Leslie Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Today was a driving day. We crossed back into the lower 48 just north of Great Falls, Montana. This is the same placed we crossed on the way north on May 14th. We had to wait about 45 minutes in line but spent less than 10 minutes with the immigration officer. He asked where we are from and where we’d been. I replied that we’d been to Alaska. He asked if we had been in Alaska the entire time. Huh? We were crossing from Canada. I replied that we’d spent the summer in Alaska but had passed through Canada going up and coming back. He said, what are you bringing back into the US? I understand open-ended questions, but I really didn’t know where to start with that one. After I asked for some more clarification, he asked about weapons, liquor, fruits and vegetables. Considering how expensive liquor is in Canada, I can’t imagine anyone actually bringing liquor into the US. I said we had tomatoes but Robert interrupted me and said we didn’t buy them in Canada. I insisted that we had (obviously, we’d been in Canada for nearly 3 weeks). I think the inspector thought the exchange was funny so he just said, welcome home, and waved us through.
We continued to Dick’s RV Park in Great Falls, Montana. In Great Falls we asked for a recommendation for dinner. We were told to go to Jakers Bar and Grill. What an unlikely find. Our meal was clearly the best restaurant meal we’ve had on this trip. They had an superb soup and salad bar. There were six different kinds of soup. I loved the lobster bisque. It had chunks of lobster! While the soup & salad bar would have been plenty of food, we both order entrees as well. I knew that I’d have plenty for lunch the next day. I had grilled sea scallops that were fantastic. I would have loved to have gone back there for another meal but our timing never worked out.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Montana or Bust!
Robert, Wednesday, September 24
Today was a travel day. Leslie drove as we were crossing the border today and she can hear the custom agent better than I. We got to the border in about ninety minutes. There was a line that we had to wait in for about forty-five minutes. When our turn came, the agent asked what we were bring. Neither of us knew how to answer that question. He then asked if we had guns, fruit, or vegetables. Leslie said we had some tomatoes and I replied that I thought we had bought them in Alaska. Leslie said she thought we bought them in Canada. The agent said welcome home and waved us through. Later we both thought that the fact that we didn’t have a smooth, consistent story showed that we were being honest. And for the record, Leslie was right, we had bought them in Canada. Just across the border on the U.S. side is a rest area. We pulled in and ate lunch. Then we proceeded on to Great Falls. Although the campground has cable TV, someone had taken some of the parts from our site so we couldn’t hookup to it. We ended up connecting to the adjacent site but that didn’t work as well. The campground said they would get it fixed tomorrow. We went out and ate at a restaurant that was recommended to us and the food was great. Then it was back home to crash. We will be here for three nights.
Today was a travel day. Leslie drove as we were crossing the border today and she can hear the custom agent better than I. We got to the border in about ninety minutes. There was a line that we had to wait in for about forty-five minutes. When our turn came, the agent asked what we were bring. Neither of us knew how to answer that question. He then asked if we had guns, fruit, or vegetables. Leslie said we had some tomatoes and I replied that I thought we had bought them in Alaska. Leslie said she thought we bought them in Canada. The agent said welcome home and waved us through. Later we both thought that the fact that we didn’t have a smooth, consistent story showed that we were being honest. And for the record, Leslie was right, we had bought them in Canada. Just across the border on the U.S. side is a rest area. We pulled in and ate lunch. Then we proceeded on to Great Falls. Although the campground has cable TV, someone had taken some of the parts from our site so we couldn’t hookup to it. We ended up connecting to the adjacent site but that didn’t work as well. The campground said they would get it fixed tomorrow. We went out and ate at a restaurant that was recommended to us and the food was great. Then it was back home to crash. We will be here for three nights.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)