The current trip is across Canada, from Victoria, BC to Halifax, NS. I have no schedule other than to be on the east coast by mid September. I do have a tentative route (see Projected Route under Maps), but it has a tendency to change almost daily. I am going to try to visit as many nudist resorts (pyramids, on the map) as I can while in Canada. One goal in this trip is to stay off of the major highway (TC-1 or TransCan) and stick to the back roads. I am starting out by following BC-3, also called the Crowsnest Highway, across BC and into Alberta. Then it's on Hwy 13, or the Redcoat Highway, across Saskatchewan and Hwy 2 across Manitoba. After that it's a little fuzzy. For a brief history of the Redcoat Trail, see the Map page entitled "Redcoat Trail".
Even though it's still in the U.S. I've picked this as the start of the Canada Crossing primarily because it was the last U.S. stop and I used it as a staging area for preparing to cross the border. As will be seen later, my preperations were woefully lacking in certain areas.
My preperations included the following:
1) Getting the toad serviced, including a brake job.
2) Getting "Proof of Canadian Coverage" from my insurance companies for both the RV and the Toad.
3) Researching, on the Internet, all the stuff that can and cannot be taken across the border, and getting rid of the stuff that cannot be taken across (this involved eating a lot of beef and certain fresh veggies).
4) Ensuring that I had my passport with me.
5) Laying out my route to Sol Sante (my next stop) in Mill Bay, BC. about 40 km north of Victoria. This included getting ferry info and costs ($132.50 CA one-way for the RV and Toad).
6) Set up an Excel spreadsheet with all the various conversion factors I'll need. 7) Contacting my Credit Union and ensuring that my cash card will work in Canada. and last but not least,
7) Top off the fuel tanks on both the RV and the Toad in Blaine, just before crossing the border.
The border crossing was made at the Blaine truck crossing, through the auto and RV lanes. WARNING, the space between booths is extremely tight for a Class A. I left myself about 3 inches between my left mirror and the booth and ended up hitting my right mirror. When I tried to pull over to the left a little to clear the right mirror, I didn't straighten out in time and scraped the red running light off of the right rear corner of the coach and tore loose some trim. Brother, not even all the way into Canada and I've already damaged the coach.
Other than that, the crossing was unevenful. The border guard didn't even ask me about meat, veggies, eggs, or anything else. He just wanted to know if I was carrying any explosives or firearms. When I said no, he then asked if I owned a firearm. I said yes, I have an antique shotgun that is in storage in the states. He then wanted to talk guns for awhile and started telling me about his antique guns. I finally told him that I had a ferry to catch and he let me go. He never did ask for ID.
So the trip officially begins.