Westiva X... seven more sleeps!!!

Westiva X is shaping up to be an awesome event. The weather forecast calls for temperatures of 25ºC/77ºF. Bring your sunscreen, bring your camera, wear a hat!

 

Westiva 2017 attendees

Wondering what you can expect to see when you come to Westiva X? Glad you asked!

WESTIVA X... two weeks to go

Fourteen days from now Festivas and other econoboxes will be making their way to Wedge Pond in Alberta's Kananaskis Country. Why, you may ask? Well let me tell you... Westiva X is the reason.

And if you're heading to the venue from Calgary may I suggest a scenic alternative to the Trans Canada Highway? It takes a little longer but its well worth it. Bow Valley Trail (or highway 1A) begins at the western edge of the City of Calgary as the extension of Crowchild Trail. This first stretch is four lane divided highway until you reach the top of the hill above Cochrane AB where it drops to one lane going down the hill. 

Looking westward to the Rocky Mountains over Cochrane AB

Stay on Bow Valley Trail all the way through Cochrane and across Highway 22 (about 15 minutes from Calgary city limits).

WESTIVA X... Three weeks and counting

For those of you traveling to Westiva from the south I would like to share one of my favorite local drives. I wrote about some of this route a few years ago but it bears repeating.

It starts at the intersection of Alberta Highways 3 & 22 reached from the west through Fernie and the the Crowsnest Pass and from the east through Fort MacLeod and past Pincher Creek. From there the route takes you north along the Cowboy Trail to Longview, west to Highwood House and then north again over the Highwood Pass to Wedge Pond.



The first leg up to Longview takes you over 110km of rolling, meandering two lane blacktop through the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

WESTIVA X... the countdown begins!

With less than four weeks to go we are getting excited as this year's event is shaping up to be another great one. We have confirmed attendees from Idaho, Washington State, Alberta and Saskatchewan. There is also a possibility of attendees from Arizona and North Carolina. A number of our "regulars" will be there too along with a few first timers.

Westiva 2017 attendees. Photo credit: Ben Rogers

Westiva X

It's that time of year again!

Artwork courtesy of Ben G. Rogers

Westiva is very casual, informal event originally geared towards owners, fans and fanatics of both the Ford Festiva or Ford Aspire with invitations extended to owners of other econoboxes from the late eighties and early nineties such as the Dodge Colt, Chevrolet Sprint, Geo Metro, Suzuki Swift and Nissan Micra.

"Remember not to be a fool"

As I write this post it is less than a week until spring "officially" starts. To look out my office window to see a foot of snow on the garage roof you wouldn't think so. However it does bring to mind a couple of things. First, when should I take of the noisy studded winter tires and  put on the summers? Second, where will road trips take us this year?

All decked out for winter!

Lots can be found on the technical aspects of the correct timing for the summer/winter tire switchover.

More on the Shogun...

I first wrote about Jay Leno's Shogun in this April, 2016 post. Grassroots Motorsports just posted this article about Chuck Beck's Shogun. Chuck is the co-creator, along with his friend Rick Titus, and I believe he still owns this car. Follow this link to read the article.

Photo from the article

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Full credit goes to Alan Caesar and Grassroots Motorsports for this great read...