Next year my planned trip will take me back into the US @ the Port of Entry north of Simpson, MT. It's not on a major highway but direct from Medicine Hat Alberta to Havre MT. Is there any problems using these off the beaten path crossings? I know some of them are only open during the day. Would travelling alone (albeit w/ a TT) raise any alarm bells w/ the US officials?
Mind you our entry into AK @ Boundary in '05 was interesting as the US Customs guy told us an amusing family story before he released us. You'll never get that kind of entertainment @ Detroit.
* This post was
edited 08/19/08 10:09pm by revrnd *
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We entered there in the early evening back in September with no problem.
The fact that there is a crossing there says that they expect people to use it. Just double-check the hours, as you already know.
As we returned to BC from Hyder, Alaska around 9 p.m. after we'd been viewing the bears and having dinner at The Bus last fall, the woman working the crossing asked us the purpose of our visit to Canada. I told her that I just couldn't take any more of the fast times and bright lights of Hyder. Peering into the dark at the one bare bulb visible in the distance, she said, "Yeah, it's wild and crazy! Come on in."
We use the smaller crossing to avoid the crowds at the busier ones. The customs people always seem glad to have somebody to chat with for awhile. Never had a problem.
If the smaller one is closed there will be a sign directing you to the nearest open one.
Trouble with the small border is the guards have way too much time with nothing to do so in 2003 along comes me in my Miata and of course its check every nook and cranny in the car,so after an hour and a half the guy has discovered that i immigrated to the United States 25yrs ago (1985) and returned to Canada 6 months later when the job didnt work out,He was insistent that the green card i hadnt seen in 20yrs be surrendered as soon as possible,two weeks later i found the green card and surrendered it to the local border,problem was for some reason the first border guard put into the computer that i was still an American resident so since 2003 you can imagine the problems i've been having when crossing the border, it seems only the guy who put in this info can delete it so a trip back to this little border (Richford Vt)is in order to straighten things out.Up until this summer i had no idea why i was being hassled every time i crossed the border but thanks to a friendly border guard in Sault Ste Marie he told me the reason for the hassles.
My advice is go to the big borders
"Second star to the right, and straight on till morning."
I've never worked in the US, been found guilty of a criminal offence in Canada & never been refused entry to the US (most recently I crossed into Buffalo in July).
In addition to the Boundary AK entry I've crossed in to Minnesota @ Pigeon River.
Border crossings can be chicken one day and feathers the next and it doesn't make any difference if it's large or small facility.
Changes happen on a daily and sometimes on an hourly basis, depending upon which supervisor up the line has the quickest knee jerk reaction.
With the Internet it can happen within minutes. If the customs folks get word that some suspected "activist", "terrorist" or other questionable group or person is in the area, then clearing customs becomes a prison type lock down.
After 40+ years of clearing customs from all three groups, sea, land, air, I've witnessed about every possible move the guys make. Most make sense, but there are some that don't.
It's like playing cards, play the hand you're dealt, keep your mouth shut, take off your gimme cap and sun glasses and use "yes sir, no sir - yes mamm and no mamm". Common courtesy is still the best Rx for going thru customs.
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