PDA

View Full Version : Voyage To Vulcan Aboard the XC



Art
10-28-2005, 10:43 PM
Okay, so it’s not what I quite expected. Still, it was an interesting journey to the small farming hamlet of Vulcan (pop. 1762 humans) and a place that I just had to see for myself. Naturally, my launch vehicle of choice was the XC.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan6.jpg

Docking with the Starship
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan1.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan10.jpg

Starship Specs
I can only assume that the town was not permitted to use the ‘Enterprise’ moniker due to trademark infringement.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan7.jpg

The Vulcan High Command Center
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan4.jpg

...otherwise known as the...
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan5.jpg

The Inner Sanctum
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan9.jpg

While in Vulcan, don’t forget to chow down at the local Eatery. There’s also fine dining in the center of town at Worf’s Restaurant. ;)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan3.jpg

Found an anomaly in your stellar hard drive? There’s nothing that Starfleet Engineering can’t handle.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan8.jpg

Okay, now things are getting a bit freaky. :rolleyes:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan2.jpg

Time to set a course for home. Live Long and Prosper. :)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Vulcan11.jpg

Related Trivia:
The Vulcan starship location was recently featured in a Ford of Alberta Television commercial.
Coincidentally, Volvo names all of its alloy wheels after celestial orbs/ moons in the solar system.

You can find more information on the Town of Vulcan here. (http://www.town.vulcan.ab.ca/) :)

barrysharp
10-28-2005, 11:07 PM
Art:

Great post - I like your new roof top carrier. ;)

John@CdnRockies
10-29-2005, 08:54 AM
So Art, what can you feature on Red Deer, Alberta (for the unitiated, that's Art's home base)?

Drove by your neck of the woods a few weeks ago bound for Edmonton. The seats are so comfy in my Volvo, that I opted for the 3 hour drive instead of hopping another plane.
John

AWD*V70XC
10-29-2005, 10:59 AM
Maybe an 'Off Topic' trip rather than a XC70 trip. Will it morph itself to another area or not....the answer is out there....

Art
10-29-2005, 11:36 AM
Art:

Great post - I like your new roof top carrier.

Me too...although it’s a shame it exceeds the allotted weight carrying capacity for the XC’s load bars...LOL! :D Was thinking of buying a 1:43 souvenir scale model and using it as a hood ornament. ;)


So Art, what can you feature on Red Deer, Alberta (for the unitiated, that's Art's home base)?

Drove by your neck of the woods a few weeks ago bound for Edmonton. The seats are so comfy in my Volvo, that I opted for the 3 hour drive instead of hopping another plane.
John

Truly don’t mean to disparage my own home town but Red Deer is pretty bland John. Likely the reason why many choose to drive through instead of stopping. ;) Sometimes we just feel the need to head out and explore just to get our fix and the Volvo is a great vehicle to do it in, regardless of the season.


Maybe an 'Off Topic' trip rather than a XC70 trip. Will it morph itself to another area or not....the answer is out there....

It wasn't my intention to turn this thread into a tourism travelogue. :o One of the reasons for posting was to add a bit of levity relative to the forum. Sometimes we get caught up in analysing the complexities of the car and forget about the simple pleasures of driving it. I was also hoping that this would encourage others to diarize similar travel experiences in their own XCs. I’m also certain that John didn’t mean for any digression on his part.

With that said, Taylor has my blessing to move this to OT. Sorry for the rant. :)

XCS
10-29-2005, 12:11 PM
Art,

This post is what volvoXC is all about. The love we have for our cars and the fun they can provide us. Sometimes everyone gets too caught up in what is or can go wrong and forgets how much fun we can have in our XCs. I, for one, really enjoyed your post. :D


Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us. :)

coastal
10-29-2005, 12:43 PM
Techically I guess it would be considered to be OT, but I agree with Art and XCS's sentiment in that this thread definitely needs to stick around these parts... It'd be cool is to see some similar daytrip threads posted from other areas around the world too. :D

That's actually one of my favorite things about this site, seeing the photos of the same car in so many different places and situations all over the World!

