If you look at the map on the home page, my job is pretty much driving “across” the country from the West coast to the East coast.

However, today is a little bit different, instead of going East, I’m traveling from the South to the North in the Province of Alberta.

The uber-sustainable house at 3 Landry Close in Red Deer, Alberta

My first stop today is in Red Deer, after a dry and sunny morning drive on the Queen Elizabeth II Alberta highway for slightly over 90 minutes, I reached the first destination. And then it snowed. Big fat western flakes.

I found two brand new homes that had something in common with me. We are all environmentally friendly and trying to help reduce the resources and energy we use the best that we can.

EQuilibrium Health Housing for a healthy environment is a national housing initiative led by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and brings the private and public sector together on research and development to develop homes that address occupant health and comfort, energy efficiency, renewable energy production, resource conversation, reduced environmental impact and affordability.

The Avalon Discovery 3 Project, Red Deer, Alberta

There are 14 homes across the country under this EQuilibrium Health Housing for a healthy environment program and two of them are in Red Deer; I got to visit both of them. One is built by Laebon Homes, known as the CHESS project.  The other is the Avalon Discovery 3, built by Avalon Builders.

I learned so much about how energy efficient appliances, solar thermal and water re-use can really help sustainable living.

These two environmentally friendly homes in Red Deer are pretty much like myself, a hybrid vehicle, for a changing world.

The 'bowels' of the CHESS Laebon project

Final pitstop for the day at Good Earth Café in Edmonton. Good Earth Cafés, in Calgary, Red Deer, Okotoks, Edmonton and Kelowna, are 100% Wind Powered – one of the cleanest sources of energy available. They choose as little packaging as necessary for their products. They look for recycled content, recyclability, and minimizing impact. They use whole foods, whole grains, and organic ingredients in their products. Their coffee is 100% Organic, Shade Grown to protect biodiversity and Fair Trade. They even give away their coffee grounds for compost. Makes for lively and energetic gardens!

The Prairies are calling tomorrow morning… open road, open sky, yeehaw!

And now… for another side of my story:

Why is it I kept hearing “North to Alaska” on my radio? I was told we weren’t going that far north, but rather just from Calgary to some place one of my drivers called “The City of Champignons” – I’m not sure why, though he (a Calgarian) mentioned something about a cloud that shape being a good way to treat Edmonton. I didn’t really understand what he meant, but I think it had something to do with hockey, or football, or maybe politics.

Straight and flat, straight and flat. My drivers said it’s called the Queen Elizabeth II highway, obviously the sequel to a successful highway somewhere else. Leaving Calgary, my drivers activated my cruise control and it stayed activated most of the way to our way point – Red Deer – where my humans visited a couple of places they called green houses. Funny, though, while there were some big glass panels, it didn’t look like the type of green houses I’d heard about, where humans grow vegetables.

Cruise control was a good way to control the cruise up to Red Deer and, later, Edmonton. It let me monitor and handle the duties of driving that, if left to the humans, would have been far less efficient. After all, I’m the one with the insight into efficiency.

My humans stopped for lunch after visiting what they called EQuilibrium Health Housing – those strangely named green houses – and, perhaps to continue the environmental theme, the male was looking quite green afterward and he kept whining about Philly Cheese Steak not sitting well. But he seemed to be sitting fine once he adjusted my driver’s seat a bit so I think it must have been something else he meant.

About an hour and a half of more straight and flat driving (though there were actually two curves and a hill!) in cruise control  got us to that City of Champignons, and talk about the traffic! I threaded my way between pickup trucks and big SUV’s and beaten up old junkers that really need to be replaced by my brothers and sisters to the Good Earth Café – a place they serve something called coffee, despite the name of the place making me think they served excellent dirt. Maybe the coffee was fresh ground…

I don’t know why my humans insisted on stopping for lunch, for coffee, for dinner. Heck, I was fresh as a daisy and ready to keep going and wasn’t even half hungry. I drove all day, carrying two people comfortably and helping them find their destinations with my navigation system, and when those fragile humans needed to top up their tanks I was content just to wait for them outside, ready and rarin’ to go again.

Should be interesting tomorrow. I heard we’re going through Lloydminster, and someone told me that city really crosses the line. I’m not sure what that means either, but I hope it doesn’t mean there’s going to be a fight….

What an insight I’m getting into Canada …ocean, islands, inland cities and towns – and mountains.

It’s morning at the The Three Bars Ranch near Cranbrook. The sky is dull grey, it’s chilly, rain, maybe even snow, threatens.

It’s 6 a.m. and I wonder why roosters don’t come with snooze buttons. But I had such a good night’s rest – fresh air, quiet. Until the rooster!

There’s no sign of my new humans yet. Surely that rooster roused them, too.

Finally, there they are, a male and a female, just leaving their log cabin. Wait! They’re ignoring me! Going the other way! Hey, look over here, see the lovely decals? My sinuous shape?

Oops. I forgot. Humans need to fuel up with something they call breakfast before they  face the rest of the day. If I had to refuel as often as they do, nothing would ever get done.

I’ll wait here and catch a few more ZZZs since the rooster has shut his beak. He’s probably egging on some chicken back in the coop. I hear he’s a brooding sort.

Ahh, here they come from the ranch lodge, looking well-fed and happy, we’ll soon be on our way to Calgary. I’m looking forward to “Cowtown” – I understand the streets are crowded, just the place for me to show off my stuff.

It looks like the male is going to guide me while the female tells him where to go. That seems to be a standard human trait: one always telling the other where to go.

I can SHOW them were to go. My navigation system has the capability and nobody seems to argue with ME!

As we leave, two horses stand by the gate as if to say goodbye. They are beautiful beasts.
Now the road is clear and the gravel crunches under my tires. Its raining now and I can’t see the mountains at all. Sigh. It was pretty here yesterday.

Mmmm... muffins just out of the oven, made with local ingredients only.

The humans decide I need some breakfast, too. Something to drink would be nice since my next sip won’t be for several hours and we have places to go. People to see.

Rolling into Fernie, B.C., my “crew” decides it’s time to top up their coffee tanks.

The Cincott Farms Organic Market run by Scott and Cindey Taylor is perfect. It’s one of those “field to fork” businesses that are becoming popular. Even the take-out cups and lids are biodegradable. (851-7th Avenue, 250-423-5564, Fernie, BC)

Next stop is Sparwood where we find the nearly-perfect contrast for my economical attributes: the largest truck in the world, a Terex Titan. Talk about beauty and the beast.

Sparwood, BC - Home of the World's Largest Truck. I saw it tremble as I pulled up. Honest.

At Lundbreck Falls in Alberta, we come across the first of the hundreds of wind turbines that rise from the landscape all the way beyond Pincher Creek. It’s a private power operation belonging to the land owner. He even has bison.

A few minutes later we meet up with Hal Jorgensen, operations manager for the wind farm owned by TransAlta Wind. I like Hal, he and I have the same attitude: let sleeping dinosaurs lie. It’s power to the people in an eco-friendly way.

While I wait at the base of a giant wind turbine, Hal takes my two humans into the base of the giant tower to show them how things are controlled. He says there are more than 400 of these things around Pincher Creek and that brings a huge tax benefit to the people and community.

Hal Jorgensen, Operations Manager at TranAlta's Pincher Creek Wind Farm, showed us around.

Wind is becoming more popular since the cost is now so much closer to that of coal or gas-fired power sources. People in Calgary can now sign up for “wind” power, he says.
As we leave, the female takes the wheel. (The male makes no attempt to tell her where to go).

Calgary here we come: Past Fort Macleod, site of an early NWMP fort; Claresholm, which touts its environmental sustainability; Nanton with its WW 2 Lancaster bomber.

Clouds close in, the headwind increases, making it difficult to maintain my pace without dipping more deeply into my fuel supply.  No big thing, really. We’ve come 398 km, my tank is still more than half-full and there’s just 80 km to go.

Then we’re at our rendezvous with expedition directors Garry and Lisa. They take over from my two companions for the day and we drive off in the rain.

Tomorrow I meet another new driver who will guide me into another new insight into our Country.

I can hardly wait!

Oooh … there they are, my new drivers for today’s leg of my tour… my, don’t they look handsome in their matching jackets!

Today I’m headed to Kelowna in B.C’s dry interior.  Weather gorgeous!  I’ve got a full tank of gas so let’s go!  Leaving the city, it was nice to see Stanley Park, the “green lungs” of Vancouver so close to the downtown core.

So much traffic coming in… Wonder how much exhaust emissions are coming out of all those vehicles stuck in traffic? Me?  My engine’s not running while I’m stopped.

