We will be making a quick trip to Canada prior to our Grand Circle Tour. This trip will be by air to Calgary and then traveling to Lake Louise, Banff, and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies for a week. I hope to be able to post some nice photos of the trip. Stay tuned.
.......Title of a song by Robert Earl Keen, Texas Singer-Songwriter
This is primarily a travel blog in which I write about traveling in our motorhome. Our travels have
- Robert & Carol Ann Martin
- Nacogdoches, TX, United States
- I began this blog as a vehicle for reporting on a 47-day trip made by my wife and me in our motorhome down to the Yucatan Peninsula and back. I continued writing about our post-Yucatan travels and gradually began including non-travel related topics. I often rant about things that piss me off, such as gun violence, fracking, healthcare, education, and anything else that pushes my button. I have a photography gallery on my Smugmug site (http://rbmartiniv.smugmug.com).
Showing posts with label canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canada. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Canada Coming Up!
Labels:
Banff
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canada
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Jasper
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Lake Louise
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Rockies
Sunday, January 17, 2016
A New Chapter Begins
This past August we sold our 2007 Fleetwood Discovery and
purchased a 2016 Thor Challenger. We went from diesel to gas, complex to
simple, and, hopefully, more expense to less expensive (nothing is cheap about
motorhoming!). If you have followed this blog in the past you may be aware of the
bad luck that seemed to accompany us in the Discovery. Particularly on our long
trips to Mexico and Canada. We hope the black cloud remained with the Discovery
and better luck will follow us in the new motorhome.
Even though we have had the new motorhome for 4 or 5 months,
we have been too busy to go on any trips in it. Until this weekend, that is. We
went on a short trip with our local chapter of the Good Sam RV Club. It was 3 days
and nights at a KOA in Rusk, TX, only about 45 miles each way. It was an almost
eventless trip and our “fix it” list for the dealer is rather short and without
anything major.
The key word in the previous sentence is “almost.” We did have
one rather startling, yet humorous experience. It happened as we were getting
ready for the group’s “pot luck” supper. Carol Ann was going to bake a corn
casserole in the convection microwave (we use the gas oven as a bread box) if
we could figure out how to use it! I got out the manufacturer’s manual which
was not much help. There were about 15 pages of installation instructions and
only about a half page of user instructions. After several attempts we managed
to set it properly and the baking began. It needed 45 minutes of cooking time
and due to the delay in starting would have to go immediately from the oven to
the clubhouse once the time expired. We gathered our paper plates, utensils,
and other necessities and put them in a shopping bag, ready to grab and go.
As soon as the timer reached zero, I removed the very hot
casserole from the oven while Carol Ann filled two cups with ice and grabbed a
couple of drinks from the fridge. At the last minute she decided to take a
plastic pitcher of ice with us and as she was taking it from the freezer, lost
her grip and ice cubes were bouncing all over the floor between the fridge and
the motorhome’s door. The 3 steps in the step well to the door were covered in
ice cubes. I got down on my hands and knees and began rounding them up but I
managed to loose my balance and fall against the wall. All of a sudden there
was a very loud “honking” noise and everything went white for a couple of
seconds, much like being in a white out during a blizzard. I was a bit shaken
until I realized as I fell against the wall I had bumped into the CO2 fire
extinguisher mounted in the step well and caused it to briefly discharge. At
least we know it works but we will have to clean up the white powder coating
the lower portion of the fridge and the floor in front of it.
We hope this was not a portent of things to come in our new
motorhome. We have a big trip coming up next month and are hoping it will be
uneventful. Stay tuned to find out.
Labels:
canada
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casserole
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CO2
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convection microwave
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fire extinguisher
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Good Sam
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koa
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mexico
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motorhome
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Rusk
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rv
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Texas
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Welcome to Canada!
Canada – Day 1
We crossed the border into Canada today. We had read the rules on exactly what, and
how much of it, one was allowed to bring into Canada. There are three main things to be concerned
about. (1) Firearms, (2) Tobacco, and (3)
Alcohol. Canada is really anal when it
comes to firearms. They don’t like guns
and don’t allow them to be brought into Canada by the average citizen. Shotguns and rifles may be brought into
Canada in a very few circumstances (mainly for hunting), but ABSOLUTELY NO HANDGUNS! I know a person who tried to sneak a handgun
into Canada a year or two ago. He was
caught, the gun confiscated, and he received a hefty fine. I imagine that his name is also on some kind
of list that will guarantee him extra special attention the next time he goes
to Canada.
