Blaine

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Journey to the Mothership

This morning, I awoke with a shock around 4, the enormity of yesterday’s events and the gamble I took finally making a full impact.

If I’d been turned away at the border yesterday, that would have been it for me regarding the US. Good luck ever coming in again, even for a day trip. But I did make it in for an extended period of time, with my rig, and as a pre-retirement age full-time RVer with no stable source of income. I set one hell of a precedent. Next time I want to go in under similar circumstances I can say that the folks in Sumas, WA, felt that I posed no threat and also proffer the paperwork yesterday’s agents told me to have on hand for future crossings. I opened the gateway to future American adventures and suddenly started a new chapter in my full-timing life. I expect that border crossings will always be difficult, at least until I retire, but this precedent is an excellent step for me and a good note on my file.

So, I awoke to the smell of the sea, bright blue skies, and a radiant sun.

I’ll pause here to say that I’m within Blaine city limits, about fifteen minutes from Pacific Border RV Park. I spent four months living on the border with Blaine and never once set foot in the town! Kind of funny in a way.

For the first time in months, I bounced out of bed. I hadn’t realised how much my fear of crossing the border with the rig had been weighing me down. I spent the morning puttering around, walked to beach, and fiddled with my fresh water hook ups; not managing to get a leak-free set up.

Being forty-five minutes away from Camping World and having never been there, I decided it was time to go!!! I hit the road around two, enjoying the drive down I-5. It reminded me of being in coastal Maine, except that the ocean was on the wrong side.

Camping World was awesome!!! Sure, it has a lot of the crappy products you can find at Canadian Tire and Walmart, but they also had better quality options, plus tons of gadgets. I found a much higher grade of water hose, but, like all water hoses, it had crappy fittings. I ended up stopping at True Value on the way home and getting better fittings, which were easy to install. I also found the fluorescent bulbs that I needed for the light fixture under my sink, something I have been hunting for for months. I’ve missed it so much!

I got in and installed my new water system: house-grade pressure regulator, brass quick connect, new hose, and a new high-grade washer at the city water intake on the rig. For the first time in two and a half years I hooked up my water and did not have to swear! Hooking up fresh water has always been the most onerous part of RVing and it is now much easier.

Tomorrow, I will make it a point to go for a long walk with my camera. I picked a great spot to hole up for a month!

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Feeling ‘Off’

Once I got settled in with groceries and started on dinner, I realised that I was feeling really unsettled. I couldn’t figure out why because the feeling didn’t have anything to do with being in the States. And then it hit me.

This is the first time since landing in Dawson in June of ’09 that I don’t know what my next step is going to be. Once I got settled in Dawson, I knew what was next: a Vancouver Island winter then a second Klondike summer; the fall in Osoyoos then the RV show. I didn’t want to make any plans for after because I didn’t know what doors, if any, the show would open for me. The only certainty for me right now is that I have guaranteed jobs in the Yukon this summer if I need them. I’m sitting where I was at the end of April ’09, staring at a gaping unknown, only this time I don’t have anywhere near the financial safety net I had back then. I put everything I had into getting the seminar and book ready and there really is very little left with which to pick up the pieces. I have no regrets. I finally made my mark on the world, and is that not what we all want, to leave something meaningful behind?

Being in the States for a couple of months is going to stop the financial bleed and give me time to focus on something other than sheer survival. I’m at a lovely park that is costing me a third of what I was paying in Osoyoos. Plus, all the parks in Vancouver said that a ‘month’ is from the 1st to the 31st, so I would have paid for 30 days and only gotten 21 (still cheaper than daily or weekly rate) while the folks here assumed that wanting to stay ‘a month’ meant staying till the morning of March 8th. Groceries are also much, much cheaper. Gas prices are a joke. Even though I can’t technically work in the US, the laws are clear that I can continue with my existing contracts with non-US clients and I’m pretty sure it would be okay to work on another book so long as I don’t market it until I get back to Canada. So, I’m really in a good place to pause for a bit and figure out the next stage of this wondrous, crazy life of mine.

As I said in my seminar, I started from scratch when I hit the road and I have to be patient as I figure out how I’m going to make it. I remain committed to the open road and know that many fantastic adventures lie ahead. I’m just a little discombobulated right now from the adrenaline of the last week. Settling back into a semblance of a routine is going to help. So is knowing that I’m going to Seattle this weekend to meet up with a longtime blog reader/friend and that I won’t have to factor an hour’s wait at the border both ways ‘just in case’ in my schedule!

