor of short drives...out and back. Peter, I do not know if your mechanic friend and trailer will be necessary. The Premium CAA membership covers 360 km of flatbed towing. This will always bring a car back to Canmore or Calgary where it can be worked on.

Realistically, after the drive from Victoria to Canmore, I will probably be ready for shorter day trips myself.

After all, I have the trip back to look forward to, as well. And I get to go through Golden both ways.

Google says its about 10 hours from Tsawwassen to Canmore. Maybe I'll bring ear plugs...

Here's a quick map that I did so I could get a handle on distances etc. Calgary to Canmore is about an hour (20 minutes if DEEB is driving). From Canmore as a home-base, really nice roads, destinations and vistas are within easy reach (Great choice, Blake). Jasper would, for me, be an over-night side trip if we wanted to do more than just drive there and back without taking anything in, but it would definitely be worth it.

Banff/Lake Louise, Radium and Golden would all be really easy days and a couple could probably be joined together (not crazy about the broken windshield reports on the road to Golden). I do want to note that I will be spending a lot of time in the car with my wife and she'll want to see some of these places beyond the washroom pit-stops. If Andy & David's wives are coming too, I won't be alone having this issue.

You guys who live/have lived out there are best equipped to keep refining the plan, but I like what I'm hearing so far, and now that I can visualize some of the distances involved, it all looks like it could be an awesome time!

Keep up the great work and let's finalize dates related to locations so we can start booking flights and rooms as this will get tight if we wait too long, I suspect.

Thanks!
Mark

Great stuff. Looks like some sweet drives and awesome scenery. What is the timing again? Will our kids be in the middle of exams then?

Guys, we have a week here. You can only drive back and forth to Golden so many times. We really should plan at least one overnight trip that will get us to the Nakusp/Kaslo/Nelson area - you will not regret it. Trust me. If the pitchfork, prancing pony and raging bull guys can cram themselves into their equally noisy and cramped rides for 8 or 10 hours at a stretch, I'm sure we can do it for 4 and survive.

Can we please have a straw vote on the mechanic and trailer thing, please? I need to give him an answer.

Yes to your mechanic. Cheap insurance if 10 or more of us are sharing. How many will we be if 6 are coming from the East?

What is the timing? What week are we there or is it a few days either side of a weekend? And is it Father's Day?

The dates are 11-18 June. If it is Father's Day in there somewhere, then this trip will be my Father's Day present to myself.

We have about ten confirmations so far (counting your six, Deeb)

Great map Mark. You picked all the great day drives out of Canmore. I would add Kananaskis south on #40 to #541 to Longview, back through Turner Valley and Bragg Creek. It's a great scenic drive. I do this one on the bike a lot. There are all kinds of stops, stretches, hikes, photo ops along any of your routes. I'm sure Blake knows them all. Shopping and spas and the like will be best in Canmore and Banff. My wife will not be interested in five or six straight, full days in any car, never mind this one. I'm going to treat this as a kinda mini vacation and slow down and relax a bit from the everyday grind.

My straw says NO to the mechanic but I'm in the position where I can have mine towed home and leave it if I have to. I will certainly go along with the majority decision.

Doug M

The mechanic would cost $100 per day honourarium, $50 per day for meals, plus fuel to a maximum of $400. I will either supply or pay for everything else. This comes to $1,450, or $145 per person if there will be ten of us, $72.50 if there are twenty of us, and so on.

If there is no interest in going further than 200km, then perhaps there is no point to the trailer. My advocacy of this was based on the expectation that we would be ranging into some under-policed and, therefore, remote driver's roads. We don't need a trailer if we are just going shopping to Banff.

If our radius is going to be no more than 200km, then I can leave the trailer at Blake's house so that if we have a disabled car then I can always take a quick run back to get it.

I think we should reconsider the VHF radios too. If we are in remote areas with no cell coverage, then they are essential to keeping a large group together and safe. However, if we are going with the more leisurely option, then we can get away with cell phones and cheap walkie talkies.

Your call, guys. [pun intended ]

I don't care where we go or how close or far we travel. But I do care about the low turnout!

If 6 of us are prepared to travel almost 6,000 miles to do this, then I would expect more than 4 of the local owners to show up.

