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?

[daveB110]

Lots of good info here. On the sometimes inadmissable product, rice, we were stopped entering USA and searched. They spotted a small plastic container in our motor home, with rice. If it had been in original packaging, grown in USA, it would have been okay. But as it was, from anywhere in the world, it couldn't be allowed through the border, and was taken. There could have been something bad in there with the rice, and at some point could affect rice grown Stateside.

[Z-Peller]

Tom/Barb wrote:

Isn't a Costco card simply a Costco card? [emoticon]

n the US it's issued by Citi/Visa, usable everywhere - well apparently not Costco in Canada.

Used to be only Costco Amex card both sides of the border, but when Costco & Amex fell apart Costo CA went Capital One Platinum Mastercard and US went Citi Visa. Apparently online purchases can be made with both Visa & Mastercard.....go figure!

[DrewE]

trnewtown wrote:

Z-Peller wrote:
You say your generator will be using propane. Have you checked with rental co on that? Most Ford chassis gas powered class c rigs have a gasoline generator.

Just spoke with the Cruise America folks who said that the generator is powered by gasoline and draws from the main 55 gallon gasoline tank. Yeah!! The generator burns roughly a gallon of gas per hour. I am new to RV.Net and really appreciate the insights and the willingness to share.

The generator should use more like half a gallon an hour, of course varying somewhat depending on its load. Probably saying a gallon an hour is easier for CruiseAmerica and people are generally happier when something uses less fuel than they expected than vice-versa.

RV generators usually are set up such that they cannot run from the last quarter of a tank of fuel, incidentally, to prevent you from running out of gas using the generator and then being unable to get to a filling station.

[trnewtown]

Z-Peller wrote:
You say your generator will be using propane. Have you checked with rental co on that? Most Ford chassis gas powered class c rigs have a gasoline generator.

Just spoke with the Cruise America folks who said that the generator is powered by gasoline and draws from the main 55 gallon gasoline tank. Yeah!! The generator burns roughly a gallon of gas per hour. I am new to RV.Net and really appreciate the insights and the willingness to share.

[CA_Traveler]

Tom/Barb wrote:
Isn't a Costco card simply a Costco card? 🙂

In the US it's issued by Citi/Visa, usable everywhere - well apparently not Costco in Canada.

I swipe mine at the pump for membership access then use a different 5% cash back Visa card.

[Tom_Barb]

trnewtown wrote:
I will call them later today to clarify.

Best idea 🙂

Isn't a Costco card simply a Costco card? 🙂

[trnewtown]

Z-Peller wrote:
Just a couple of thoughts....if you go to Costco in Canada and plan to use a c/c be aware they will only take Mastercard, not Visa like Costco in the USA.
You say your generator will be using propane. Have you checked with rental co on that? Most Ford chassis gas powered class c rigs have a gasoline generator.

I assumed that I could use my Costco/CitiBank Visa at Costco in Canada. I guess that I will just use cash. Thanks for the heads up!

I looked at the specs for the "Standard" (25') RV on the Cruise America site and it did not mention the fuel source for the generator. I will call them later today to clarify.

[Z-Peller]

Just a couple of thoughts....if you go to Costco in Canada and plan to use a c/c be aware they will only take Mastercard, not Visa like Costco in the USA.
You say your generator will be using propane. Have you checked with rental co on that? Most Ford chassis gas powered class c rigs have a gasoline generator.

[trnewtown]

"Just curious where the majority of the 31 days for travel you plan on venturing at whether in Alaska or western Canada, as really taking your time driving from Everett WA in an RV would take roughly 9 days on a very leisure pace, give or take a day or so with potential road closures or delays due to bad weather or major vehicle accidents, etc....however the month of April is still doable in an RV for the most part."

AKsilvereagle - First of all, let me thank you for the most comprehensive response I have ever received! I have travelled to all lower 48 states and most Canadian Provinces on a motorcycle. I have never been North of Vancouver and have always tried to make it to Alaska. Now that I am over 60 and retired, I figure that an RV trip to Alaska makes sense.

31 days - I'm retired and in no great rush. That is the maximum number of days offered at a discount by Cruise America. Would like the freedom to stay at places that I enjoy. Understand that there may be some bad weather that I need to ride out. Not sure if I will ever be back in this area.

Tom

[AKsilvereagle]

Oh how nice informing the road upgrades and lane markers on the northern half of the Cassiar Highway....Thanks for posting that Tom Barb -

Last time I driven the Cassiar was in 2013 and was unaware of the upgrades....Now wondering if the new grid line finally made it's way to Jade City and Good Hope Lake communities.

[Tom_Barb]

Note for AK silver eagle You said,
The northern half of the Cassiar will not have any lane markers nor hardly any traffic and will be in the higher elevations (most likely snowcapped terrain during April) and imagining I would hate to deal with any potential snowstorm in April thru this stretch in any of my 2WD rigs, along with even more dwindling non services all the way to the northern end of the route providing Junction 37 is open

Last year this time we went both ways on the Cassiar we saw all the northern end has a new top and markings.

As for weather I'd sure watch that. on either route. It is early and they could get a severe snow storms. but with his schedule simply hole up and wait it out.

[AKsilvereagle]

- 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?

In terms of weather, expect intermittent snow, rain, sunny skies, cold nights, and expect the unexpected.

Closed campgrounds will still be that - closed for the most part in central-northern Canada and Alaska....They are strictly seasonal and will resume for business usually in early May.

A lot of city and private campgrounds in southern Canada are open year round, others tend to be seasonal....The ones that are open year round - one will notice many are year round residents at these establishments.

As others have mentioned more than once, fuel and LP gas are readily available YEAR ROUND on the Alaska Highway....The more remote seasonal roadhouses that sell fuel (very few of them left) are usually the places that remain closed until May, as they are a non factor for vital location region upon selling fuel anyway....All major towns along the Alaska Highway will have fuel supply.

A note worth mentioning too relating to fuel is once crossing into Alaska at Port Alcan, the Border City Lodge 3 miles away that was built in 1988 and provided fuel before (was hit and miss since 2013 providing fuel with default troubles and multi ownership changes) no longer provides fuel anymore as of 2017, as the native store at Northway Junction 42 miles into Alaska now sells fuel year round with 24 hour credit card pump availability, so watch your fuel supply if one is cheap to bypass Beaver Creek if low on fuel if one cannot make it 62 miles to Northway Junction or 113 miles from Beaver Creek to Tok (as Beaver Creek to Border City distance is 23 miles in comparison for former fuel supply).

Could you recommend a charity or non-profit in Anchorage that could use these things?

There is a few Salvation Army places, Brother Francis shelter, Gospel Rescue shelter, lots of church organizations, thrift stores like Bishops Attic, Value Village, and Goodwill to name some of the many resources to donate goods in Anchorage that are not hard to find.

I know that heading out in April is a bit early, but at least there won't be much traffic.

Ummm, that's a yes and no as I will explain this much further in depth.....


In southern Canada portions of BC and Alberta that I can attest to, there is an awful lot of traffic along most places nowadays on the main highways (moderate to heavy) as it isn't 30 something years ago anymore when there was less traffic then.....With all the increased local and semi truck traffic that has grown over time not to mention some of the major towns, not much added lanes on roadways and not too many new highway routes were built to keep up with the traffic congestion as I said to myself on occasion that there isn't enough highways in southern Canada to accommodate today's traffic, especially on two lane highway stretches that are the only vital link between other connecting routes with no alternative....mainly due to British Columbia massive mountain terrain areas.

Once one reaches towards the central BC and Alberta areas that are in between the major towns and cities, depending the time of day it will be light to moderate traffic at most, so no worry there.


Major routes to reach Alaska Highway :

Going thru Alberta (if one would be crossing along that region) would be the quickest way to Alaska if one is constraint on the time factor along the QE2 (Calgary to Edmonton) and even quicker bypassing Edmonton with a few optional bypass routes to take upon reaching Trans Can highway 16 and reaching Alberta highway 43 to Grande Prairie...It is pretty much multi lane divided highway along these routes.

Going thru highway 97 in BC starting in Cache Creek (assuming the OP is going to take from Everett WA reaching the Sumas-Abbotsford border crossing) it will be at least light moderate to medium moderate traffic from the border to Cache Creek on Trans Can highway 1 depending on the time of day....I have not been in that region since 1991 but it was a busy corridor back then.