I’ll finish off with a few random pictures:

Miranda parked in Tradex overflow at sunset

Nee this morning, enjoying some rare sunshine

Washington sunset

Washington sunset, redux

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Washington Respite

Ooh, well I’ve had a day and a half.  I didn’t want to talk about my plans ahead of time for fear of jinxing them. But now that I’m here, I’m happy to say that I managed to cross over into the US for an extended vacation with my rig!

As I said to US customs, quite some time into my interview, I picked northern Washington because a) the cost of living is much cheaper than in Canada and b) I’m still close to the border in case of a medical emergency (I did take out some supplemental coverage, just in case). Now, I’m well situated to visit with blog readers in the area, tour around, and perhaps even do a bit of shopping.

I didn’t expect the border crossing to be easy, so I’m surprised that it went as smoothly as it did, all things considered. I think I was there about an hour and a half. It took all of thirty seconds for them to pull me over and tell me to go inside.

The American customs officials were very decent. They treated me with respect and asked only relevant questions, but there was one huge issue that I hadn’t even though about: the leftover CDs from the RV show! I had them out in plain sight because, to me, they are essentially useless. Who wants to pay shipping on a disc for a file you can download?

The American officials said that because I’m selling the book online, the discs have value in their eyes and that thus I was importing a commercial product, and well over the legal limit. Until this point, I was sure I was going to be allowed in once they were done playing hardball with me regarding confirming that I could support myself and that I would be returning to Canada in April. Soon as they said this, my heart sank. I figured that they were going to say I was trying to do fraud or something and I actually got a little scared. I was completely unprepared for this scenario!

The supervisor and a subordinate talked a bit more to me, to understand why I’m on the road, what I left behind, how I support myself, and why I had all those discs on board. Their tone went from being hostile/cynical to being very friendly, but I didn’t let me guard down and watched what I said, but I got the impression that I was in a situation where more info was better than too little. Remember, I used to process security clearances, so I’ve had intensive training conducting these same types of interviews.

The supervisor finally  looked at his subordinate who nodded, then said “From an immigration point of view, we’re satisfied. But from a commercial point of view, we can’t let you in. Are you willing to go back to Canada and dispose of the discs?”

I’d already made back more than what the discs cost me and didn’t expect to sell more, so I didn’t have a dilemma there. They talked some more and told me I could leave the rig in the US customs parking lot, walk back to Canada, get rid of the discs, and come back. I said I would go straight to the dumpster of the duty free store and the subordinate actually looked pained. “Isn’t there anyone you could leave them with?” I said “No, they really don’t mean anything to me, ma’am, and I feel stupid for being in this situation.”

She gave me a piece of paper to show to Canadian customs so they would know I hadn’t come into the US and thus had nothing to declare. I walked into the Canadian office and was greeted, as always, like a criminal. The woman told me that I’d better not dump the discs on their property, such as the bathrooms! I acquiesced and walked across the street to the duty free, dumped the discs, and headed back to US customs.

At this point, I thought that they would have to do a more thorough inspection of the rig and ask more questions and I was really getting worn down, but, again, I feel that the Americans were doing their job well within reason and that all the questions were completely justified. I also had a feeling that this first time was going to be the hardest and that I might as well play this to the end so that I would know what to expect next time. I still didn’t think I was home free at this point, but I was optimistic. After all, they had let me to leave the rig while I walked to Canada and back.

I went back into the customs office and the lady was waiting for me. She smiled brightly and said “You made it! Have a great trip!” without making me hand my passport back. I headed back to the rig feeling a bit stunned, and drained, but I’d been allowed in!

For the next time, I will make sure to print out all my financial info. They wanted to see bank, credit, and investment statements, plus proof of the money I’d made in the last year. I had all of that on my computer, but that wasn’t good enough. They did let me through without having to produce anything.

So, now I’m okay to be in the US until April 8th! I might go back a bit earlier than that, as a good will gesture, but I paid rent at this RV park till March 8th. It cost me half of what it would have cost me to stay in a much less nice place in the Vancouver region!

I’m really feeling drained and will be taking at least the next couple of days off, but I have to share one last anecdote that made this day completely surreal. I arrived at the RV park and left the rig to check out the sites. I met a couple and the lady said to me “Hey, I saw you on TV last week!”

So much for coming to the US for a bit of anonymity…