I won’t drive at night...bears come out at night! Son heads on drive across Canada and back in tribute to his parents

Cars on Trans Canada Highway, British Columbia (Alamy)

WHEN Graham Chappell begins an epic 10,000-mile road trip, he’ll be alone in body but not in spirit.

The Arran resident is to take on the Trans-Canada Highway in memory of his late parents, who met in Montreal more than 60 years ago.

Graphic designer Graham had hoped to do the journey, one of the longest road trips in the world, with his dad, Peter.

But Peter was diagnosed with dementia and passed away last April, just a year after Graham’s mum, Jean, also died from an Alzheimer-related illness.

Graham, who spent the first three weeks of his life in Canada, plans to produce a picture book detailing his trip, with a portion of profits going to Alzheimer Scotland.

“I feel like I need to say goodbye to Dad and do it properly,” said Graham, 52.

“My mum was Scottish and Dad was English, but they each moved to Canada when jobs became available and fares were cheap. They met at a rugby match over there.

“My dad was always keen to support Alzheimer Scotland, so £3 from each book sale will go to them.”

The distance between St John’s in Newfoundland and Victoria, British Columbia is 4860 miles.

Most people attempt to drive it in sections over months or years, but Graham will do it all – and the reverse journey – in just 25 days.

The reason he is attempting it in such a short period is because he doesn’t want to be away from his son, Carter, for too long or take too much time off work.

He said: “I’ve done a number of big drives in America and Canada, like a round-trip from Los Angeles to Colorado which was 5000 miles, but this will be the most demanding.

“I’ll need to do around 400 miles per day, and I plan to drive between 6am and 2pm, allowing me time to check out the local area the rest of the day.

“I won’t be driving through the night because that’s when the bears come out, but doing the route in both directions means I can call in on places on the way back that I have missed the first time.”