I cross the mighty Fraser River using the Port Mann Bridge and it’s into the Fraser Valley… where some of the most fertile farmland in BC provides fresh fruit and veggies for dinner tables around the world.

The weather is beautiful and the skies clear in the valley… not the case in the past because air pollution used to be a problem prior to the introduction of BC’s vehicle emissions testing program called Aircare – it’s gone a long way to improving air quality.

Heading out into the Interior, it’s my first photo session with my new handlers. And what better location than in the Fraser Valley.  My drivers told me the snow is melting off the Coast Mountains, but I can see snow sprinkled on the mountaintops.

A quick peek and I’m doing fine on my fuel economy at 4.7 litres per 100 kilometres.

Close to Hope my drivers get out and we try to find our next destination Dino Town. Hey! It’s on the map on my rear door, guys!

We stop and take a few shots of the sign for Dino Town, a kids amusement park that, like myself, is doing its part for the environment… the rides are all powered by human foot and hand power. No wasteful carbon-burning gas engine there.

My Drivers want to stop and play on the rides… but Kelowna beckons and onwards we go.

Next stop is the picturesque town of Hope, gateway to the Coast Mountains, a lot of wooden statues of animals, quaint buildings.

Lots of road construction on the highways and a trip through the avalanche tunnel on the way to the BC interior. My engine is kept very busy coping with the steep mountain passes.

I’m sad to see the dying red and grey pine trees.  Global warming has allowed the Mountain Pine beetle to infest most of BC’s Lodge Pole Pine.

We continue on to our main ‘green’ destination out in the Nicola River Valley. We are off to see Chutter Ranch and owner Dave Chutter, a cattle rancher who is participating in the Interior wetlands program to preserve and enhance fish and waterfowl stocks along the Nicola River and its tributaries.

I see lots of cows passing their own emissions as Dave takes us on a little tour of an area of his ranch given over to the program.

Ouch!  My suspension hurts on the ranch’s gravel roads as we tour.

Dave explains how over the years agriculture and other land uses have led to the loss of cottonwood trees, shrubs and grasses that once boarded the Nicola River. Without sufficient vegetation, Dave explains, the riverbanks become prone to erosion and collapse and affect water quality and valuable fish habitat.

Dave’s ranch devotes 65 Hectares of land without cattle to demonstrate how the use of building up riverbank dykes, adding trees, vegetation, controlling livestock can restore and improve the rivers and increase fish stock such as salmon.

After we say our goodbyes to Dave, I get my picture taken with a bunch of cows… one cow seems to like me in particular!

Back on the road to Kelowna we pass the Pennask Summit.  Wow!  I’m at the highest point in my life and ask the guys to take my picture. Brrrr… It’s mid-April and it’s one degree below zero.

After hours of climbing we descend into the Okanagan Valley and I’m using hardly any fuel.  My instrument display tells me I’ve averaged only 5.4 litres per 100 kilometres of fuel.

Not bad for a 500-kilometre drive over the trip over the mountains.

We roll into Kelowna and my drivers go into the Hotel Eldorado. Bye, guys! It’s been fun. The Hotel Eldorado is a lively hotel with a sweeping mountain view out the large front windows and beautiful Okanagan Lake right at the doorstep.

The other vehicles in the parking lot tell me that the original 1920s building was rescued from certain death and floated 5 km up the lake to its current location. Wow! There’s an airy addition that uses a geothermal heating system (it was the first hotel in Kelowna to use this technology) to heat guestrooms, the indoor pool and the hot tub. Now that’s cool!

Tomorrow… the Kootenays!

Greetings, Canada! Well, today is the first day of my cross-Canada tour and what a day it has been. I woke up bright and early and had a meet and greet with the Mayor of Victoria! How exciting is that?! Hon. Mayor Dean Fortin greeted me along with the first media team of Insight into Canada, Jeannie Owens-Wallace and Alexandra Straub, at “Mile 0”. Mayor Fortin presented a gift that I have the honour of taking to the Mayor of St. John’s.  A local TV station came on board to check out all my neat features.

I felt like a star.

We left there and popped over to visit Cliff Leir from Fol Epi (101-398 Harbour Rd.).  This is my kind of guy – he really cares about our planet.  Cliff owns a bakery situated in Dockside Green, one of Canada’s greenest building projects, and has some of the best bread around – all made from Canada grown Red Fife wheat.

