This is primarily a travel blog in which I write about traveling in our motorhome. Our travels have

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!

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.

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.

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.