What to Buy in US (Everett WA) Before Crossing into Canada

[trnewtown]

I am renting an RV in Everett WA and taking a one way month long trip to Anchorage starting mid April. I have a few questions:

- My starting point (Everett) has a Costco and a Walmart. Are there any things that I should not buy in the US before crossing the border into Canada? For example, eggs, chicken, produce, ...

- I know that mid April is a bit early for this trip. What should I expect in terms of weather, closed campgrounds, and available gas?

- Before I drop off the RV in Anchorage, I will need to get rid of unused food, camping supplies, a marine battery, and other misc stuff. Could you recommend a charity or non-profit in Anchorage that could use these things?

[DrewE]

BFL13 wrote:

In a thread about this recently, it came out that the big tank in a MH is equivalent to approx. two and a half 30 lb bottles

There are various sizes of "big" propane tanks on motorhomes. Some have much larger tanks--particularly diesel pushers with propane generators.

It seems, from online searching, that the CruiseAmerica 19G has a 12.2 gallon propane tank, which works out to a usable capacity of about 40 pounds of propane. It's possible that the specs change some with different years.

[BFL13]

On propane refills, I don't know how it is along that route in BC, but here on the Island it is hard to find a place that will do the big tank in the MH. Local knowledge is required. Lots of places refill or exchange propane bottles of course. (not so many that refill, more that do exchanges)

EG, AFAIK there is only one place here in Greater Victoria that does the big MH tanks. There is a gas station in Parksville that does. There are other places up-Island probably.

I would confirm ahead of time for trip planning just where exactly you can get the MH big tank refilled along the way.

In a thread about this recently, it came out that the big tank in our MH is equivalent to approx. two and a half 30 lb bottles, but size of tank varies among MHs--smaller in smaller MHs most likely.

[hone_eagle]

Reminds me of a online youtube couple "long long honeymoon" I think, they did a episode on crossing the border had the usual helpful hints - but heres where I laughed as they pulled into customs while recording (no no #1) with sunglasses on (no no #2) I wondered if the husband was going to shut down the 6.0 ford .
In the entire video fo 'hints' nothing was said about the biggies
- NO recording devices
_ NO sunglasses
-shut off your diesel if loud.
-turn OFF the radio
simple thoughtful will get you though

[lakeside013104]

garyhaupt wrote:

hone eagle wrote:
Not sure where the B.C. food fear comes from ,in SW ontario where we live, a lot of us grocery shop in detroit weekly.Just dont bring huge volumes of food (like for resale ) for eg. you can only bring a few gallons of milk at a time .....

Yeah..to that fear thing....no one is going get fined or beaten for having some groceries that gets taken. Most of us, at one time or another, have had something seized. I am speaking of fruits, veggies or meats...right? If that happens? The worst you get a steely eyed look..maybe even a lecture. And yes, it may lead to a further inspection. But that can happen anyway.

Border crossing is no big deal, even if you do get tossed. Sit back and enjoy it all. Border folks aren't interested in making your day bad....well, unless of course you are stupid and carrying drugs or guns...then you are in for miserable time.

This applies to going in either direction, too.


Gary Haupt

Right on the money.

Not difficult to cross the border.

Drive up slowly, windows down, engine off , sun glasses off, radio off, cell phones down. Passport or documents readily available. Direct eye contact with the Officer. DO NOT reach for anything unless you are told to do so. Do not pass anything to the Officer until told to do so. Do not try to make jokes or be funny. LISTEN to the question and answer truthfully and with the least amount of explanation possible to get the answer completed. Declare the items you have. If you are not sure about an answer, tell the Officer that or tell the Officer you do not understand the question IF that is the case. The Officer will tell you what item is admissible or not. Declare any firearms. Declare any prescription medicine if asked and have it in the prescribed bottles. Declare currency or any negotiable instruments valued over $10,000. Do not answer questions asked to 'other' occupants of the vehicle. Leave the 'ATTITUDE' at home.

One mistake most folks make is that it is their GIVEN right to be allowed entry into this country. NOT true. The Officer may refuse you admission into their country for many reasons. The Officer has much discretion, so following the above suggestions should make your crossing easier and less stressful.

Honesty, sincerely, and brief accurate information is your friend. The Officer is attempting to pick out the 1% of the inadmissible patrons out of the 99% of admissible travelers.