Only once I taken WA Hwy. 20 at Sedro Wooley via WA Hwy. 9 to the border crossing at Abbortsford (Huntington), and it was ok going thru the curvy road and the farming landscape and all, but I preferred hitting Bellingham and taking WA 547 Hwy. (Sunset Rd) to WA 9 Hwy. ever since when I used to drive thru there...however looking at google street view I sure do not recognize that road from what it was in 1991 last time I passed thru there...it's totally overbuilt commercially now and the car wash is the only place I see that still exists...and that route sure looks busy !

Between Cache Creek and Prince George I would predict light to medium traffic during non summer travel.

Once one would reach the crossroads of BC 97 and Trans Can highway 16 at Prince George, traffic will get heavy at times....Crossing thru Prince George along Trans Can highway 16 (east-west) during the summer isn't nearly as congested as one would go thru on BC 97 (north-south) with the more heavier traffic, however once one would reach north Prince George, traffic is light all the way to Dawson Creek !

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)

Although I never travelled the Cassiar Highway in the winter months, there are gas pumps at Bell II Lodge and at Iskut, which are located between Kitwanga Junction and Dease Lake...Bell II Lodge and Iskut store are open year round but have very limited winter hours, as the Iskut store is closed on weekends according to their posted winter hours.

I never purchased gas at Iskut, however I can attest that Bell II and Dease Lake are not equipped with todays modern credit card gas pumps either as you have to deal with an attendant to prepay during business hours, which are not 24 hour facilities.

Another mention also is Junction 37 gas station at the Alaska Highway junction (north end of the Cassiar Hwy.) can sometimes be hit or miss if the place is open (450 miles Kitwanga to Alaska Hwy. between those two fuel stations along the entire Cassiar Hwy. route) as if one would take on this route and needing fuel at Junction 37 and happen to be closed, one would need to backtrack an additional 14 miles eastbound on the Alaska Highway to reach Watson Lake to obtain fuel there.


Reaching Alaska Highway jct. via Cassiar Highway :

Trans Can Highway 16 is a real nice road for the most part that I can vouch all the way from Edmonton to Prince Rupert as fuel availability is no issue along the way and traffic is light to light moderate over 90 percent of the time....as one would take on the Cassiar Highway, note the road is narrow in most stretches and is more remote with very little services along the 450 mile stretch - neither during summer and winter season you will ever make time on this road...The southern half of the Cassiar is smooth and paved nice for the most part, as the majority of traffic you will see along the southern half are logging and construction trucks, and sometimes they just drive over aggressive and do at times create deadly accidents because they are in such a hurry to make demands of company time deadlines.

The northern half of the Cassiar will not have any lane markers nor hardly any traffic and will be in the higher elevations (most likely snowcapped terrain during April) and imagining I would hate to deal with any potential snowstorm in April thru this stretch in any of my 2WD rigs, along with even more dwindling non services all the way to the northern end of the route providing Junction 37 is open

Frost heaves are also intermittent between Dease Lake corridor all the way to the Alaska Highway junction (150 miles), so slow down and enjoy the ride if one cares about not tearing up their rig.


Reaching Alaska Highway at mile 0 or mile 2 :

One will notice the increased traffic year round from mile 0 at Dawson Creek thru the Charlie Lake corridor past mile 60 or so, as one would notice to start seeing lighter traffic past Shepherds Inn at mile 72, and one would start seeing much lighter commercial traffic north of Pink Mountain area at mile 144....Also, there are many major road construction projects between Dawson Creek and Shepherds Inn to account for with extra lane additions I noticed in 2016.

Although one will not experience an influx of RV traffic during April, RV's only account for 5 to 10 percent of total traffic along the Alaska Highway during the summer (which is really not a factor), but be beware upon the increase of construction trucks and more semi truck commercial traffic hauling all kinds of oversize equipment particularly between the Dawson Creek and Pink Mountain areas where they have gas well development throughout the region there. as construction season kicks in during April upon gearing up for summer season.

Once one will get past north of Pink Mountain, it's easy peasy as one will not see any kind of potential moderate traffic again until reaching Whitehorse, other than that - any pilot car or construction areas anywhere along the Alaska Highway will slow one down....Keep tabs on Drive BC and Yukon 511 for latest highway updates regarding road construction.



