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My new (old) direction


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It's not terribly busy around here of late, so I thought I'd tell you a tale.

 

Had a bit of an interesting episode at a Canada - U.S border crossing at Osoyoos, BC last week which I believe has convinced me to redirect my Waymarking goals a bit away from "Official, Manned, Border Crossings":

 

When "playing the game" in the vicinity of national borders it would behoove one to pay attention to where they are at all times. As I approached the border, getting nearer and nearer, I noticed no place at which I could turn around and avoid actually crossing the border. Finally I spied a small parking area to one side and pulled in there. As I got out of the car I spied a Border Monument directly in front of me, only a few feet away, meaning that I was that close to the border. Given that my initial target was those Border Monuments, I considered this a bit of serendipity.


It transpired that this was NOT serendipity; this was quite the opposite. Later, as I was focusing on a display of flags here I was approached by two Canadian border guards and asked a bucketful of questions, which included "Where is your vehicle?" When they learned where I had parked they broke the bad news that, from that spot I could no longer turn around. I MUST enter the U.S., where it was assumed they would refuse me entry and I could return back to my homeland.


When it comes to border crossings, even between two purportedly amicable countries, things are never as straightforward as one might expect. Suffice it to say that the U.S. Homeland Security folks took, at the least, an hour to process me and send me on my way. On returning to Canada from my 100 or so foot excursion into foreign territory, it took Canadian Customs nearly that time again to process me, as well. A major problem was that I had not taken my passport on this trip, as never in a million years had I expected to be crossing the border. As the TV ad says - Don't Leave Home Without It!

 

My realization here is that I don't seem to play well with border guards/agents, on either side of the border, so ... ... I have, after considerable rumination, decided that it would be best that I leave them to their tasks and go on with mine in other locales, well away from their purview, Waymarking only Border Monuments which are well out of their sight. ;)

 

After all, attempting, time after time, to convince border agents, both American and Canadian, that I'm probably NOT a terrorist with an AK-47 under my T-shirt and/or a 2 litre bottle of Anthrax in my back pocket can get old rather quickly.

 

Hence, it will be back to what has always been my favourite milieu, stuff historic... ... with the odd backwoods Border Monument thrown in for variety. :)

 

Keith

Edited by ScroogieII
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7 hours ago, fi67 said:

Why don't you try "Official, Unmanned, Border Crossings"? :ph34r:

 

 

 

...and the reason this Onion hasn't gone across the border in awhile...  Actually, going into Canada isn't bad; it's coming back into the U.S..  Of course, the last time I did that crossing, I was dragging a 24-foot travel trailer - caravan for your translation, Keith!  :)   I'm still wondering which agent got to go through the black water tank :P

It was SO much nicer and easier pre-9/11, but those days are long gone!  

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17 minutes ago, elyob said:

Caravan is the word for across the ocean.  We still speak trailer.

 

It's difficult for outsiders to track which words we steal from America and which we take from Britain.

  ?

I work with a company with a UK presence - sometimes it's hard to remember which words my friends north of the border use from across the pond and which they don't.
I DO know in certain parts of the Great White North, don't even ask for iced tea.  My mom made that mistake.  They just look at you funny.   LOL  Of course, one can't hardly get a decent glass of iced tea north of the Mason Dixon line and I'm definitely north of the line!  :)
I do like the fact that vinegar goes on fries before salt up north - that's a keeper.

 

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On 7/13/2020 at 12:50 PM, iconions said:

I do like the fact that vinegar goes on fries before salt up north - that's a keeper.

When I dragged Barb's a** over the border for the first time in 2000, we crossed into Alberta and shortly after, stopped for lunch. Barb asked for something with fries. The waitress asked: "Would you like gravy on your fries?"

The look on Barb's face was priceless - the price one pays for chowing down in unfamiliar territory.

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On 7/12/2020 at 1:07 PM, fi67 said:

Why don't you try "Official, Unmanned, Border Crossings"? :ph34r:

 

We have thousands of "Unofficial, Unmanned, Border Crossings", but I have yet to find an "Official, Unmanned, Border Crossing". The Yanks have become much too paranoid for Official, Unmanned, Border Crossings ever to exist.

 

However, from where I live, I could walk a klik south and just walk across the border, if I was of a mind to do so. Can't think of why I might want to do that, though.

  • Surprised 3
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I remember returning from New York state back in '99 through an official unmanned crossing.  Stop at the pylon in the middle of the road.  Remove said pylon.  Drive forward and stop.  Reset said pylon.  Those were the days.

 

I originally had more to say here about hoping for an open border but this might not be a good time for such a conversation.

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my oldest brother moved to Maine in about 1978, a little town called Lubec. Follow the coast until you can see the border, but don't cross, and you'll be in Lubec. Most evenings, he would walk across the bridge into Canada to have a beer at his favorite establishment.

He has gone back to visit a few times in the past 10 years -- no such thing, anymore. It's a manned crossing, and all the regulations, etc. He has crossed the border, following all rules, and returned. But not often, usually just one time per trip, to see old friends. And then we all hear about the "good old days".

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On 7/19/2020 at 4:52 PM, vulture1957 said:

a little town called Lubec

Cool place, Lubec. It was one of our stops on a trip through Maine a few years ago. Did quite a few WMs in and around Lubec, including something like "Easternmost Point in the US" - something like that.

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On 7/19/2020 at 5:06 PM, ScroogieII said:

When I dragged Barb's a** over the border for the first time in 2000, we crossed into Alberta and shortly after, stopped for lunch. Barb asked for something with fries. The waitress asked: "Would you like gravy on your fries?"

 

I once treated the future Mrs. QDV to one of the best burgers you can get in Ontario at the Superburger in Primrose, and of course, there was poutine to be had for the fries, er, "chips."

 

A few years earlier, I saw a poor McDonalds worker flustered in Wyandotte, MI, by someone from just across the border who was asking for vinegar for their chips.  Best of luck finding packets of vinegar at McDonalds in suburban Detroit, but at least I was able to say, "Excuse me, I speak Canadian....she means 'fries' when she says 'chips.'"  

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