I count almost 40 cars and 36 owners on my Western Owners list - from BC, AB and MB. If half of them are running that should be 20.

I want to see Panteras twisting round the mountains for miles. There's a post here from the last BC meeting with pics of over 20 cars. What's up with that?

I don't want to sound negative, but maybe Canmore is too far for many of them to get to. If it means we have to travel another 500 miles to go into BC, so be it. If that will make the cars show up, and maybe bring our US owners out as well, then fine.

Let's light a fire under some folks and find out.

All good points above. I'll throw in my vote for the sag wagon and mechanic.

And I totally agree with Doug's suggestion on the drive down Kananaskis 40 south. We can see who's car smokes the most at 7000 ft ASL!

I'll also need a "personal" day in there to go to Calgary, I have a friend with a new G35 I need to see to show him what a real car can do

Peter I see your point about the Nelson/Kaslo area, I agree the drives there are beautiful. The mountains are also more dramatic, more on top of you than other places we're talking about so the guys from out east here will enjoy them. Nelson is also very close to the border so maybe there's a chance to encourage the Seattle/Spokane/Idaho owners to come up for a visit? If this is the case I don't mind the extra drive as long as we can split the drives up with a couple nice breaks.

For those of you who haven't been to Nelson it's like a smaller version of San Fran, with more hippies

I certainly want to come. No question about that. I have my car up on jackstands doing some winter work. If all goes as planned I will have all work done and the car running reliably by April. However I will not know how the work has gone until the time comes to drive it. If it looks like the modifications have fixed all of the bugs I will do everything I can to make it. If I am not 100% sure the problems are resolved Im not going to risk driving 600 miles away from home. Im not worried about the car so much It would just be an enormous pain in the ass. Because of this I dont want to give a definite yes. It will also depend on available funds and my proficiency at sweet talking my spouse. I know the Vancouver guys all have reliable cars as well as the Washington crowd. Its just tough for people to make that kind of commitment as not everyone has the same degree of flexibilty with their home/work life. I certainly hope this works out as it would be an awesome opportunity for the guys on the West Coast to have a gathering like Vegas or Pocono without having to travel thousands of miles.

Blaine "Keeping fingers crossed" Carmena

Hello all.

I recently joined the Forum and am stoked to see that there are, in fact, several active Pantera owners in the AB/BC region. I live in Calgary and, while I do not have a Pantera (yet!), my search has been underway for some time. I am attending the POCA Rally in Las Vegas in May and hope to make a purchase shortly thereafter.

Anyway, please contact me directly if you live in the Calgary area. I am also in Edmonton and Vancouver for business often and would like to see your Pantera (if you're up to giving me a tour)!

I look forward to hearing back from some fellow Pantera enthusiasts.

Regards,

Erik

Welcome Eric,

I live in Calgary and purchased my car last April. I would be happy to give you a "tour" of my pantera and why I picked this particular car. While I am certainly not the expert some of the other owners are, I did do lots of research before I went shopping. I can also share the ups and downs of my experience in purchasing a car out of the US. Look forward to meeting with you.

Send me a private message and I will give you my address and phone #'s.

Doug M

quote:

Originally posted by deeb:
I don't want to sound negative, but maybe Canmore is too far for many of them to get to. If it means we have to travel another 500 miles to go into BC, so be it. If that will make the cars show up, and maybe bring our US owners out as well, then fine.

David: Your idea is a good one, but Blake has been kind enough to serve as our host in Canmore for this trip. Perhaps we could consider doing something based in the BC interior in 2009.

I trust and hope that more western DeTomaso owners will commit soon.

My quick and rough counting of the votes on the mechanic and trailer question are three for, and four against (that is, four in favour of short trips not needing a mechanic or recovery trailer).

I'm going to cut this off as of next weekend, because I owe the mechanic an answer, and I want to get down to route planning. Therefore, either post here (or PM me if you are shy) before then or forever hold your peace.

