Day 205 : Chalk and Cheese, and a sniffer dog

High Point: Everyone at Station 1, Portland Fire Department. What a great bunch of people. Thanks again to all of you for making us feel so welcome.

Low Point: US border control. Was there really any need for them to be so grumpy?

No Point: Bridge height readings on the bridges. It really is too late to do anything about it by the time you see them.

Quote of the day:  “Whatever you do, do NOT touch the dog!”

We departed Vancouver this morning after a farewell coffee with Captain Mike Tookey and the crew at the fire station.  They even gave mucky Martha a good clean for us.  If everyone is this welcoming then we are in for an even better time in North America than we anticipated.

As the new rookie on board it really was an awesome feeling to get behind the wheel as we made our way to the US border en route to Portland, Oregon. The clutch control was severely tested as we got stuck in a tunnel for about an hour following a smash up ahead of us.

Time to introduce the ‘chalk’ – the US border control. In case your wondering, the Canadian border control is the ‘cheese’ and the sniffer dog needs no introduction other than it was a highly trained intimidating Alsatian that loves to sniff people.

Steve and the crew have successfully negotiated around 30 borders to date and we were certainly expecting this one to be fairly straightforward, especially given how friendly and helpful the Canadian border control folks were a few days earlier.

Our initial encounter with the ‘chalk’ was short and sweet – we were told we had to be escorted back to Canada to have the carnet de passage stamped, but before we could do that, a little fun and games was in store. Whilst we were waiting inside for them to inspect Martha and all the contents, which were left on the floor outside, we got a little more than we bargained for.  We were instructed by officers with guns and big egos to stand up in a line so the sniffer dog could inspect us all. I don’t know if scary is the right word, but we were certainly left wondering why it was necessary to make us feel like criminals. The funny thing is you can’t help but feel guilty when something like that is happening – especially when the Alsatian homes in for a second sniff! “Do NOT touch the dog!”

We got escorted back to the Canadian border by the ‘chalk’ who finally returned our passports. It was then time to meet the Canadian border control who were once again incredibly friendly and genuinely interested in the expedition. They quickly stamped the carnet and sent us on our way back to the US border control, a good three hours after our previous encounter. No sniffer dogs this time but seriously another world to the Canadian folks.  Just like chalk and cheese.

Our long day was all worth it when we arrived at Station 1 Fire Department in Portland. A great welcome and much fun had with the crew, playing ping pong following a Hawaiian pork supper. They were a great bunch of people and certainly no comparison to the chalk we experienced earlier at the border. Bring on the rest of the USA!

Rob

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