Winter Trip To TX

1 Dec17 Start of our Journey

As promised to our friends we were on the road at 0700 hr but I was up at 5 AM to finishing packing the Van. Somehow, Carroll seemed to think that whatever came out of our 40 ft MH, which we sold in June could be packed in the Van. In fact I think she found "stuff " to pack that was even in the MH.

Once the front door of the house was locked , we were on our way. Our house sitters where scheduled to arrive later today. Our first stop was to Mac D for a coffee and a egg wrap, neither of which was worth stopping for. ( I know all you English Majors are going to say that you never end a sentence with a preposition ). We hit the TransCanada heading east to Moose Jaw and then south east to Estavan and to the border at North Portal. We stopped at the Duty Free where I picked a litre of Crown Royal $18.00 and a litre of Gibson's finest for 16.00.
The Border crossing was painless,  just the perverbal question and then onward to Minot, ND where we planned to stop for the night. North Portal is a 24 hour crossing and it is huge, probably because it handles a lot of trucks.

The Enslens advised us to try the Best Western hotel chain and it turned out to be a bonus. We stopped at the Best Western in Minot and as  I was bargaining  for a better deal than the first offer of 89.00 I ask for the  Veteran's price which surely  would better than the first offer. Because I was an AAA member he knocked off 10.00 to 79.00. I agreed to the price and then when I said my address was Alberta, he said Oh, we have a Canadian price which is the best price so I got the room for 69.00. And since  I ask for their Rewards Card I get a 10.00 gift card. " Does it every quit"
We are spending the evening at the Best Western, having a dip in the Hot Tub and seeping on a beer. Life is great!!!!

A story about North Portal.

I 1964 I was posted to CFS Yorkton for  my first posting and I crossed from the USA into Canada at the North Portal border crossing , on my way from London to Yorkton.  At that time ,  the North Portal crossing consisted of a wooded pole across  the road that was not locked. There was a sign that said; Please stop at the white house on the right, which housed the Custom Officer. Itd was around 5 or 6 PM so I said , "Piss on it " and headed down the road. I had gone about 1/2 a mile and a sign read: If you did not check in with Customs at the White House , the RCMP already has you License Number. I did a quick U-turn and returned to the white house where the custom Officer was waiting with a "smerk " on his face and said I knew you would return.

I was surprised at the size of this crossing since it is the first time return here in the past 53 years. I guess the wooden pole rotted away.