Mt. Vernon 1000 Trails, Washington
July 17, 18
After a stunning, scenic drive from the Thompson Valley down through a majestic canyon and a series of very cool tunnels, we arrive in Abbottsford at the US Border Crossing. We have had NO issues getting into Canada, nor Alaska (btw...also part of the US, although they don't really want to believe that!). Our posted wait when we cued up was 10 minutes. Not bad. Well, 10 min turned into 1 hour of waiting in line, then we turned that 1 hour into 2 1/2 hours of craziness. At the check point we were greeted by Mr. Nasty and it never got any better. From the moment we said, "hi" it went downhill. We were drilled with questions, remarks about all the "wrong" things we had going for us. For example, our bike rack was covering a bit of our back license plate. BAD. We didn't have our Trailer registration on hand, immediately. BAD. Mr. Nasty could not see Bodie's rabies vaccination on his medical clearance records. BAD. (I asked him if he wanted me to show him where it was) BAD. So, after him pondering for a few minutes, staring into space, he informed us to pull over into the "inspection" station. We were told we must put Bodie into the Customs kennel and both of us needed to enter the Inspection station. We sat until we were called and then attempted to declare everything I could possibly remember was in our fridge and gifts and etc, etc. Can you list ALL the things in your refrigerator?? I tried. Believe me. I tried. Then there was the stump issue. OMG. "No Sir, we do not have any firewood, oh well, we do have a stump." Why do we have a stump. It was just a perfect stump. Level and just the right height for wood chopping. It was really perfect. So after explaining this to Mr. Nasty II, he told us we would need to take it back to Canada. Ok. How do we do that? Apparently, there is a Canadian man on the other side of the border that takes all these crazy American's wood. Ok. So it's a bit heavy and it's a bit of a walk back to Canada. Along comes the dolly to make the "Walk of Shame." But first we must sit tight until they go through our Airstream and Truck and allow the drug dog to go through everything. We wait. Finally, the Nasty people return with not only my tomatoes, but OMG, AVOCADO's. Oops. Forgot to declare those. :( Bad news. There is a $350 fine for undeclared items. He waits for a bit until we are sick to our stomachs and then informs us that since this is our first inspection, he will let us go without the fine. So Mr. Nasty ll is a ok. Please just let us go now. I want my dog out and want to go home.
He allows me to sit in the truck with Bodie and Kevin must do the WALK. Poor Kevin. He gets across and goes to the Canadian customs officer. "What are you going to do with this wood?" Oh crap, really. Finally, they agree that Kevin will just stash the PERFECT stump behind a house. Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Canadian homeowner. Sorry. Now it's back to walking back to the US customs. OMG, just reliving this is making me shake. Welcome back home!
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| Tacky Welome sign???? |
We finally arrive in Washington and immediately begin to relax. We are homeward bound and to boot, this 1000 Trails is our most FAVORITE 1000 trails yet. We are nestled among big trees, all alone with a little 1mile walk through a thick forest right next to us (which no one has used but us in 2 days!)
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| Day 1of 2 days of shaving down fur off of Alaskan mush dog |
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| finished project! ready for the heat |
After a stunning, scenic drive from the Thompson Valley down through a majestic canyon and a series of very cool tunnels, we arrive in Abbottsford at the US Border Crossing. We have had NO issues getting into Canada, nor Alaska (btw...also part of the US, although they don't really want to believe that!). Our posted wait when we cued up was 10 minutes. Not bad. Well, 10 min turned into 1 hour of waiting in line, then we turned that 1 hour into 2 1/2 hours of craziness. At the check point we were greeted by Mr. Nasty and it never got any better. From the moment we said, "hi" it went downhill. We were drilled with questions, remarks about all the "wrong" things we had going for us. For example, our bike rack was covering a bit of our back license plate. BAD. We didn't have our Trailer registration on hand, immediately. BAD. Mr. Nasty could not see Bodie's rabies vaccination on his medical clearance records. BAD. (I asked him if he wanted me to show him where it was) BAD. So, after him pondering for a few minutes, staring into space, he informed us to pull over into the "inspection" station. We were told we must put Bodie into the Customs kennel and both of us needed to enter the Inspection station. We sat until we were called and then attempted to declare everything I could possibly remember was in our fridge and gifts and etc, etc. Can you list ALL the things in your refrigerator?? I tried. Believe me. I tried. Then there was the stump issue. OMG. "No Sir, we do not have any firewood, oh well, we do have a stump." Why do we have a stump. It was just a perfect stump. Level and just the right height for wood chopping. It was really perfect. So after explaining this to Mr. Nasty II, he told us we would need to take it back to Canada. Ok. How do we do that? Apparently, there is a Canadian man on the other side of the border that takes all these crazy American's wood. Ok. So it's a bit heavy and it's a bit of a walk back to Canada. Along comes the dolly to make the "Walk of Shame." But first we must sit tight until they go through our Airstream and Truck and allow the drug dog to go through everything. We wait. Finally, the Nasty people return with not only my tomatoes, but OMG, AVOCADO's. Oops. Forgot to declare those. :( Bad news. There is a $350 fine for undeclared items. He waits for a bit until we are sick to our stomachs and then informs us that since this is our first inspection, he will let us go without the fine. So Mr. Nasty ll is a ok. Please just let us go now. I want my dog out and want to go home. 
We finally arrive in Washington and immediately begin to relax. We are homeward bound and to boot, this 1000 Trails is our most FAVORITE 1000 trails yet. We are nestled among big trees, all alone with a little 1mile walk through a thick forest right next to us (which no one has used but us in 2 days!)
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