I am in favor of short trips. There is a trailer in town that possibly can be borrowed(or rented) if we have a truck to pull it. I really don't see the need for a mechanic if short trips are what we agree to for the four main days. Highwood Pass and back through Bragg Creek(or Calgary); Golden Triangle(Castle Junction, Radium, (add Invermere), Golden, Lake Louise); Icefields Parkway(towards Jasper) to the Icefields Centre and back; a "free day" to possibly just hang out....Emerald Lake Lodge, Post Hotel in Lake Louise or the Delta in Kananaskis for a late lunch with supper in Banff and shopping for the girls. If Canmore is too far for the Western owners(US participants), my next perfered location would be Victoria. The interior gets way too hot....Victoria is always pleasant.

If the four main days will be reserved for short trips as recommended by Blake, then I recommend we consider one or two longer circuits for the other four days.

One we should think about is the loop through Bragg Creek, Okotoks and south on 22, then west through the Crowsnest Pass to Cranbrook, north to Invermere, west to Banff and then back to Canmore. We can hit Fairmont Hotsprings on the way.

It is about 780 km, so we could break that up into two easy days by staying in either Cranbrook, Kimberly, or the Fairmont Hotsprings. If that is too long for anyone, they can opt out and do their own "free days". Or we could organize an alternative itinerary for them. Or we could meet them in Banff or Invermere.

Another possible circuit, but one with no obvious overnight stop, would be to go east to Ghost Lake, then north to Rocky Mountain House on hwys 40 & 591(lots of straight stretches and typical Alberta terrain), then west into the park (we can stop at Nordegg to see the Ram Falls (I'll check if there is pavement all the way in from the hwy to the falls)), south on the Icefields Parkway to Banff, then back East to Canmore. It is a 660km drive, which could be done in one day (in 4 hours if DEEB is in the lead). If there is an appetite to make this into an overnight trip, we could turn north on the Icefields Parkway to grab a hotel in Jasper and then back south the next day. This would turn it into a 971 km trip in total.

I'm not married to any one of these ideas - just tossing them out there to see what everyone thinks. I will be happy doing Blake's recommended easy days too -- I just want to run some scenarios by you and get some feedback as to what your preferences are. Keep in mind we have a full week to plan for, so limiting ourselves to short day trips will mean you will be driving the same routes and, obviously, not seeing as much of the country as you could if you were prepared to drive a little further.

If you are worried about the WAF (Wife Acceptability Factor), I suspect once the ladies see the incredible scenery they will be driving through, then any objections to driving distances will melt away. We will also make sure to plan for lots of stops at sites of interest as well as for good meals, and photo ops.

Hey Guys,

Not being very familiar myself with the locations and actual driving distances, is it possible for someone to make up some sort or preliminary day-by-day itinerary that shows what is being proposed? I will probably sit out the days that involve 1000 km drives since even if my car and wife would be up for it, my ass surely wouldn't be (1971 seats...).

If the event consists primarily of short runs then I agree the need for a trailer may not be as great. I will sit on the fence and accept whatever the majority decision is on this. I'm sure most of us have CAA coverage, which I hadn't considered.

It sounds like there are lots of great ideas being proposed, but soon they need to be formulated into something that everyone can review and say Yes or No to so we can start booking holidays, flights etc. My vote is for a nice, balanced mix of everything: great scenery, great roads, great meeting and rest-stops.

Other than the expected 6 of us from the east, how many western owners are on-board so far? Peter, Blake, Doug, Marcus, Herman,...? Anybody from Washington planning to join the fun?

Peter and Doug are on board...Marcus and Blaine would have to drive approx 12 hours to reach Canmore. I am not familiar with any of the other Pantera owners in Western Canada/US. I am hoping the Canmore event will change this. The day trips that I planned are no more than approx. 4 hours of driving with beautiful scenery and great stops for eating, shopping and hiking....well balanced enjoyment. We really do not have many road choices. The drives that I have mentioned will not be super long. The scenery is absolutely stunning. If you are into the outdoors, this is a most wonderful place. I suggest staying in the area for a few weeks. Vancouver is a 10 hour drive. The route through Whistler is very entertaining...lots of curves and natural beauty.

I think a lot of people that would be interested may not be tracking this forum. While I can't speak for them, I think "Ted#9494" in Edmonton would be one. "GT5KR" (sorry,I don't know names) showed an interest earlier in this post. Maybe Blaine can give him a phone call. I think we should make an announcement on the events forum as well for the NW US owners who may not be looking at this Canadian forum. I will try and contact the one other Calgary owner I have met so far. Also, the one of one factory Mangusta Spyder is apparantly in Calgary. I will try to find the owner and coax him to bring the car out of hiding.

