Alaska, Here we come! (Palmer: living in, military, suburban)

[akvarmit]

Welcome, Alana! You must post stories and pics !
Dawn

[alanaxabay]

Hello, I am now hooked up to internet. Oh where shall I begin!!! Let's see how about crossing the boarder in to Canada. What can I say put me in a room with anyone in a uniform and I'll be the first on to give up everything!!! We hit the border just south of Winnapeg, we're asked to pull under the canopy and come inside. This was after they asked me if we had any weapons,knives etc. etc. of Course I said No. Pull under the canopy go to get out and my 10 year old say " Mom, I have a hunting knife in my boots" this is where my jaw dropped and I yelled WHAT!!!! Told him to leave it on the front seat of the suburban. Went inside stood in line was asked if I had a criminal past etc. no and no. took my license and papers. Went in the office and then came back. Asked me Did, I know i had 3 speeding tickets in the last 5 years and the last one was less then 6 months ago. Yes, I knew that but that's not criminal. They then wanted to speak with their supervisor long story short I had to pay an extra $200.00 to drive in Canada, and they gave me some kind of driving permit I'm not even sure what it was. Well, Then we are told to go sit down and wait. they take my Uncle out to the u-haul while we wait inside. One of them come back in and explains do we understand that they can ask us to unload the u-haul and the we would have to repack it ourselves. Yes , I did know that. Next they had a few ?? on what was in our boxes. we had given them the list of boxes and contents. Oh Just before this after my Uncle went out My 15 yr old says Mom You know that box of ammunition for the rifles that I was suppose to give Uncle Tony. Well, He told me just to throw them in the u-haul. Lovely!! they begin to ask what is this in this box. I had put (stuff in yellow curio cabinet) I explained that it was just knick knack stuff etc. then came the ??? What is in this box called Alex's stuff Alex says Oh that's my paintball guns and equipment. (these are considered weapons in Canada. Now, besides traffic violations I'm an arms smuggler!!! Then my son goes on to expalin that we also have 2 hunting bows(which are considered arms ) packed in the truck. At this point I'm shaking. They were really very nice and wanted to know where they were in the u-haul etc. We explained. They then asked was there anything else that we had. My 15 yr. old reaches in his pockets and pulls out 2 jack knives and a screwdriver and a drill bit among other things. I just sit down and basically start to cry. Saying this is unbelieveable. Oh, I did admit tto the knife on the front seat that I didn't know my 10 yr old had. I also at this point tell them about my uncles carton of cigerettes under the seat in the u-haul. I think I confessed evrything I ever did wrong in my life!!!!! I will say that looking back this is where it did get funny. One of the ladies came around the desk to give me ahug and tellme it was going to be alright, another guy asked if I wanted some water etc. I tell you I was abucket of tears. In all of this i kept telling them I was sorry. we had been driving since 5:30 that morning and i still missed my family and my 2 daughters that were flying up later etc. etc. They were very nice. And after I had calmed down they just said we'll check to make sure that the bearded dragon and the turtle weren't endangered species. I told them to keep the things. they checked that. Then came back and gave me all my paper work and told us to drive carefull and maybe we should stay the night and get agood rest at a local hotel!!!! Oh, They also told me to just throw the knives in the trash can outside, that they weren't worried about them. Abe(my 10 yr old.) goes but I want to keep mine. I almost had my second breakdown of the night. Well, that was crossing into Canada. Now, at the Alaskan broader we pulled up about 9:00 a.m. and they asked for our papers looked at them and gave them back and said Welcome to Alaska!!!!! Oh, They did say there was Caribou on the road ahead and to becareful some of the roads might be slick. Well, that's just the boarder crossings i have other things to share later. but, I do love it here!! Even though Hubby is gone back to the slope, we're doing o.k. The younger kids are in school and we're settling in. Everyone is so nice!!!!

[Grannysroost]

That sounded like one heck of an experience!!! Glad you made it safe and are settling in

[mal_flisk]

Whew! Sounds like you went through the wringer. Luckily, Canadians are generally friendly folks and usually have a pretty good sense of humor too. Glad you're here anyway, and that you're settling in. Sometime this summer, they will have a CD get together, and if I'm REALLY good, I might get an invite. Last year, I was somewhere out in the Bush and had no internet. So I missed it and pitched a fit when I fouind I wasn't invited. Hah! See if they do that to ME again! Whoops, wrong rant.

Hope you're ready for all the fun Alaska can throw your way. Once again, welcome home.

[HighlandLady]

Ommmmy goodness! I nearly wept reading that post! Your poor nerves. You'll look back on it all in a few weeks and have a good laugh (I hope ).
Yes...we will be having the second annual CD get together later in the summer and you are invited. You as well - MAL! You were invited last year too m'dear

[Nephler]

Wow, quite a story. Glad to hear all is well now though, and Welcome to Alaska

[warptman]

I've only been asked to go inside once in 13 crossings. All the rest were very fast. Last summer while we crossed south of Regina, the man had a big smile on his face and asked my dad if he was comfortable in the back seat of a Ranger, dad smiled and said, "yup!" "Have a safe trip home," said the man at the crossing. No other questions asked aside from the normal things. Welcome to Alaska!

[BtwThePipes]

Wow, you're only the second person I've heard of having any difficulties at the border. I've done it six times with no questions other than the standard weapons questions...of course I've never done it in a u-haul either.

[eagle7]

WHY would anyone want to live in alaska ?

[HighlandLady]

Originally Posted by eagle7

WHY would anyone want to live in alaska ?

Why wouldn't they? Let us turn this around to a more substantial question, shall we? WHY would anyone wish to live in California????