Today was the day we decided to make a run for it….Time to
cross the border….
Lubec, Maine
Campbello, Canada
The dog’s first trip to another country!!! (ok, I know, it’s
just Canada, but my quest for my dogs to see it ALL continues…) My only fear
was what I had read on the internet--the internet has such a wealth of
info…never good, though, it seems…. So I decided that if they took them, I was
not leaving until I got them back (yep, you wouldn’t believe some of the
stories I read) ….Here we go…..
Our first test came at Campbello…. President Roosevelt’s
summer home….we crossed the bridge to Canadian customs….”so you have one dog on
board with you?” ….its funny, no one can really see into this RV….what’s even
funnier is they think one dog can bark that much!!! Because its off season
(only good season to ever travel with dogs) the guy pretty much said, go
ahead….now only if we could stay in Canada from here without re-crossing the
border…We checked out the grounds and some of the walking paths…. (Seems this
was a lot nicer in the times of FDR….when people had an overabundance of money
to go away for a few months….my next goal!!!)
FDR summer house
hmmm....USA or Canada???
inside the summer cottage....
the grounds
Now it was time to go back to the USA…..as we pulled up to
the white line we were motioned into the parking area...our first visitor to the
RV—a US Customs officer…with a gun!!! Sunny is going to love this one!!! After several questions about firearms,
alcohol, drugs, where we had been (come on, it’s a small island with only the
FDR home on it…) he had to check out the bathroom…guess he had to go??? Then he
said, ok you are free to go….back to ME to drive further up to cross
again…. (Chris was not a big fan of going to our next destination, but Paula
assured me we had to check it out, so off we went…)
Now was the real customs test….we sat in a line on yet
another bridge waiting for our chance to get into Canada…again….
This time it
was a little more challenging…we were
asked if we had been in Canada before….uh, yes….when??? Really? Chris just
turned 40 and I can’t remember yesterday (hence the real reason for the blog…)
how do they really expect us to remember this??? And yes, he sat there and
waited while we tried to figure it out…I’m sure he had it there on his computer
screen, couldn’t he given us some type of security question to prompt our
memories??? We may have crossed for Erik’s wedding….did we? How long ago was
this? The guy didn’t seem amused…. We were in toronto before we had
sunshine…uh, at least 12 years ago...???? ok, he said just pick how many years
you think it had been….5….??? he shook his head, onto the next question…..where
are you going? Bay of Fundy…..we passed that one!! How long…2-3 days…..2/2……who
is in the RV…my wife and I….and one dog? No, 2……I need to be able to see her at
all times…..I stand up…more barking now….. do you have papers for these
dogs….yes….we hand him Rayne’s papers (he goes to the vet practically every
other week so I had these readily available) and gave him my phone to see the
email version of Sunshine’s….how old are they? Uh…read those papers I just gave
you 11 and 12….are they vaccinated for rabies….again…why did you need those
papers for??? I hand him their rabies tags….shouldn’t these be on the dogs???
Ok at this point I wanted to say, do you want me to hand you the dogs, too???
But I was a little too nervous…too many questions….Finally after several other
questions, he said, "Welcome to Canada!!!"
We drove route 1 and took a brief tour of St.
Andrews……another place the wealthy came in the hay day for the summers…..
Then onto St. John…..
are we home yet???
At this point, we have no
map, no directions, and no clue…trying to navigate with my phone (which is on
its last leg…and I was told by chris (not very politely) at least 1000 times, “I
told you to get a new phone before this trip”….heck if I had that kind of time,
I would have!!!....ugh!!!) We tried to find this little café….and then after
about 20 min found a park we could stop at to try to make the phone work
better….I left Chris to the phone and I let the dogs out….mistake #1…strange
people exist everywhere….while getting out of the RV this man opens his window
and says, why are you here this time of year? We are just doing some
sightseeing (dogs barking loudly and out of control…you would have thought this
would deter him…) I just keep walking….dogs are going crazy, I turn around, and
here comes the guy running after me….ok,
this is not what I signed up for…”hey, are you showing those dogs?”…..I stop,
don’t want to get out of Chris’s sight (although I think he is just looking at
that darn phone!!!)…No, just visiting….where are you headed?….not sure….how
long are you going to be here?….leaving now…..who is with you?….ok, yes, you
are creepy and I don’t know what you want….yep, looking into concealed weapons
permit when I get back…..he just keeps on talking and getting uncomfortably
closer and then he pulls up his sleeve
(so I’m thinking this is it, I’m going to be killed in Canada?!? My plan was a heart attack….why can’t we just
stick to the plan??) and he starts to show me his arm where he was electrocuted
while working underground on the pipeline (or something like that, I truly
wasn’t listening) and went on to say he has a $20 million lawsuit against the government…..Look buddy,
I’m not looking to make any new friends on this trip…. GO AWAY!!! I simply say,
good luck, hope you win and at this point I begin to take off with the dogs
toward the rv….I don’t know if they peed or not, but I sure came close…..its
time to go!!!!
At this point, I’m hungry, a little concerned this guy might
follow us and kill us and Chris is pretty grumpy because of my phone….today’s
lunch was thanks to McDonalds…..let’s get the h--- out of St. John…..as we
enjoyed our fries (they truly are the best fries…) Chris agreed to one stop at
Signal Hill for some photos of the city and then it was time to go (we were so
far behind already)…But, as you have already guessed…..my phone took us to some
warehouse…..let’s just go and forget this ever happened…..luckily, on our way
out, we did run into another park and did get some photos…..
they really are one dog....
Oh no....looks like killing is really something they do here……
Maybe we can enlist some help……who should we pick???
Sunshine???
or Rayne???
No way, my bet is on this giant creature.....
Ok, now it was time to move on in search of our next
destination….The Fundy National Park and Hopewell Rocks….As we approached the
National Park we realized we were definitely the ONLY ones out here….and out
here is an understatement…. But we did find that the headquarter’s campsite was
open (well, the gate was open at least) so we would at least have somewhere to
stay for the night….should we attempt Hopewell Rocks tonight to see it close to
high tide and then come back in the am to see it at low tide???? When you race
the sun in an RV, you never know what could happen…
Wide open road.... (minus a few dead bugs on the windshield...)
or.....
roadblock.....
I think we are getting close to Fundy National Park....looks like someone has it all set up for us....
now if only we had the time to sit and relax, overlooking.....
the Bay of Fundy
Whew, we made it….and just in time!! High tide had happened on our
way, but it is what it is…..
Like closed signs will stop us now....
Hopewell Rocks under water....
it's getting darker but that bay is full of water.....
We better make a run for it, there is water everywhere....
No comments:
Post a Comment