Are you in the 1% bracket? If not, have a nice day and enjoy your visit to this country.

Lakeside

[Tom_Barb]

garyhaupt wrote:


Border crossing is no big deal,

Gary Haupt

Been trying to tell you guys that for 3 pages.

[enblethen]

Gary Haupt:
Right you are!

[garyhaupt]

hone eagle wrote:
Not sure where the B.C. food fear comes from ,in SW ontario where we live, a lot of us grocery shop in detroit weekly.Just dont bring huge volumes of food (like for resale ) for eg. you can only bring a few gallons of milk at a time .....

Yeah..to that fear thing....no one is going get fined or beaten for having some groceries that gets taken. Most of us, at one time or another, have had something seized. I am speaking of fruits, veggies or meats...right? If that happens? The worst you get a steely eyed look..maybe even a lecture. And yes, it may lead to a further inspection. But that can happen anyway.

Border crossing is no big deal, even if you do get tossed. Sit back and enjoy it all. Border folks aren't interested in making your day bad....well, unless of course you are stupid and carrying drugs or guns...then you are in for miserable time.

This applies to going in either direction, too.


Gary Haupt

[hone_eagle]

Not sure where the B.C. food fear comes from ,in SW ontario where we live, a lot of us grocery shop in detroit weekly.Just dont bring huge volumes of food (like for resale ) for eg. you can only bring a few gallons of milk at a time .....

[free_radical]

dcason wrote:
From my point of view:

If you eat meat, bring it..pricey there.
Veggies may or may not fly depending on who you get.
GAS filled up.
We bring any canned goods, packaged goods, and if we are changing oil, we bring that stuff also (and give the used oil in). Canada is mostly pricey so we bring most everything
and then carefully select places to eat out, etc.

Im in Ontario so not familiar with food prices in BC however shouldnt be all that expensive..
In Superstore among other things they sell whole chicken already cooked for 10$..
High grade beef is expensive but,,Kilo of frozen New Zealand Lamb is about 10$..pork is even cheaper..
Farmers markets if you can find one is very cheap..

[Tom_Barb]

Our trip stops going up, Our first night over is Cashe Creek, next is Smithers, the next is top of the Cassiar junction with the Alcan, (Watson Lake) next White Horse, then Tok, And Fairbanks.
when we go up we are not sight seeing. Kinda been there done that 6-8 times.

Cautions: It will be too early for the frost heaves to have been fixed. slow down when crossing them. I mean really slow, you never know how bad one is until you are over it.

OBTW, our only gap in cell service was on the Cassiar, most all towns have cell service

[Tom_Barb]

enblethen wrote:
I seem to remember there was a long stretch on the Alaska Hwy of nearly 200 kilometers.

That's only 125 miles.

Caesar highway , Kitwanga to Dease Lake 485 k = 301 miles. (fuel to fuel)

[trnewtown]

2gypsies wrote:

I'm curious as to why you're taking a one-way trip in April. Are you staying there and working? There are better months to travel if it's for a vacation.

Cruise America offers rental discounts of 50% to 75% when they want to reposition their RV's. Last year I rented a brand new 30' class C for 5 weeks and drove it from Toronto to Vancouver (by way of Mississippi). The tricky part of doing these one way rentals is that I need to fly to pick up the RV and then fly home. Most items for the trip will need to be purchased after I pick up the RV and disposed of before I head home.

I know that April is not an ideal month to travel this route, but at least there won't be much RV traffic. 🙂

I hope to buy a lightly used Winnebago View (with a diesel generator) some time later this year.

[garyhaupt]

enblethen wrote:
I seem to remember there was a long stretch on the Alaska Hwy of nearly 200 kilometers.

For sure Alaska might be kind of short on open facilities, so keeping the tank on the upper half is best. In BC tho...stations are open.

I was going add this earlier...http://www.drivebc.ca/


Gary Haupt

[enblethen]

I seem to remember there was a long stretch on the Alaska Hwy of nearly 200 kilometers.

[2gypsies1]

People actually live along the route you'll be taking. You're not going to be the only one driving on the roads. 🙂 There will be fuel and propane available. A good rule at any time is to drive on the top half of your tank & then fuel up. This is not a place to think you're going to search for the best price. Distances are too great. Get it when you see it and use up some of that $10,000!

I'm curious as to why you're taking a one-way trip in April. Are you staying there and working? There are better months to travel if it's for a vacation.