Carol Ann and I had no firearms or tobacco in the coach when
we arrived at the border but, as mentioned earlier, we were over the limit for alcohol. If asked if we had anything to declare and we responded in the negative we
would be in big trouble if they decided to check. However, if we declared the alcohol up front we
could be charged a hefty duty for being over the limit. If directly asked we planned to answer
truthfully as lying to customs and immigration authorities is not a good idea.
The tour leader told us that the most likely questions posed
to us would concern (1) Your citizenship?
(2) Why are you coming to Canada?
(3) How long will you be in Canada?
(4) Do you have any firearms? (5)
Do you have any tobacco? (6) Do you have
any alcohol? (7) Do you have anything
you wish to declare? We were somewhat
anxious and so we practiced with these questions and how we would answer them. You can’t help but be a little bit nervous
when being questioned by the customs and immigration people. It’s natural.
Here is what I was afraid would happen:
(Border Agent):
“Welcome to Canada. What is your
citizenship?”
(Me): “You are
welcome. We are from Texas.”
(BA): “Sir. Please turn down the volume on your
radio.
(Me): “Sorry ‘bout
that. I just like my hip-hop and rap
music loud.”
(BA): “Thank
you. Now, of what country are you a
citizen?”
(Me): “America.”
(BA): “So, you are a
US Citizen?”
(Me): “That’s a fact,
Jack! Born and bred right in the land of
the free!”
(BA): “Why are you
visiting Canada? Business or pleasure?”
(Me): “I’m hoping to
have a most pleasurable sojourn in your very nice country, sir.”
(BA): “How long do
you plan to be in Canada?”
(Me): “Depends on how
long the money lasts! Ha! That’s a joke. 47 days.”
(BA): “Do you have
any firearms?”
(Me): “Shoot, I
reckon!”
(BA): “In the vehicle?”
(Me): “Well, you
didn’t ask if I had them with me. No, I
left all eleven of them back in Texas.”
(BA): “Sir. Do you have any firearms in your vehicle?”
(Me): “Which
vehicle? The motorhome or the car we are
towing?”
(BA): “Do you have
firearms in either one of the vehicles?”
(Me): “Well, let’s
see. No sir. I believe I left all of them back home in
Texas”
(BA): “Are you sure that you don’t have any firearms
in your vehicle?”
(Me): “Now, would I
lie to you, sir?”
(BA): “Sir.
Pull your motorhome over into that parking area behind the barbed wire
fence. HEY, AGENT BRICK! BRING THE DOG, THE PRY BAR, AND THE X-RAY
MACHINE TO THE SECONDARY INSPECTION AREA!”
And it could only get worse from that point on. Instead, this is what actually occurred:
(BA): “Welcome to
Canada! It’s a beautiful day.”
(Me): “Thank you
sir. Here are our passports, pet
certificates, and insurance papers.”
(BA): “I see you
brought your babies with you.”
(Me): “Yes sir. Three cats.”
(BA): “What is the
license plate number of your vehicle?”
(Me): “Which
vehicle? The motorhome or the car we are
towing?”
(BA): “The
motorhome.”
(Me): “Oh, that would
be UGA…. er, Carol Ann, what is our tag number?”
(CA): “UGA 67.”
(Me): “Yes. UGA 67.
University of Georgia. No, I
didn’t mean that it was a Georgia tag.
It’s a Texas tag but I’m a University of Georgia alumnus alumnae
alumni graduate.”
(BA): Smiling as he
handed back my documents, “You have a good day sir.”
And that was it. I sure am glad we didn’t pour out any of the alcohol before getting to the border! Plus, I was sure that we would be strip searched for handguns because we were from Texas! All of that worrying for nothing. We crossed over into Canada and continued on our way to St. Andrews where we are camped in the Kiwanis RV Park, right on the water.
And that was it. I sure am glad we didn’t pour out any of the alcohol before getting to the border! Plus, I was sure that we would be strip searched for handguns because we were from Texas! All of that worrying for nothing. We crossed over into Canada and continued on our way to St. Andrews where we are camped in the Kiwanis RV Park, right on the water.
Labels:
border crossing
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canada
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customs
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handguns
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immigration
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kiwanis
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St. Andrews
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