Canada uses a one dollar coin, called a loonie, because it has a common loon instead of paper currency. The toonie was born in 1996 when Canada introduced a two-dollar coin. It’s useful for travelers so that you don’t have to start sharing the names of other crazies when you are asked for loonies. Canada doesn’t use the penny. All transactions are rounded up to the nearest nickel
Distance and speed are measured by kilometers
Americans who travel abroad face the challenge to understand Celsius temperatures and metric numbers. It’s easy to convert kilometers to miles with your head. Just multiply the number by.6. If it’s more difficult, take half of the number and add 10 percent. Half of 100 km is 50+ 10 percent, which equals 10 miles. Although the actual number is 62.14, 60 is close enough. Driving the Canadian Rockies is a bucket-list experience. But allow time to get out and explore! To convert Celsius into Fahrenheit multiply the temperature by two and then add 30. 20 degrees Celsius x 2 = 40 + 30 = 70. You need a calculator to calculate the formula. This formula is perfect for dressing for the day. However, we found that a few degrees of variation can make a big difference in setting the thermostat at your hotel. My 70-degree Fahrenheit example is actually 68. It is useful to know what temperature you prefer to sleep at.
Keep your gas tank at half full
Everyone warned us not to fill up the gas tank below half-full before we set off to a new destination. Gas stations can be far away from where you live in the U.S. east coast. Construction delays can be common in summer so it is important to keep your tank full. Running out of gas in winter can be dangerous. Thorny is known for leaving the gauge empty, then searching frantically for gas. He took it to heart, and the tank was always full.
Cities are spread out more than you might think
Canada has a similar land mass to the U.S. with just 10 percent of its inhabitants. Things are much more scattered. It is not uncommon for Americans to underestimate the time it takes to travel between cities. This is especially true in Canada’s Rockies, where construction is common and speeds are slower. We adjusted our itinerary twice to decrease the number of cities we visited. This allowed us to spend more time outside and less time in the car. We still drove over 2,000 miles in 10 days.
Tim Hortons is your friend
You need a quick fix for coffee or fast food? Tim Hortons, named after a Canadian hockey player, is Canada’s largest fast food chain. Nearly every city has one. Timmies has sandwiches, coffee, donuts, and donuts. It is just as Canadian as maple syrup. In just a few days, we were able to experience snow, sleet, and blistering 90 degrees F temperatures during our July trip to the Rockies. Even though morning temperatures can be dangerously low, they are gradually rising as the day goes on. Layers are a good idea. We wore five layers for our glacier hike so that we could take them off when necessary. The day began cold and wet. We were wearing t-shirts by the end.
