Of Borders and Boredom
Yesterday was the longest continuous time I spent in the car: I left Glacier National Park at 9am, and arrived at the campsite at 6.20pm, having lost an hour on the way crossing into PDT from MDT, so that’s nearly ten-and-a-half hours in the car!
However.. not all of that was driving.
Here is how the day started:
And, to be honest, that is how it continued! I drove 100s of miles, through Montana, Alberta, British Columbia and Idaho, and I think the wipers were ‘Off’ on the car, for only about half an hour! So I missed a lot of Waterton, as it was under a cloud. But the drive through the Rockies was wonderful, of course. They are stunningly beautiful mountains.
But shortly after, the delays began.. The first was a 45-minute delay due to about 30 feet of roadworks (I kid you not), that turned out to be a man with a tanker, hosing down the tarmac. Goodness knows what had happened there, but the queue was a couple of miles long by the time I joined it. The chap behind me was trying to convince me to turn around and take a 200-mile detour via another border crossing (!). I had no mobile data (being in Canada) so it was tough to check, but I’m glad I decided not to do as he suggested.
Then I had the respite of clear roads for a bit, before hitting the USA-Canada border. On my way into Canada, it took about three minutes, as the guard checked my passport, asked how long I intended to stay (he raised an eyebrow at my answer: ‘about six hours’), and whether I had any guns, firewood, animals or food products, or US$10,000 in cash! I answered in the negative.. and he even smiled.
‘What’s all this about grumpy border guards,’ I asked myself, after that and my initial entry into the USA were both marked with smiley guards.
Then I discovered. Getting bacl into the USA first of all involved nearly an hour and a half of queueing. I made best use of it by reading up on Washington state and around in my guide books. I have already found half a dozen places I want to visit, before I’ve even spoken to Annie / her family about what I should do in the area!
Anyway, once I got to the border, there ensued a series of questions drilled at me by the guard in an undertone, getting cross whenever I asked him to repeat a question (with all those engines running, it was pretty loud!). How long are you staying, where are you staying, where are you from, where did you rent the car from, where are you leaving from, who are you staying with.. I was starting to get nervous. The concerns were rising: ‘what if he doesn’t let me in,’ or, ‘what if he decides to take my car apart to look for non-existent contraband and/or guns and/or $10,000 in cash!’
However, eventually, he gave me my passport back. I said, ‘Thank you, have a nice day,’ as that seems to be what most Americans say to me as a form of goodbye, and he just glared at me as I drove off.
The next question was: where do I stay? The rain was still falling, and my tent was soaking wet after the thunderstorm the night before, and I didn’t fancy another cold, damp night. However, a dozen phone calls later, I got bored of asking motels if they had spare rooms, and booked a campsite in Coeur d’Alene, ID instead.
And I have to say, it was pretty good! It has a hot tub (adults only), pool, laundry, general store, hot showers, flushing toilets, electric points for charging things.. it was like being in a motel except you bring your own room! There was also a very nice (but expensive) steak house just down the road, in which I enjoyed a couple of local beers and a delicious 16oz rare steak. Well deserved, I thought, after the mammoth drive.
Best of all.. the rain all but stopped as I arrived, so I put up my tent without getting drenched!
Normal service was resumed overnight of course.. this is where I woke up, to begin the last leg of the road trip, and my journey to see Annie and the Platter family in Issaquah. I shall enjoy seeing them.. and being in a warm, dry place (with a bed) overnight of course.. it’s been a week since I last saw a bed!
I am currently in Starbucks, Moses Lake, about halfway there, for a much-needed pitstop of sugar, caffeine and green fruit juice. On the journey I had about 15 minutes of sun.. I had forgotten what it looked like.. I miss Colorado!! Hopefully I’ll be able to put the top down one last time on the journey to drop the car off at the airport.