Then it was “up Island” to Cowichan Bay to visit a group of very inspirational kids at Bench Elementary.  Not only has this group of phenomenal grade 2-5 kids done wonders in their community to save and preserve Somenos March, like making a video and posting it on YouTube, they have also raised thousands of dollars for the people in Myanmar and homeless in their own community. To raise the money (and awareness about the harmful effects of plastic bags) the Make a Difference Club colourfully hand-decorate cloth bags and sell them.

The Make a Difference Club at Bench Elementary in Cowichan on Vancouver Island hang out with Insight Canada1

The drive down the Malahat was gorgeous as the sun was shining so brightly.  We even saw some local deer grazing as we passed. So cute.

Back in BC’s capital, lunch is at Red Fish Blue Fish.  Red Fish Blue Fish serves up the yummiest food from inside a recycled cargo container, supporting  sustainable fishing and aiming for zero-waste. So while the girls devoured the delicious grub, I sat near the wharf on the Inner Harbour, sunning and watching the sea planes.

The 1st Insight into Canada team, Alexandra Straub (L) and Jeannie Owens-Wallace, on the wharf at Red Fish Blue Fish.

OK, to get from glorious Vancouver Island back onto the North American continent, if you have four tires, there’s really only one way… Ferry Boat! I’ve been dreaming about this.

I guess I never realized that a ferry boat ride from the perspective of a car isn’t that much fun. No big views, no hanging  off the bow with Celine Dion singing in my ears, no waving at passing boats. But that’s OK. BC Ferries have been plying these waters for many years and they’ve begun upgrading their fleet in earnest to newer, more energy efficient vessels. I hang out on Deck 2 of the Spirit of British Columbia waiting for landfall so I can get back to work on the asphalt.

Tomorrow, I get to celebrate EARTH DAY in Vancouver! Lots of activities planned so check back here tomorrow night to see what I get up to. And my siblings all go on sale at Honda Dealerships across Canada. Big day.

Saying goodbye to the Pacific Ocean (sniff!) but the Atlantic is calling.

The big day is coming. Mile Zero tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. The Mayor of Victoria, Honourable Dean Fortin, and me!

My handlers, Lisa Calvi and Garry Sowerby, arrived this morning at Campus Honda where I’ve been patiently (not!) waiting. They took me to GraphicFX Signworks to get my party clothes on – my Insight into Canada decals. Don’t I look sharp? They tell me they’re using eco-friendly inks on my decals and that makes me feel good all over!

I stopped in at The Good Planet Co. on Broad Street and Lisa and Garry picked up some travel mugs for my drivers tomorrow so they don’t have to toss any coffee cups into the garbage on their trek on Vancouver Island. The Good Planet Co. (www.goodplanet.com) is a cheery store where you can buy everything you need for an earth-friendly lifestyle. Bath products, organic mattresses and bedding, neat solar gadgets, natural pet treats and, of course, travel mugs in all shapes and sizes. Found some that are perfect for my cupholders!

I wonder what my drivers are going to be like?

Pretty big job ahead of me, driving to the Atlantic Ocean at the other end of the Trans-Canada Highway and checking out Canadians’ eco-efforts along the way.

But first, the Mayor! I’d better get a good night’s sleep.

Victoria, BC… I’m waiting for the Big Day, April 21, next week. That’s the day I start this month-long cross-country drive from sea to shining sea. Very excited. Butterflies in my batteries.

I’m the very first Honda Insight to be registered in Canada. I came over on a ship from Japan and my first assignment is to drive across Canada. Woohoo!

A pair of journalists will be driving me from Victoria to Vancouver on the first leg of my journey on Tuesday April 21. From there, it’s eastward bound to watch Canada burst into spring.

Aaah, think of what I’ll see out on the road! The Rocky Mountains, Prairie grasses swaying in the breeze, the awesome drive north of Lake Superior, the mighty Saint Lawrence River, the Maritimes and then, the Rock, Newfoundland.

I’ve heard so much about these Canadian icons and I’m sure that seeing them will reinforce our need to be responsible and protect this beautiful place.

Maybe I’ll even meet that special someone, another pretty Insight. It’ll have to be a quick courtship. I’ve got a lot of moving to do. But hey, I definitely believe in Love at First Insight! Don’t you??