The international interrogation

Monday, June 5th 2017

It would have actually been faster to take the southern route through the valleys, but the route we took in blue had incredible scenery plus we could see just how well this diesel pusher motor home did with long, steep inclines.  Thank goodness the engine brakes worked like a champ going down.  All those "runaway ramps" scared the heck out of me! Test result?  Perfect!

We left Stoneridge Motor Coach Resort to head into Canada.  We opted for a “less traveled” route which was a little more mountainous and took us longer than anticipated.  Our diesel engine handled it beautifully, gliding up, and up, then quietly (the engine is in the back) down the backside, as I nagged Norm to slow down just a tad…..

We got fuel just before the border crossing at a whopping $2.89 a gallon so we wouldn’t have a need to pay Canada’s nearly $5.00.  Everyone wonders what our fuel mileage is in this beast so I will admit it’s about 7.5 to 8 miles per gallon. Actually, it’s a little better than the 32 foot gas motorhome we used to own.

I felt relief as we coasted up to the Canadian border crossing, since it meant we were close to our destination for the night.  I’d had enough for one day, and every other time we crossed into Canada we were “inspected” in moments after answering the usual questions. "Any guns?"  And our very vague answer to how much alcohol was met with a “have a nice trip!”

My feelings of “relief” quickly turned to “grief” as the Customs Agent started to grill us.  He needed to know EXACTLY how much alcohol we had on board.

 A mere “ Oh, a 12 pack of beer and a couple in the fridge and a few bottles of wine” were not good enough for this guy.

“How much EXACTLY! Go look!  A box of wine? How much in the box? Go get it- show me.”

When I did, he still wasn’t satisfied.  He threatened us that if he comes on board, and we have a drop more, we will get fined, and they could even confiscate our rig!  I started to sweat. I didn’t know EXACTLY how much….

“Yes, sir.  No guns, no pepper spray” we answered to those questions we were expecting.

He then headed off down the side of the rig and around to the car.  What is he looking for?  Illegal Mexicans that we might have been smuggling since Texas? What now?  God, I thought, I hope he lets us keep the booze, because I really needed a drink!

“OK.  I see you have life preservers in the car.  Where’s the boat?”
“Huh?” we asked. 

 “I see life preservers, you must have a boat. Where's the boat? Why do you have towels on the front seats of your car, then?”  We were totally confused, because we certainly didn’t have our life jackets in the car. We had golf clubs in there…. But he sounded so convincing, at this point we probably would have confessed to murder.

“Oh yeah…. We have kayaks…”  Oh boy, that opened up a WHOLE other nightmare.

“Kayaks? Really????  Have you had them professionally cleaned?” 

We had cleaned our kayaks really well before we folded them origami-style back into its box

 “What”? we asked, totally oblivious to what in the world he was talking about because our kayaks fold into a box and have been stashed underneath since North Carolina 6 weeks ago.

“Haven’t you seen all the boat inspection stations?” You must have passed them many times.  Why didn’t you stop?”  I didn’t understand why he was so pissed off - Norm was on his best behavior today. Could those signs we passed for mandatory boat inspections possibly pertain to our stowed boats?

 

The small but invasive zebra mussel

We explained we haven’t used them.  “Then why did you bring them then?” He felt a little better when we said we were on a 6 month trip ( we then had to tell him our complete itinerary ) “Don’t you know of the Zebra Mussels that are destroying our lakes?  They come from Florida and Georgia “.   He made us feel like we were personally responsible for the demise of Canada’s natural environment.

 

                                                                                   

 

 We repeated again that haven’t been using them, and gave him an exact date of when they were last in the water when asked. Norm was amazed I knew exactly when that was.

He then threatened that if the boat inspector were here we would have to have them inspected, which we would have been happy (well, not real happy) to do.  In fact, if there was any chance we could be harboring any microorganism that could in anyway hurt any environment we would and will, 100% comply. 

Since the agent thought that perhaps the length of time that they had been dry might have killed any potential mussels, he finally got off the boat and mussel topic, but swung back around to the alcohol interrogation.  What is it with this guy?  Do we look like booze smugglers? Or could he detect the hint of guilt in our voices?

After researching a little bit, I discovered why all the concern.  These little guys not only produce a million seeds each, but they have been clogging water in-takes, and coating everything they can.  People have to be vigilant to keep them from spreading to all our valuable water supplies.

After threatening again that he might come on board and search and the dire consequences if we have anything more than stated, he asked if we had ever been to Canada before.  It says in our passports that we had, in fact Norm was born here.  “Yes, sir. Many times.” 

 “Well, you should know EXACTLY what you can and cannot bring into Canada!!  It is your responsibility to know.” he snarled.

“You have wasted a lot of my time here, and the line behind you is now huge, but THIS time I will let you off easily, because I am being really nice!”

We left feeling like we had been pistol whipped, but happy to be on our way! I must say that the man was certainly doing his job well.  I hope Customs and Border for the US are being as thorough.   Good for him! We will be more prepared next time, and may even have the kayaks cleaned if the opportunity presents itself, even though we washed them well before we put them away.



We took this picture last year when we were visiting Norm's family and coincidently captures where we are staying this year. The arrow points to Mk'Nik Campground.

After a short drive more, we descended the mountains into the extraordinarily scenic town of Osoyoos located on the northern end of the Osoyoos Lake to Mk’Nik Campground.  This campground, located on the property of the highly rated Spirit Ridge Resort and vineyard has over 300 sites, many on the water.

The lakes and rivers here in British Colombia are at a 200 year flood stage due to the rapid melting of the snow in the mountains this year.  Coupled with a rainy spring and you have road closures, and properties all along the waterways suffering damage.  Parks and campgrounds were among those impacted.  Scores of hardworking people were seen sandbagging everywhere we went.

Luckily our site, although not very pretty, was on high ground. Campgrounds were evacuating campers and shutting off power to those affected sites near the water. 

The Okanagan Valley is known for its wineries and fruit orchards, and this campground sits on the property of Mk’Mip Resort adjacent to the last remaining 900 acres of the Canadian Sonora Desert. Evidently birds are a problem for the winery here because cannon blasts were discharged every minute or two from the moment we got there until about 10pm, then resumed at 6:30AM!  Norm was going crazy!  It didn’t seem to bother me at all for the first six hours, thinking it sounded like the Grand Finale on the 4^th of July. After a while, I must say I was a bit annoyed as well.  We were glad it was just a one night stay. 



Map of the Nk'mip RV Park in Osoyoos, B.C. Canada