As noted by others, food regs change on a frequent basis depending where you cross the border, my experience crossing into Canada I was never asked about food but then again I am north of the border here....however crossing into the United States anywhere including Alaska, officials tend to pound sand upon food and agriculture products more prudently.

As if one declares food items ONLY when asked by border officials on either side, as noted it is no big deal as long as it is declared - the worse case scenario is it will be confiscated with no penalty.....however if one does not declare food items when asked and they happen to panty search one's rig and officials find the no no's..be prepared to hand over your wallet to pay a fine and subject to losing your food items.

Most food items purchased at either side of the border are at par and or in comparison with the exchange rate, other food items are a better deal here and there if you do your research and comparisons but it also depends on demographics and regional areas one would plan to cross and pass thru....Hard to answer for one that prefers certain types of food to stock up on for crossing borders so my best advice is read the regulations of what is allowed and the maximum limits of what one prefers and shop around to be ideal upon saving a few bucks.


As far as RV travel costs is concerned, nothing compares a bean counter like me knows that the biggest expense by far out of the 12 or so expenditure categories I keep track of - IS FUEL, which accounts for at least 66 percent of all travel costs...The more I spend on other categories, the less percentage for fuel costs in general however I would still be spending more, right ?

I carefully choose my spots and stretches when it comes to purchasing fuel as I can generally save $15 to $60 one way on an outing, when to dispense spare fuel before heading home, etc. to offset expenses as I can only do this in the fuel category, (and in currency exchanging only if the situation is favorable) so I can be a bigger tipper for staff at roadhouses and such as I rather throw extra money at the wait and cook staff that deserve it, rather than throw extra money to the oil company - which by the way I been working for them full time since I was 16 years old.....Every time I pull up to a gas pump, I work for the oil company !!!!!!



Even for all of you credit card users, I would still recommend a few hundred Canadian dollars onhand as although it does not happen too often, once one is in the northern region and or other remote areas of Canada.. the electronic payment infrastructure might glitch or be temporary shut down - debit or credit cards cannot be accepted until the system is back online, so that's one advantage of keeping some form of cash onhand and not be stuck or delayed at a roadhouse or gas station waiting for your card to authorize a payment and be on your way.

I have 31 days budgeted to travel from Everett to Anchorage. Trying to avoid major cities and crowded cruise ship destinations.

As already addressed, Anchorage is the only major city you cannot avoid if one wants to venture to the Kenai Peninsula or fly out on a major airline from the regional area of southcentral Alaska....All cruise ship destinations as noted can very be easily avoided as they are located along the coast as Anchorage is not a cruise ship destination and the Alaska Highway is nowhere near the coast region.... As of now to my knowledge only Prince Rupert, Whittier and Skagway have a direct link to any main road system accessing to a major highway that are capable of docking one or more large cruise ships, which are a non factor really as cruise ship arrivals are a few thousand at best upon one timeframe with multi ships docked at the same time, as that is not that big of a deal to me anyway (four cruise ships at Skagway in 2015 and still had no problem driving in town with all the pedestrian traffic), hardly noticeable when they do not drive vehicles to flood the streets with....and the cruise ship industry in Alaska for that matter doesn't get real busy until May for starters.

Just curious where the majority of the 31 days for travel you plan on venturing at whether in Alaska or western Canada, as really taking your time driving from Everett WA in an RV would take roughly 9 days on a very leisure pace, give or take a day or so with potential road closures or delays due to bad weather or major vehicle accidents, etc....however the month of April is still doable in an RV for the most part.

What else to bring that I did not see anyone else post.....BINOCULARS, definitely bring BINOCULARS so you can see distant wildlife and clear mountain ranges and landscape unfolding during spring breakup !

Hope this insight helps also.

[garyhaupt]

removed

[CA_Traveler]

Adding to the above good advice - take off your hat. We generally review the regulations, consume what's on the list and then just provide direct answers. Several times the refer has been checked.

Leave all food in it's original containers or with any labels attached as banned items may only be from some countries.

Use a credit card that does not have transaction fees. We also use a gas CC that has 5% cash back.

[lakeside013104]

hone eagle wrote:
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

Sounds like an interesting video to watch.

Your statement: 'simple thoughtful will get you though', is very accurate. Crossing the border, in either direction, is not rocket science. Keeping things simple and being thoughtful of others is great advice and will ease the crossing process.

Lakeside