Oh Canada

Last year when we were at Niagara Falls we so badly wanted to cross over the border to check out the falls from the Canada side.  However, we did not have valid passports.  So, we made it a priority to get passports for the whole family before this trip so we could cross the border if we wanted to.  And we wanted to!  Brielle was so excited about going to a different country and the Canadian Rockies sound like an amazing place.  On top of that, we had some friends that were going to be in the Banff area about the same time we were so we decided to hook up with them for a day.  But first we had some logistics.

Our stay at Hungry Horse had been at an electric only site.  We had filled the fresh water tank on arrival and can easily last 5-7 days if we’re careful so this was no problem.  What I had not anticipated was that the campground did not have a dump station.  So this would be the first time I would have to travel some distance with full tanks and find an off site dump station.  We found out that Mike’s Conoco just 8 miles away in Columbia Falls had a dump station and was on our way to our next stop.  Finding the place was no problem, we got all the tanks emptied for $5 and we were on our way.

With that behind us we just had the border crossing itself to contend with.  In researching the port of Roosville, the number one topic that shows up is about how busy it is and that wait times can exceed 2 or 3 hours!!  On top of this I have never done a border crossing with a house and a dog, but we had all our paperwork ready to go.  As we drove north toward the border the lack of traffic gave me the sense that it wasn’t very busy today.  Brielle was so excited to get to Canada and her enthusiasm drowned out any of my worries about the border.  When we pulled up to the port there were 2 cars and an RV in front of us.  It took maybe 2 or 3 minutes for our turn at the border.

“Shut off your engine.  Take off your sunglasses.  Roll down the rear passenger window.  Where are you all from?”  Oh man, should we say Montana because that is where we are coming from?  Or is this a trick question, should we say the United States?  Finally somebody in the truck said, “Colorado”.  The agent comes right back, “Colorado is a big state, where in Colorado?”  We tell him Longmont.  He looks through our passports and asks a few more questions about where we are going and if we have any weapons.  We maybe sat there for 60 seconds total and we were on our way.  It was super smooth!!  I totally had it worked up in my head as a much bigger deal so I was pleasantly surprised.

We were now trucking north in Canada at 100 kilometers per hour, burning liters of diesel that cost Candian dollars.  During the beautiful drive we took one pit stop at a rest area for lunch and arrived at the RV park in Edgewater about 4:00 in the afternoon.  It was a bit of a tight fit to get into site #3 but we did it.  The weather was just perfect and the park has a nice grassy area right outside our rig so we threw the frisbee a bit before we realized that they had horse shoes in the pits.  While Steph made an amazing enchilada dinner the kids and I had a blast throwing the shoes.

This far north the sun doesn’t set until 9:40 this time of year and last light is closer to 10:30.  But we tried to get to bed at a decent hour as we had plans to meet our friends in Banff National Park at 9:00 in the morning.

Thank you Lord for safe travels, smooth border crossing and for the chance to see more of your amazing creation!