Worst US/Canadian border crossing

Buffalo, NY into Canada. We were headed from New England to Petosky, MI so decided to save some time and go over Lake Erie. They asked us how long we were going to be in Canada and we said a couple of hours since we would be leaving that day at Sarnia.

They spent 45 minutes going through our motorhome then asked if they could go through the truck we were towing. I don't know hoe they spent 15 minutes going through the truck.

In the end we saved very little time and should have stayed in the states and gone under Erie.

Just recently crossed into Canada at the Detroit tunnel. No issue at all. The border agent asked if we had an weapons, alcohol products, or food products. I truthfully answered that we had no weapons or alcohol products and only a small quantity of commercially produced snack type foods for our trip. He verified everyone in the van matched their picture on their passport and away we went. All of about 30 seconds. Pretty much the same experience coming back into the US at a crossing north of Detroit.

In my experience, simply answer the questions asked as directly, respectfully, and succinctly as possible. Don't offer any commentary or smart comments and you will be fine. We cautioned our kids to not utter a word unless asked a direct question by the border agent (they tend to offer up little "nuggets of wisdom" sometimes).

suprz wrote:
Post your worst border crossing experiences. Just looking for tips etc for a smooth crossing

Nice try.
All this will do is raise a stink!

From Niagara Falls into Canada, the border agent asked if I had any firearms, I replied I did, at home, that prompted a search of our motorhome, a 45 minute delay. Ironically, they never searched my toad. Lesson learned, if they ask if you have anything, they mean "with you", so my answer should have been NO.