Tom and I pulled into Regina this morning and are on our 5th day on the road. We are roughly 1425 miles into our trip after having spent nights in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Minnesota, and Saskatchewan where we spent the night at Fieldstone RV Park.
I think the biggest hurdle thus far was clearing customs at the border above Grand Forks, ND on Interstate 29. Tom English was asked to pull beyond the entry booth and it was my turn. After answering many questions and seemingly the agent’s efforts to trip me up I was also asked to pull into an inspection station. The questions asked were general in nature, “what is your destination, how long in Canada, any guns, alcohol, no pepper spray/bear spray allowed, do you own a hand gun (yes), have you a long gun/ammo/hand gun on board (no), do you have chicken/turkey or eggs (yes, I have eggs), etc. And since customs has all of this information the interview was rather terse from the agent and I felt as though I was in a court room, that I was considered suspect and was then ordered to pull into an inspection station. After gathering up my eggs I walked into the office, was interrogated again, asked for my keys and followed the agent outdoors and unlocked my vehicle and trailer and told to go back inside. The vehicle and trailer were gone through, nothing found and we were cleared to leave.
Let me just add that I respect the efforts of the border agents and after 9-11, ISIL, etc. and I understand the importance of these antics and questions. It just felt a bit over the top as the questions were twisted in a compound manner and they asked me why I wouldn’t be carrying a gun into Canada (of course not, it is illegal, not permitted and I never intended to take one along), which was rather strange, but I knew what their intent was and it is behind me at this point in time. So for future reference, no eggs allowed in Canada from the US and if you are a gun owner or hold a concealed carry permit, expect some push back and enhanced interrogation.
Our stays in the Little Guy have been pleasurable, the weather rather nice and we have met some nice people along this long journey. When entering Canada and traveling along the Trans Canada Highway from the US expect poor cell coverage as AT&T has no service up there and thus far, Rodgers is the provider in the provinces of Canada. I did get the international plan for $30 and can only send text messages which is fine and calls are $1.00 per minute.
As for today, we had heavy thunder, lightning and rain last night but it was nice hearing the rain hitting the roof and knowing that the Aeroflo vent cover was performing nicely and I still had a cool breeze entering the trailer without any dampness from the heavens. Time to get going as we are averaging around 400-425 miles a day and have found the yellow field beautiful, but do not want to take the drive out of Winnipeg anytime soon with the exceptionally bump and rough road. Will report back as internet connectivity allows! Later!