Crossing into Saskatchewan from ND

We crossed at Portal on our first trip north. Don't recall anything unpleasant at the border but we did have to exit the vehicle & go inside. No search. Border crossings, both ways, are inconsistant. It is a personal thing. Your demeanor to the officer. His/her mood of the day. Maybe the vehicle before you set them off for some reason.

That said, sometimes they can be fun. Returning from a day trip to Skagway, AK into Canada I caught the Canadian officer in the middle of his dinner & away from the window. That brought a good natured but loud harassment from me to get out & do his job. No time to eat. We breezed right through in minutes with a smiling officer behind us.

From there we did whatever it is direct to Edmonton & I do recall some far from smooth roads along the way.

sljohnson1938 wrote:
how is the truck traffic on US 2 across the NE part of North Dakota?
we plan to be on US2 from Grand Forks to Minot ND in mid June.

GF to Minot will be no problem what-so-ever. Minot west will be busier but nowhere near as bad as a couple of year ago during the height of the oil development. Hwy 2 is 4-lane controlled access (not interstate) all the way.

I think a lot has to do with what recent incidences they have had at particular border crossings or how high of an alert they are on at the time.

We never had been searched, just asked the usual questions. Perhaps it was Cody,our Golden Retriever, that mellowed their disposition. :@

On my 2014 trip to Alaska I crossed at Portal, having spent the night in the Welcome center parking lot. The Portal station was very busy with commercial traffic, my opinion is they don't have time to give recreational travelers a hard time. Smoothest crossing I've had...

By comparison a 2013 crossing just east of Glacier NP in Montana, that was a full strip-search of the RV, while I got to sit in an observation room.

4 years ago we crossed just north of Fotuna ND and followed Hwy-85 all the way down to Spearfish on out way to Mount Rushmore. Hardly any traffic at all and the roads were great. My wife liked the two young guys at the US boarder as they complemented her on how tidy and clean the 5er was... I said I helped too, and they just laughed..... Time at the boRder crossing going south maybe 5 minutes, no more than 10 that's for sure.
We also spent the night at the City Park in Weyburn, nice little spot.

Soup.

We have only gone into SK from the USA once and it was US85/CA35 at Port of Ongare. No problem but it was 5 years ago. My rules for crossing are:

1-Move up to Customs Officer when given a green light or hand motion, don't rush but don't dawdle either.
2-Keep eyes on the Customs Officer's eyes at all times.
3-Make it obvious when removing your dark glasses if wearing them.
4-Have passports and all other papers at the ready, DW holds them.
5-Answer with yes or no if possible, do not offer any thing else.
6-DW or other passengers only answer questions directed to them.
7-Show respect, Good Morning, or appropriate time of day, Officer
or Sir.
8-If you have a legitimate question, ask if officer has time to answer.

There is no legitimate reason to violate one of our laws or one of theirs and possibly forfeit your freedom. There is no reason to question their beliefs or procedures. Just be fair and honest. By the way, one CO did ask if he could look inside our rig, he said he liked the size and the brand. He asked a lot of very pertinent questions re; Bounders and RVs in general. Maybe he was just scoping us out but he never opened a drawer or cabinet. Most of them are really nice folks.

how is the truck traffic on US 2 across the NE part of North Dakota?
we plan to be on US2 from Grand Forks to Minot ND in mid June.

Fer2005 wrote:
2 years ago we crossed on US 281 thru the International Peace Gardens crossing. Its south of Brandon, Manitoba. Took a couple of minutes and we were on our way. No traffic at all. We stayed in Brandon that night.

Yes, this is another option for you and you can stop at the International Peace Gardens at the border for a bit. The highway north to Brandon (#10) was recently repaved, so the worst is done and you are about 1 hour to Brandon from the crossing. Then you can take #1 to Regina, then #11 (4 lane and 110kph) to Saskatoon.

Transporting RVs from Indiana to Alberta and British Columbia, I always use Portal, ND/North Portal, SK. I would over night in Minot, ND and drive to Portal then Estevan, Weyburn, Moose Jaw and finally Saskatoon. Then hit highway 16 (Yellowhead) to Edmonton, AB. Portal is always quick (Emmerson, MB/Pembina, ND was a real pain in the rear to cross either way), the roads are good for the most part, no potholes just a section of highway with some frost heaves, between Weyburn and Moose Jaw(just did a trip a few days ago so road condition report is current). Continuing through Edmonton to Jasper can be fun as Edmonton is currently building a "ring road" and the construction area can be congested and confusing re-routing for those that are not familiar with the area. Once you get past the eastern section of the ring road, going west through the city is easy. Staying on the Yellowhead Hwy 16 that is. Driving from Minot, ND to Edmonton, AB takes me approx. 12hrs with a stop here and there for coffee/meals. Edmonton to Jasper approx. 4hrs.

*** NOTE *** Some of the railroad crossings in both North Dakota and Saskatchewan are rough, slow down when crossing the tracks! Unless you like re-arranging the contents of your RV! :(

We have made the crossing at Portal 4 times, the last one in 2015. There is a short section of road just after you cross into Canada (about 10 miles of it) that has always had pot holes. We have not seen much traffic on 4 trips; have gone from the border to Regina twice and to Moose Jaw twice, with final destination being Saskatoon.

On the section with the pot holes I just drive slower and dodge the holes. I actually enjoy it.