We started out the day by driving a portion of the
Cascade Loop traveling north on Highway 97 through orchards and vineyards along a portion of
the Columbia river and then other rivers that were running near flood stage but
without any impact to the road.
We crossed the border at Osoyoos. The wait was about
5 minutes, the process took about 2 minutes. Where are you from? Do you know the license
number of the truck you are driving? Do you have any firearms or pepper spray? How long will you be in Canada? How much alcohol do you have? Simple questions with simple answers. He didn’t ask about proof of
insurance nor anything about the dog who watched him carefully during the whole
conversation. He did ask if our Scamp “expanded” to which we answered no although several other responses rolled around in my mind.
The Canadian Okanogan is similar to the area south of
the border but the hills have much more exposed rock, and the roadside had a
proliferation of very nice looking fruit stands which were all still closed.
Later in the year I expect they could be enticing.
The town of Oliver, BC claimed to be the wine capital, and
from the number of vineyards, the statement could be true. The downtown was charming and appeared that
it would be worth a visit, but we kept rolling north without even a picture.
Our stop for the night was a Walmart Super Center at
Kelowna, BC. Although the lot is marked 3 hour parking for customers only,
there were six RVs in the corner by morning including us.
Five minute wait and two minute questions! That sounds a lot different than the entry experience our Texas friends had last June. Maybe their Texas plates contributed to the firearm shakedown!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if we will be brave enough to stay where it's posted otherwise.
Like the BC entry picture....gets me fired up!
It's my impression that any type of firearms, even with the proper paperwork, will add significantly to your opportunity to converse with officials at the border. Likewise, a significant selection of drinks will increase their interest.
DeleteWe've always had positive experiences crossing into Canada; it's coming back that has been extremely business-like, no nonsense. A Canadian border crossing agent asked more questions about our Casita; she had at one time owned a Boler and was apparently an admirer of FG.
ReplyDeleteMarsha
It will be interesting to see what the process looks like at Top of the World entering Alaska, assuming the road is open when we get there.
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