Robert,
 
I was trying to keep quiet about this little tidbit .... but here goes.
 
Canadian Border Crossings .... "Full Disclosure"
 
I made three crossings on the Western side .... no problems ... except one
time I was delayed over an hour when the asked me to "Net Worth". The
concern expressed was "we need to know if you have enough financial
resourses to remove your vehicle from Country in case it brakes down. I may
have jokingly said "it's a VW, they always break down but we work thru it. I
don't think that helped. They wanted to see a bank statement which I didn't
have, of course.  Oddly what may have finally helped ....  I explained that
I was on a long term driveabout and had a web site (roadhaus.com) to
document the travels. The agent excused himself and disappeared for 30-40
minutes and when he reappeared, he said "OK .. you are free to go and have a
nice visit".
 
The Eastern Passages the following year were a little different.
 
Remember I had already crossed over 3 times in the Western Canada  and 3-4
times in Mexico.
 
Anyway ,,, the first time across in the East ... as I was trying to nurse
that sick and dying engine over to Frank's Bus Fusion Event in Ottawa and
Ben's offer to help install a rebuilt waserboxer in Montreal .... I got
asked a very interesting question by the Canadian Border agent.
 
"Are you male or female?"
 
Excuse me I replied.
 
This time he rephrased the question, perhaps thinking that English wasn't my
native tongue "Are you a man or woman".
 
Well I'm obviously a Man, I replied somewhat confused and a little unsure of
myself.
 
Not according to your Drivers License the agent promptly shot back.
 
Needless to say it took a while that day and on the return crossing several
weeks later ... when the US Customs spotted the same thing, ( I think it was
flagged in the computer) to straighten out that mess.
 
BTW .... the questionable drivers license was issued in AZ two years prior
... never once did I notice the error.
 
Yes to anyone still following this ..... it was an error.
 
Although I have always been strangely in touch with my feminine side.
 
Footnote ... I still have the same AZ license ... can't bear to part with it
till it expires in 20012. 
 
So you might not want to follow me across any borders.
 
Larry Chase
www.roadhaus.com <http://www.roadhaus.com/> 
 
<file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Roadguy/Application%20Data/Microsoft/
Signatures/www.roadhaus.com/shops.html> www.roadhaus.com/shops.html
www.roadhaus.com/music.html
www.roadhaus.com/recipes.html
www.roadhaus.com/store.html
 
- - -
 

Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 17:28:55 -0700

From: Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>

Subject: Re: Coast toCoast!

Clipped >>>

This makes me wonder if the Canadians (Frank, Gary, Ben, etc.) that drive
down here run into any problems, or if Larry ran into any problems while
driving up and back. What do they look for when you're driving across the
border? I wonder if it's more of an issue when you're flying versus driving?

Cya,

Robert