Canadian Border Crossing
I used to cross into Canada three to five
times a week, but that was 20 years
ago. Back then it was "answer three
questions and be on your way." This
year we were traveling to Ottawa,
from South Bend, IN. With three drivers
we decided to save vacation time by
driving the 14 hours mostly at
night.
We arrived at the Port Huron
/Sarnia border crossing about 4am.
Every one except myself and oldest
son were asleep. The customs agent
asked how many were in the van, I
told him "seven". "OK" he said, "pull over
at the customs building. Another
agent requested we all exit the van.
So I had to wake up four kids and my
wife. Now he says, "Go inside with
your picture ID so we can verify
your IDs." Those of us who were
drivers had picture IDs, but three of the
kids did not.
We waited while the
customs agent explained that all
persons entering Canada need
picture IDs. Okay it was alright for us
to continue with our trip, but first
we must search your van, which
was packed to the max. After gently
re-arranging our packing they said
we could go. This whole process took
about an hour of lost driving time.
Pete
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