I mean, holy crap, we should not be out numbered by the people who are coming (at considerable expense) all the way from eastern Canada.

Doug M

I'm with Mark.

We have to book flights (hopefully on points) and hotels. This event comes right after Pocono and will require some juggling to be out of the office again so soon. So a detailed day by day itinerary ASAP would be great.

As much as I'd like to spend a month cruising the Rockies I am probably looking at 4 or 5 days only (Thursday-Monday). So let's try to get that part of the trip worked out fast.

Not that I'm afraid of long runs, but given the time frame and the WAF, it looks like short trips with an overnighter in Jasper would be the way to go.

I will confirm the spring opening of Highwood Pass and plan the driving trip schedule with Peter and Doug.

Thanks Guys!

Doug, I spoke with the Spyder Mangusta owner a few years back. His name escapes me now, but it was Fred something. You'll not get him to bring that car out for something like this, BUT if you can arrange a tour of his collection, I will personally pay for your dinner one night we're there (you may have to remind me that I agreed to pay, but I will ). I guarantee that unless he has liquidated a lot of it, it would be a VERY worthwhile detour.

quote:

Originally posted by a734me:
...I think "Ted#9494" in Edmonton would be one. "GT5KR" (sorry,I don't know names) showed an interest earlier in this post. Maybe Blaine can give him a phone call. I think we should make an announcement on the events forum as well for the NW US owners who may not be looking at this Canadian forum...Doug M

Ted has confirmed, but I think Herman ("GT5KR") is still tentative. I will give him a call. As for the rest of the guys in Western Canada, I sent them all a written invitation last week. This was then forwarded by POCA NW chapter to DeTomaso owners in Washington. I have not had a single response.

My next plan of attack is to phone everyone. If that doesn't work, I plan to take this all personally and sulk a lot, followed by some good old wallowing in self-pity.

I will be traveling on business for the next week, but will be able to work with Doug & Blake on route planning after that.

I shall post an itinerary for the Canmore event in the next few days - June 13th-16th. I met with Deeb last week in Montreal. He took me to see his car....nice Pantera!

Canmore Pantera Meet - June 13th-16th, 2008

June 13th - The Golden Triangle
-breakfast at Summit Cafe in Canmore
-Hwy #1 to Castle Junction/#93 to Radium, BC(Yoho National Park Hot Springs for a dip)/side trip to Invermere, BC.(a bit of shopping)/a slight backtrack to Golden, BC - lunch at the top of Kicking Horse(Eagle's Eye Restaurant) and a visit with Boo the bear(www.kickinghorseresort.com)/back on route #1 to Canmore through Kicking Horse Pass and Lake Louise
-supper in Banff - St. James Gate Irish Pub

June 14th - Easy going day
-brunch at The Quarry in Canmore
-#1 west to Takaka Falls in BC
-Emerald Lake Lodge - hike around the lake - must wear off the calories from lunch(absolutey stunning area!)
-Lake Louise - Post Hotel for cocktails
-return to Canmore
-Crazyweed for supper

June 15th - Canmore Car Show
-breakfast is up to you(no plans)
-10AM - the annual Canmore Show and Shine(a good turnout of fine Panteras would be appreciated)...remain until 12:30-1:00PM.
-#1 east to Hwy #40 south - Kananaskis Country
-late lunch at The Pub in Kananaskis Village(site of the G-8 summit a few years back)
-continue south on #40 to Longview/north on 22 to Millarville/backroads to Bragg Creek and then to Cochrane/#1A back into Canmore
-picnic supper at Mount Norquay in Banff(Banff restaurant if weather does not permit)

June 16th - Brewster Icefields Centre
-breakfast at Melissa's in Banff
-#1 west to Lake Louise/Icefields Parkway to Brewster's Centre(Snowcoach ride on the glacier)
-lunch at Num-Ti-Ja Lodge(Icefields Parkway)
-Lake Louise - Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise for a walk down the lake - Plain of the Six Glaciers/cocktails at the Chateau
-back to Canmore - BBQ at Blake's