#letsmodo

Six pairs of skis (downhill and back-country), snowshoes, food (after a stop at our beloved Trader Joe’s in Bellingham), wine, beer, books, two months worth of The New York Times, and we were ready to hit Mount Baker.

  I loved the Modo Dodge Grand Caravan. There were only three of us: me and my two sons, aged 18 and 21, but oh boy we filled the space in the car!

Loading up the van brought back fond memories of when the kids were little. We had a similar van and over the years, I fitted the pram, then the stroller, then the bikes with training wheels, then the big bikes, the skis, the tents, etc.

If you love adventure and can imagine going somewhere without knowing where you're going to sleep, this is your car. In our case, we had booked a last-minute place in Mount Baker and it was heaven!

An old Polish couple, who had built their house with the wood on their property, had a small suite that they rented on a huge piece of land. It was perfect for us – no wi-fi, no TV. Just the silence and time to read after being out all day.

The Modo van was a real treat as we went from downhill skiing to snowshoeing, to back-country skiing to cross-country skiing. It also allowed me to take five big 18 year olds winter camping at Brunswick Lake.

These photos help tell the story of our trip. The black and white photos are the photos of Mount Baker, Washington in the 1950s (one of them featuring Clark Gable!). One photo I think you'll enjoy is of the “Hairstream” – an Airstream trailer turned beauty salon. I had my hair done there for New Year’s Eve!

Having grown up in Ontario, we hold a nostalgia for crisp, winter days. Hearing the crunch of snow under our feet, building snowmen, and most importantly, spending a day tobogganing with friends and family. So with the help of Modo, we booked a Dodge Journey, piled all our snow gear into the roomy trunk, and set off north to Whistler and a Winter Wonderland.

– The Bruntletts Modo members since 2013 #LetsModo vehicle: Dodge Journey

(excerpted from Vancouver Is Awesome)

You already love them for the movies they play at The Cinematheque theatre on Howe and Helmcken, but did you know The Cinematheque team also does a travelling education program? Read about their recent trip to Quesnel aboard a Modo Dodge Grand Caravan.

Time to hit the road!

The Cinematheque's Education Department has been carsharing with Modo since February 2013. We do community outreach, workshops, and video production classes all over the Lower Mainland, and since we often travel with filmmaking equipment, Modo has been an essential help in getting us to where we need to go throughout the year.

This December, Modo helped us with a long-distance project. Living Landscapes is a BC Arts Council-funded grant project that brings our Cinematheque video production workshops to regions all across the province. The team travelled to Quesnel for a seven-day video intensive at Correlieu Secondary School.  

The snow tires were definitely needed on these roads.

After weighing our options, we settled on an orange Dodge Grand Caravan for its stow 'n go seating, size and snow tires. With five camera kits, five large tripods and three people's luggage, we definitely needed the space! In the end, the Grand Caravan proved to have plenty of room and was a spacious ride the whole way.  

There's always time to revisit some British Columbia film heritage!

We arrived in snowy Quesnel in roughly eight hours. Not bad despite temperatures being well below 0° day and night.

A thumbs-up is the universal sign for "we made it."

All in all, we had a great experience teaching at Correlieu Secondary. During the first two days, students wrote and organized their films, spent another two days to film them, and had them edited and ready to show to the community two days later. On the Sunday of that week, the films were screened in the school theatre and followed-up with a great filmmaker Q&A. 

Each group of filmmakers had the opportunity to answer questions about their process and their finished product after it was shown.

Our Education Team travels throughout BC and gets to meet some great students.

We didn't realize we'd be snowshoeing to scout locations!

The Living Landscapes Filmmaking Tour will be visiting one more community in the spring of 2015, after which all of the student films will be made available online.

If you'd like to learn more about The Cinematheque and its Education Department you can visit our website – www.thecinematheque.ca – or come down to the theatre to take in some essential cinema.

Thanks again to Modo for helping to make this happen and to Correlieu Secondary for a great batch of films!

Thanks to the students for turning us on to a great local thrift store with a plentiful onesie selection. 

Quesnel has some stunning views along the Fraser River Walk.

"Enjoying our annual Christmas snowshoeing adventure on Cypress. We picked the right day – thanks, Modo!"

– Joanne A. and Mike A. Modo members since 2002 and 2001 #LetsModo vehicle: Toyota Corolla with snow tires

Discorder Magazine has been supporting local music for more than 30 years, and we've been lucky to work with them at their annual summer concert Victory Square Block Party.

This past week, ad coordinator Ana took her first Modo trip on a distribution run:

I decided to try out Modo for the first time and booked a Nissan Sentra to distribute Discorder Magazine's Jancember issue. It was frosty and wet during distribution days, but my Modo got the issue – with our cover featuring Alex Hudson of Rec Centre – to magazine racks drip-free and in pristine condition!

With distribution taken care of, I now had the wheels to help haul our drum kit to and from the Hindenburg for our Discorded Fundraiser – thanks, Modo!

#LetsModo to the Suburbs

This summer, our pals at Sad Mag took one of our Dodge Grand Caravans, filled it with 6 people, a few old schools cameras, 1 box of Duffin's Donuts and a jumbo bag of cheezies as they hit the road for a mini suburban camping adventure.

Are we being boastful when we say we live in a skier's paradise?

We can see Cypress, Grouse and (on a good day) Seymour from our downtown offices, and Whistler and Baker are less than a couple hours by car. Some might say we're spoiled for choice; we say swish-swish!

Whether you've been planning for weeks or only just decided right this very minute to head to the mountains, here are some tips and tools – from booking your vehicle to finding the powder – to help make this your Best. Winter. Ever.

Pro-Tips on Booking Your Modo

Filter your booking search to find vehicles with snow tires, a little extra room for all that gear, or even AUX audio input (time to prep those pre- and post-mountain playlists!)

Book extra time at the end of your trip so you're not rushing to beat the clock.

Don't forget: gas is on us!

Digital Tools to Help You Get There

Our pals at HitchPlanet help skiers find their tribe and share rides along the way. Offer a ride or grab your own.

Worried about traffic? Download Waze, the crowdsourced traffic app that finds you the best route with the least delay.

PlugShare is an EV locator app and good to have on hand if you're driving the electric highway. 

If you're old school, Google Maps is an oldie and a goodie.

Saving Money and Having Fun

Drive free: Pick up an Annual Pass or any Snow Pass for Grouse Mountain and we'll give you $30 in free driving!

Liftopia is an awesome site that offers discounts on lift tickets throughout BC.

Get the latest snow reports from OnTheSnow's newest app called Ski & Snow Report.

For the road (and the chalet), Rdio and Songza are two music streaming apps with curated playlists to pump you up, or chill things out apres-ski.

Share pics via Instagram and tag #LetsModo to add them to our road trip archive!

Maybe the most important tip is to keep Modo on speed dial because, like we always say: