Barely Made It!

Let me tell you, a GPS is not set up to travel from one country to another. Shelby and I planned to leave at 6am in the morning for Canada, however, we ended up leaving an hour late because of GPS problems. I updated the GPS to make sure everything was up to date and updated the border states and Canada. Little did I know, that meant switching the region of the GPS to the border states and Canada, so when we were leaving in the morning the GPS displayed no map since we were in southern Ohio. We drive around for a while hoping it would show up, but ended up going back to the house to grab my laptop and change the region. We changed it back to the lower 49 states and it worked and displayed everything perfectly. We stopped in Toledo at McDonalds to change the region back to the border states and Canada so we could drive into Canada. All was good and we were making great time.

When we approached the border it was very strange because it looked like we drove into an airport lot, cameras everywhere and signs that are trying to be helpful but are more confusing. We had to pay a $5 toll to get on the bridge to the border. It didn't help that the speed limit was 32pmh.

Once at the border, it was mad chaos. Cars are everywhere, everyone is angry, nothing is moving, no lines are actually formed. I felt like everyone knew we had no idea what we were doing because we had an Illinois license plate instead of Ontario or Michigan. 

After about 30-35 minutes of waiting in line, it was finally our turn in line. You must stay back at a stop sign while the car in front of you is pulled up by the window. We pulled up to the window and handed the the police officer our passports while she asked us very seriously, "Where do you live? Where are you going? What are you doing there? How long will you be there? How do you know each other? Are you bringing in any tobacco or alcohol?" After all the questions, she handed us our passports back and then asked if we had any mace or pepper spray. If you know Shelby and I, we both carry little pepper spray bottles in our purses (paranoid much...). We said yes, she immediately asked for our passports back. She said, do not reach for the spray and shut her window. She explained to us that pepper spray is illegal in Canada and we could be arrested for it. I asked her if we just throw it away and she said no, we had to abandon it. She made us put our purses on the dash board, and filled out a yellow ticket and stuck it on our car (embarrassing), then showed us where to pull over at customs and immigrations.

So we pull over into this other area and were greeted by 3 manly police officers wearing bullet proof vests who told me to shut off the car, get out of the car, give him my keys and stand in front of the headlights. We both stood there feeling like criminals while we laughed as they searched our car. One officer was very serious and questioned us intensely about why we were here, what we are doing in Canada, where we are from, what we do as a career, etc. Two of the officers went through our back seat stuff and our luggages in the trunk while the other officer went in detail through our purses. Everyone knows I carry around about a 10lb purse with everything you could possibly need in it. Therefore, he pulled out a little baggy full of vitamins, which looked totally sketch, and asked what are these? What KIND of vitamins are these? Followed by little medication pouch--I whispered to Shelby, "Oh here we go..." He pulls out another zip lock bag with more colorful pills in it, asking what they were, I rambled, "Advil, Aleve, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Airborne, Tums and Synthroid" (can you tell I am well prepared and work in healthcare?). Every possible thing was looked through, way more intense than the border scene in We're the Millers! 

The officer took our pepper spray and asked if we wanted to pick them back up before entering the US or abandon them. We said we will just abdomen them. The offer then asked as we walked into the office building if we wanted him to fill out a form for each or put it on one. I said, whatever is easiest for him. He quickly remarked, "NO whatever is easiest for you"....um okay SIR. Anyways, we got a lot of good laughs out of our additional 1 hour delay despite feeling like such criminals. The best part about it is the report copy (which will be going in my scrapbook), the officer wrote, "hot pink pepper spray". What a wonderful way to start our trip!

But hey, we made it!!! Stay tuned for more, this already sounds like one heck of a trip...

PS-I don't think we can afford gas here