crossing into the states from vancouver

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

pdq

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Posts
338
Hi
With our old tow trailer, we often used the truck crossing when going into the states.
Now, with the 35 foot motorhome and a toad - What crossing do you find (i) easier, and/or (ii) best (have been thinking peace arch).
Thanks!
 
thanks - i tried to open the file, but it was not readable and then i tried to download it, but still not readable.
Was wondering what people's experience was in driving through (easy access)
regards, peter
 
Apologies, I should have checked that link before posting. It's obviously corrupted. I checked the file itself and it doesn't provide the information you're looking for.
 
The link is to an Excel spreadsheet so it won't open for you unless you have MS Office or a compatible spreadsheet program, like OpenOffice.
 
However, the link does not open as spread sheet in Firefox, even with Excel installed. Something strange there, as it seems to have an XLS file type. Firefox bug? It works with IE.
 
It shouldn't open in Firefox, it should download and open in the associated program, such as Excel or OpenOffice.  Firefox doesn't render XLS files, IE may have an Excel ActiveX control from Office to display in IE, but it's still Excel under the hood.

I just tried it in IE8 and told it Save when prompted.  At that point IE8 did nothing, no download, no display.  But I don't have MS Office installed.
 
Hi Tom, Hi Ned

I just downloaded - and the file is NOT corrupt
Not sure if someone 'fixed' the file OR did i do something different that it worked

And yes Tom - it does not address my question BUT it has good info for me!

And if anyone crosses into Washington from Vancouver BC, please let me know your experience.

thanks, peter
 
Peter,

You're right - the file was not corrupt. I thought the link was corrupt, but it wasn't. We changed the file format from .xls to .pdf until we figure it out and, as you saw, it's now downloadable and opens just fine.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
pdq said:
Hi
With our old tow trailer, we often used the truck crossing when going into the states.
Now, with the 35 foot motorhome and a toad - What crossing do you find (i) easier, and/or (ii) best (have been thinking peace arch).

I would still use the truck route. Canada 15 south. It's never crowded. Forget that Peace Arch exists unless you wanna wait all day or leave at 0300 hrs. Why do you think the truck route will now be a bigger problem? It's designed for trucks!

-Don- SSF, CA​
 
DonTom said:
I would still use the truck route. Canada 15 south. It's never crowded. Forget that Peace Arch exists unless you wanna wait all day or leave at 0300 hrs. Why do you think the truck route will now be a bigger problem? It's designed for trucks!

-Don- SSF, CA​

We seldom saw motorhomes crossing at the truck crossing - typically saw them at peace arch.
Thus was wondering about people's experience in using the two crossings - the pros & cons
thanks!
 
pdq said:
And if anyone crosses into Washington from Vancouver BC, please let me know your experience.
thanks, peter

We (Tom & I, a gay couple)  have several times. The only problem we have is that we get searched every time ( not even one exception), when going from Canada back into the USA. I don't think they like seeing only two guys in one RV. But the search doesn't take nearly as long as the wait during the day at Peace Arch. 

But we are never searched when going into Canada from the USA.

Be sure to carry no oranges into the USA. They found an orange that we didn't know we had and they made a real big deal out of it and almost gave us a $300.00 fine. And that's per orange! If it's declared, they just 
confiscate it. But we didn't know we had it. It got lost from a sack of oranges. We thought we ate them all,but his one was well hidden. Rolled there on its own. But they found it in no time!

-Don- SSF, CA​
 
Thanks Don (and Tom)

We cross several times in the summer because we like visiting washington's state parks (our provincial parks have no amenities)

The peace arch crossing seems more motorhome friendly. Not sure what it will be like post renovations

And yes, once there was a boarder guard when we went into the states who seemed to wonder about two men / one RV.
We do not take food across - experienced in the "no food allowed'

peter (and Larry)
 
pdq said:
The peace arch crossing seems more motorhome friendly.
What do you mean by "motorhome friendly"? The only difference we've noticed is the number of people waiting in line. I assume the only reason 15 has a lot less motorhomes is for the same reason there are less cars. Not as many people know about it and it's shown as a "truck route". And it's not directly on PH99 / I-5.
And yes, once there was a boarder guard when we went into the states who seemed to wonder about two men / one RV.
We're asked both ways each and every time how we know each other.  We tell them we're a gay couple that's been together for 35 years. Then, the only  difference is that the USA wants to do a search every time but Canada never does. It also might have something to do with the fact that Tom is Chinese and I am not.

When we came back from China last month, at the SFO airport, Tom and I waited in different lines at customs. He got completely searched but I was only asked a few questions and not searched at all. They didn't realize  were both carrying a lot of each other's stuff <g>.

We do not take food across - experienced in the "no food allowed'
Well, most food is allowed. It's the type of food, such as certain types of fruit and veggies that they are looking for.

-Don- SSF, CA​
 
It's the type of food, such as certain types of fruit and veggies that they are looking for.

And that list varies with time. When Chris and I crossed several years ago, beef was a no-no (must have been around the mad cow time), and so were eggs.

Tom and I waited in different lines at customs. He got completely searched but I was only asked a few questions and not searched at all.

That might have been different if you'd been wearing those loud pants of yesteryear  ;D
 
For sure...

During mad cow, once entering the states, the border guard said we needed to surrender the dry dog food, which was made in California.
The guard was then satisfied when we could produce the original packaging!
 
pdq said:
For sure...

During mad cow, once entering the states, the border guard said we needed to surrender the dry dog food, which was made in California.
The guard was then satisfied when we could produce the original packaging!

It did us no good that we could prove the orange we had came from Spokane, WA. You may bring USA oranges into Canada but you may not bring them back.

-Don-​
 
We cross at Aldergrove, especially during tourist high season. The road goes straight south and meets I-5 at Bellis Fair mall. Be aware it is not open 24 hours. The Peace Arch was a mess due to construction the last time we went through.
 
Tom said:
That might have been different if you'd been wearing those loud pants of yesteryear

You must be talking about this picture of Tom & me in Feb 1975 (taken on Tom's 22nd birthday):

-Don-
 

Attachments

  • 1975.JPG
    1975.JPG
    14.4 KB · Views: 22
That's the one Don. I meant to say "... if Tom had been wearing those pants".
 

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,359
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom