Lethbridge to the US Border
We had arrived in Lethbridge in the early evening, so this gave us a chance to relax a bit before heading into the United States early on the second day.
Driving from Lethbridge to Coutts where the US border crossing is, takes just over an hour and we stopped to pick up a few bits of food for the journey. Including some apples.
Once we reached the border we were asked if we had any fruit or vegetables to bring in. We jokingly mentioned the apples we just bought a few miles away and the border guy promptly confiscated them as they couldn’t be verified as from Canada or the US.
We had checked with the US Embassy in advance regarding obtaining Visas and they told us that it would cost $6 each at the crossing to get these. The border guards looked a bit unsure about this and asked us to step inside. We parked up and did so.
Tip 5 – When you ring the US embassy don’t ring the 0906 number – it costs £1.20 per minute. The two calls made cost us over £20!
Once inside the border office, a guard suspiciously asked us about what we were doing – an epic road trip obviously – and then fingerprinted us and issued the papers. He also asked how long for. I said 3 weeks to be safe and my wife disagreed and said 2 weeks.
I guess at that point we were still deciding how long the trip would be…
He didn’t smile. I guess he may have thought we were bringing rogue apples into the US.
They are also introducing retina scans soon, so it is worth being aware if you are unwilling to so this. If you fly into the US, I don’t think you need these, just for road crossings.
Apparently, this approach is a lot cheaper than obtaining visas and is known as a visa waiver. Some people end up buying visas without realising this and it costs a lot more.
Tip 6 – Don’t bother buying fruit and vegetables before the border. Or eat them beforehand.
Anyway, once the papers were done, we were into the USA, yeeharrr.
We drove to Shelby to fill up with fuel in our 3.7 litre minivan. If you live in the US, you have no idea how lucky you are. To fill up the tank cost us just $62, erm, that is £37 once you convert it.
A full tank in my car in the UK costs £90+ on a good day with a tailwind. Cheeeaaappppp.
Tip 7 – Don’t bother filling up with fuel before you cross the border. It is way cheaper in the US.
Oh yes, I nearly forgot. We got pulled for being slightly over the speed limit in Canada. New car, working in km and all that.
After we tried to get out of the car, he put his hand on his gun and shouted “Don’t do that” and we promptly got back in.
The cop was very kind, he told us his job was to penalise or educate and that seeing as we had been driving in North America for less than 24 hours, he would prefer to educate. He also told us that it might be best to not get out of the car to avoid being shot or tasered.
Tip 8 – Don’t get out of the car to avoid being shot or tasered.
The ticket we avoided would have been $138 with some de-merits – these are like our points but you only get 6 to play with not 12, so we were very grateful.
We think the cop may have radared us while travelling the opposite way on the highway, so for Brits this is worth being aware of, as we have bright yellow boxes with no film in most places. Not in Canada, they are ultra keen.
Tip 9 – Stay within the speed limit or it could get expensive or scary.