Alberta

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Getting Around Without a Car in Alberta Isn’t Easy!

After searching the car rentals, I decided that I was best off to take the bus to Edmonton. The Greyhound fare was $30, but the hotel here warned me that the only way to get there without walking in unsavoury neighbourhoods is by cab for about $40.

I decided to check out Via Rail and discovered Red Arrow, a charter bus service. It’ll wind up being pricier than doing the Greyhound plus taxi thing, but it sounds like a much nicer experience. I’ll take a taxi to their location and then again in Edmonton from the arrival point to the dealership. This trip is costing me an arm and a leg and I’m kicking myself for making reservations ahead of time. Live and learn.

My insurance company says that if my registration had still been valid on the car, I would have had two weeks to get everything transferred over. But since it’s not, I have till 6PM to make a deal on the car and get to the registry in Edmonton before it closes. If I succeed, and there’s no reason I can’t because I am ready to pay the full $3,0o0 for the truck (although I’m hoping they’ll settled for $2,000…), then I will be spending the night at Donna and Ken’s in Stettler, tomorrow at my property in Saskatchewan, and Wednesday I will be well on the road back to Quebec a full day earlier than my best case scenario.

Because I’ll be gaining a day, I am considering ordering my towing system parts for me to pick up somewhere along the way in the States, provided I can find a safe place to have them delivered. If I order tonight or first thing in the morning, and have them delivered in the vicinity of Duluth or even Minneapolis, there is a chance we’d arrive at the same time. Any suggestions? Would a post office hold big metal parts sent General Delivery?

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Off to Edmonton to Buy My Toad!!!

I just got hold of the dealership in Edmonton. The truck is available and they are expecting me late this afternoon to close the deal! The reason for the low price became evident when the guy told me “It’s available, but it’s a manual.” This truck is perfect for me! Four door, 2WD (easier to tow than 4WD), less than 200K, recent enough to not need the insurance inspection, has a topper, and it’s dark green. I know, I know, colour isn’t important, but it is. 🙂

The warranty wouldn’t do me much good since I’m not from the Edmonton area, but it is surprisingly comprehensive for a used, 12-year-old vehicle, so that tells me they stand by their inspections. I therefore feel good about going ahead with this. I will of course do a test drive first.

Now, do I pay $30 and get on the noon bus to Edmonton or do I try to find a car rental place that will let me drop the car off there? Budget is out because they were impossible to deal with and Enterprise has no availability today and only works airport to airport. I have a couple of hours to figure that out. But first, I need to call the insurance company to get the ball rolling at their end. And I need to figure out how late I can get a car registered in Edmonton.

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Gaffes

I’m not sure who screwed up, me, Orbitz, or Budget, but my car rental was for yesterday, not today. Thankfully, I found that out through calling rather than after navigating the bus or taking a cab. So that’s $50 down the drain, but I would have probably lost it anyway.

The dealership in Edmonton is unreachable. 🙁 The phone number on their site goes to a fax machine. I am hoping that is the night phone service and they are simply not open right now. I’ll keep trying on the half hour. I’m really tempted to just get on a bus to Edmonton since I’m not seeing anything at all in Calgary, but that would be way too rash.

There’s a used truck dealership right around the corner from the hotel, so I will pop in when they open and see if they have anything suitable.

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Bumpy Landing in Calgary

It only hit me as I tried not to lose my dinner landing in Calgary with a thump thump, thump, BANG that, while I’d landed a number of times at the airport, I’d never stepped outside it. I therefore had no clue how to leave it beyond the general knowledge that there was a free shuttle to my hotel.

First order of business, then, was to find an information kiosk. The first one was closed, but the folks at the second one knew exactly what I needed to do. They told me which exit to take and which pillar to find with a bright yellow phone next to it from which to call the hotel shuttle service. That was easy and the shuttle was already on its way. Not quite as luxurious as taking a stretch limo to McCarran and back, but it was nice not to have to wrestle with my luggage or find a bus.

The hotel is the Travelodge on Sunridge and all I can say is that my room is lovely and bedbug free. Looks like I scored another winner with Priceline!

It’s 8:00 here, but my body doesn’t know that, so I’ll be heading to bed shortly. First order of business tomorrow is to call the dealership in Edmonton. That will determine if I need to pick up my rental car or not. I am going to check Kijiji tonight, but I’m fairly confident that Moya is patiently waiting for me in Edmonton.

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Expanding the Search Radius

I’m rather kicking myself for buying a plane ticket to Calgary before looking at the options in Edmonton. I just found a 2000 Ranger with less than 200,000KM at a dealership in Edmonton. Fully inspected, with a one year warranty and listed at $3,000, which is a steal. I’d probably still have an independent inspection done, but the warranty tells me the dealership would stand by their own.

I sent an offer. Maybe it could be delivered to me closer to Calgary. Maybe I’d lose $120 on the hotel in Calgary and pay a little extra to leave the rental car in Edmonton. Maybe I’d get to meet up with Donna and Ken in Red Deer for lunch on Monday. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

If not this one, then I have decided that if I haven’t found anything in Calgary by Tuesday I’ll leave for Edmonton first thing Wednesday.  The more I search, the more I know I will not settle for anything less recent than a 1998 or with more than 200,000KM.

My insurance broker neglected to mention a little thing called an insurance inspection for vehicles older than 12 to 15 years. It’s not required by all insurance companies, but if I can eliminate some hoops, that would be good.

At any rate, I wouldn’t expect to hear back from the dealership in Edmonton until Monday anyway, so I might as well get to Calgary and hit the ground running. The right truck is out there for me!

Now, I need to go pack. Note to self: grab the GPS, too!