Crossing the border into Canada

So this morning did not quite stay on schedule. We ended our drive yesterday by filling up our tanks at the Pilot in Great Falls then went one more exit North to the Home Depot. It was a great spot as it was quiet and had lots of grass to let the dogs run around. We normally do not put our slide out but since I forgot to grab our passports from under the bed we put them out and slept in comfort. I was so excited about crossing into Canada that I was awake at 5am but let Jim sleep until 6:30am. While waiting for a decent time to wake up Jim I decided to catch up on my emails and Facebook, good thing as someone from one of my forums sent me a heads up that the Alaskan Highway had been closed last night. I quickly went online to research what was up and sure enough there was a bad wildfire just North of Fort St John that had jumped the highway, was 0% contained, and was forcing evacuations.

The good news was that they had opened back up the highway with a pilot car guiding but that could change at any time. Jim and I discussed our options as I already had routed out everything, set up our campgrounds, and plotted some fun stops. The downside of driving through an active wildfire is it leaves a layer of soot on everything inside and out that would then have to be cleaned. The drive up to Alaska leaves everything filthy but it is just dirt, smoke/soot is whole different beast. We decided to save the route for the return and go back up the same way we went last year. I like to go different ways but it was not meant to be this time.

Read our previous Blog: How Bad is the Drive to Alaska?

We were on the road by 7am and at a bit before 10am we pulled up behind two cars at the entrance to the border crossing. We know from research and last year that you answer questions with short, to the point answers. We also know that they ask you some questions, write everything down and then because we are declaring a rifle we have to park and come in. That is where this year went different than last year. We got through all of the questions, paid for the fee ($25 CAD) to bring the rifle through, and then the agent pointed to the large doors of the inspection area and asked us to pull the RV up and in.

Read our previous Blog: Trouble at the Border

I knew that we had followed all of the rules listed on what could and could not be brought in but thinking you are ok and knowing you are, is not the same thing, so I was still nervous that I had missed something. They have you pull in, get out and answer some more questions, then put out your slides and go sit in the waiting room. After about 40 minutes of us watching three guys and a drug/gun sniffing dog go in and out of our front door the agent told us we were good to go. I had read some horror stories about the rigs being torn apart but that must have been some other agents because ours only left a couple of our luggage bags on the bed. With all of the crazy things going on I can understand why they are being more cautious this year and can say that all things considered they were very polite and tried to make it as painless as possible. Lesson to share is be honest, make sure to clear out anything you cannot bring in, ship your handguns and have documented proof that they shipped, and remember that they are just doing their job.

So down the road we went with Lake Louise as our destination for tonight. Unfortunately our delay at the border put us in Calgary at rush hour, not fun…

Have you had any interesting experiences crossing into Canada?