Thanks for posting Art :)

Big
10-29-2005, 10:21 PM
You can find more information on the Town of Vulcan here. (http://www.town.vulcan.ab.ca/) :) Funny site, especially the "Vulcan is conveniently located 120 Km South-East of Calgary and 100 Km North-west of Lethbridge on Highway 23." Convenient to what??? Thought you might appreciate my special Volvo remote...

http://idisk.mac.com/main_street/Public/phaser.jpg

Art
10-30-2005, 12:14 AM
Techically I guess it would be considered to be OT, but I agree with Art and XCS's sentiment in that this thread definitely needs to stick around these parts... It'd be cool is to see some similar daytrip threads posted from other areas around the world too.

That's actually one of my favorite things about this site, seeing the photos of the same car in so many different places and situations all over the World!

Thanks for posting Art

Thanks guys. I wouldn’t have objected if this thread was banished to the OT bin. AWD does raise a valid point as threads do, on occasion, have a tendency to stray off course leaving the reader bewildered as to its true path.


Funny site, especially the "Vulcan is conveniently located 120 Km South-East of Calgary and 100 Km North-west of Lethbridge on Highway 23." Convenient to what???

I believe the last photo in the set backs up your statement Big. ;) Kidding aside, it appears that the town folk are quite sincere in trying to put Vulcan on the proverbial map. Gotta give them full marks for being so creative and bold.


Thought you might appreciate my special Volvo remote...

Cool....didn’t see any of those at the center. Does it require a VADIS download to operate or do you just set it to stun? :D

AWD*V70XC
10-30-2005, 02:40 AM
OK, as it has Coastal's blessing I will put up with it under one condition Art, you will have to go to Drumheller (if my memory serves me right) and get some wonder shots of your XC amongst the Hoodoo's. I think those 'pillars' are one of nature's strangest sites. With the right light, position and placement of the XC it could appear the place is somewhere off this Planet. Please.

John@CdnRockies
10-30-2005, 08:01 AM
Just when we think he's an Irishman (hope I got that right Cameron) esconced beyond the pond, he reminds us that he has visited Canada several times - including Alberta.:) Now how many other folks would know what a Hoodoo even is let alone where to find them?

I have a message into Taylor (aka as Coastal to us) asking whether he can set up a section headlined as "Volvo Drives". This could be part of the general Vehicles section - not buried in Off Topics. I seldom visit the Off Topics section as they are an eclectic mix of posts unrelated to our vehicles. "Volvo Drives" on the other hand, would strike my fancy, particularly if we could get contributions from folks around the world. I bought the car because it is comfortable and driving is my favourite past time. Just seeing the winter pictures in another recent post brings back great memories and sharpens the appetite for the coming ski season. What a great way to remind us of our vehicles and why we bought them.:)

John

TrueBlue
10-30-2005, 11:55 AM
I don't know whether "AWDsplat" is Irish, well he certainly hasn't got a brogue, though some of his stories are a bit tall...

I think like many British people he's a bit mixed (up). I don't mind admitting to being a bit of Scot, Welsh, Irish and a helluva long time ago, French. He certainly does get around and has some fascinating stories...

Anyway, I think the "Volvo Drives" is a jolly good idea, especially with pictures or even short video clips like "We did our own tests" on the previous version of the Fora. I took copies if anyone cares to resurrect that thread.

VCUK recently ran a series of test drives and demos doing a bit of off-roading, and were prepared to get the cars really muddy. As the runs were at two industry test grounds we were not allowed to take pictures - a great shame, but understandable. It was interesting to note that the cars were XC70s (with the new diesels) not 90's - I wonder why.

It does show that in the UK Volvo is keen to show the capabilities of these vehicles and perhaps get the sales figures up a bit.

If anyone's interested they did:-

Tyre screaming (very fast around a track in a T5)
Sliding sideways, also very fast in S60Rs and V70Rs
Mini mud plugging, crawling up 1 in 10 slopes at tickover in XC70 diesels.

Very impressive...

AWD*V70XC
10-30-2005, 12:21 PM
My passport says I am a member of the European Community, so that makes me ......... European. No more French or German or Irish either.. we are all European now.

I do like the idea of showing off our cars in different areas and situations.

It was very unfortunate that VUK decided to run their drive for life for the whole year, this scuppered our 2005 meet, so maybe in hindsight VUK were a little frightened that a meet might out do their position in the market place.
Maybe we could show our cars in the worst possible place, like going off a cliff with the caption 'testing the air bags' haha.

barrysharp
10-30-2005, 03:36 PM
Just when we think he's an Irishman (hope I got that right Cameron) esconced beyond the pond, he reminds us that he has visited Canada several times - including Alberta.:) Now how many other folks would know what a Hoodoo even is let alone where to find them?

I have a message into Taylor (aka as Coastal to us) asking whether he can set up a section headlined as "Volvo Drives". This could be part of the general Vehicles section - not buried in Off Topics. I seldom visit the Off Topics section as they are an eclectic mix of posts unrelated to our vehicles. "Volvo Drives" on the other hand, would strike my fancy, particularly if we could get contributions from folks around the world. I bought the car because it is comfortable and driving is my favourite past time. Just seeing the winter pictures in another recent post brings back great memories and sharpens the appetite for the coming ski season. What a great way to remind us of our vehicles and why we bought them.:)

John

Ha ha - http://www.aurorabanff.com/

John@CdnRockies
10-30-2005, 04:56 PM
No kidding Cameron ... you are all just plain Europeans now? Well at least one town in Ontario is secure in the knowledge that you still drink Guinness like an Irishman!http://volvoxc.com/forums/images/smilies/wink.gif

And for everyone's benefit he was debonair enough to have his choice of Canadian lasses except he would inevitably start yapping about Volvos. Got dropped like a hot potato once he launched into the finer points of an XC70 ... which only goes to show that we need more visitors to this site.

John

Art
10-30-2005, 05:56 PM
OK, as it has Coastal's blessing I will put up with it under one condition Art, you will have to go to Drumheller (if my memory serves me right) and get some wonder shots of your XC amongst the Hoodoo's. I think those 'pillars' are one of nature's strangest sites. With the right light, position and placement of the XC it could appear the place is somewhere off this Planet. Please.

Sorry to disappoint you Cameron, but this is the best I could come up with. Just imagine an abstract XC parked in the foreground. ;)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Hoodoos.jpg

AWD*V70XC
10-31-2005, 02:46 AM
And for everyone's benefit he was debonair enough to have his choice of Canadian lasses except he would inevitably start yapping about Volvos. Got dropped like a hot potato once he launched into the finer points of an XC70 ...
John

:o :o As my face turns a couple of shades of red etc, if I remember correctly she said her mother had a Volvo 'Cross Country' maybe a model XC99 :D , oh how we laughed at her expence. Still one day she look back at our conversation with hindsight and say we drove good cars, I hope. :o

SYS
10-31-2005, 09:32 AM
Sorry to disappoint you Cameron, but this is the best I could come up with. Just imagine an abstract XC parked in the foreground. ;)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b249/Batstar/Hoodoos.jpg

What's the name of this place? Looks very similar to:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c321/Seoul-Brother/VolvoXC70%20Traveling/Badlands2.jpg

AWD*V70XC
10-31-2005, 09:37 AM
I think it is Drumheller in Southern Alberta, but Art will confirm it I am sure, I think I camped down beside the river, while the indians had a BBQ on the other side of the gorge, water was never enough to keep us apart, we moved on the following day.

Art
10-31-2005, 10:31 AM
Yep, AWD’s right. His knowledge of our local geography is impeccable. :)

Drumheller is located east of Calgary near Dinosaur Provincial Park. The photo of Horseshoe Canyon was shot at a viewpoint just a few kms outside of the townsite.

http://www.traveldrumheller.com/

SYS
11-01-2005, 10:36 PM
Is this abstract enough?

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c321/Seoul-Brother/VolvoXC70%20Traveling/PanoramicGardenoftheGods.jpg

AWD*V70XC
11-02-2005, 01:44 AM
Sys, that is a great shot but where is the car ? :)

It almost looks unreal, the colors are really wow. Thanks

I see Toyota are going to reintroduce the old FJ (Land Crusier) for 2007, I might have to make it my 2nd vehicle as I had so much fun when the original came out, back in the 80's.

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/2006/sema/intro/toyota.fj.500.jpg