Crossing the Border to Hope

Since we planned a short driving day, we took our time leaving our campground in Lynden, Washington, on May 9.  After filling the RV with diesel and propane in order to save a few dollars, it was time to make a run for the border into Canada.  We were relieved when we arrived at the Sumas border crossing to find the line of cars very manageable.  It was 11:51 am when we took our place in line.

  

Almost Our Turn

We were prepared for the border agent, and thought we had our ducks in a row.  We had finished eating all of the fresh fruit and vegetables that were prohibited, and we had only one bottle of wine on board.  Our passports were in hand, and Kitty’s proof of rabies vaccination was available.

After several cars in front of us zipped through, we thought we were going to luck out.  Instead, the agent proceeded to quiz us about where we were going, why it was taking us so long to get to Prince Rupert, whether we had any weapons, etc.  I was surprised that she didn’t ask us about what produce we were carrying.  We answered all of her questions and thought we were in the clear.  Oh no, not so fast.  She sent Tim to Immigration!  Because this was Tim’s first visit to Canada, she directed us to pull over and go into the building to talk with an agent.  Apparently, that’s the new procedure for first-time visitors.

We parked the RV, went inside and walked up to a very nice agent.  He said something like, “And why are you here in front of me?”  We explained, and he proceeded to check our passports in his computer.  I’m not sure what he saw in our records, but he asked us several more questions and then said we could go.  I then took the opportunity to ask him what we shouldn’t miss on our way to Prince Rupert.  “Hairpin curves” was his answer.  I do enjoy someone with a dry sense of humor!  He had never traveled that route before, so that was his only suggestion.

Although I wasn’t worried during our time at the border crossing, it was nevertheless a bit nerve-wracking.  It all ended well, however, and we were out of there by 12:20 pm.  Not too bad.

Welcome to British Columbia!

We picked up Trans-Canada Highway 1 and headed northeast to Hope, British Columbia.  Both Tim and I are metrically-challenged, so he had made a cheat sheet with the various conversions that we could refer to.  For some reason, the speedometer on the RV does not include both miles and kilometers per hour so we needed a quick way to determine his speed.  So far, so good.

Once we cleared the larger cities, the drive was lovely, and we arrived in Hope in no time.  After a nice lunch and a stop to replenish our fruit and vegetable bin, we checked into a local campground on the Coquihalla River.  We had neither Wi-Fi nor a TV signal, so we were feeling a bit deprived, but we’ll survive.  It was a good first day in Canada.

The Coquihalla River Adjacent to Our Campground

Tucked Into the Woods