Checking off preparations to Cross the Canadian Border

While we were camping at Dick's RV Park in Great Falls, we found that many of our neighbors were here in preparation for their trips to Alaska. They have paid to be part of the Adventure Caravan that will spend 63 days driving to Alaska and back. Those yellow stickers on their RVs and tow cars indicate their spot in the group of 22 that will be leaving shortly.

We personally don't think we will ever caravan, but it was interesting talking to them about their adventure. After a good stop in Great Falls, Montana, we are ready for our last stop in the United States before crossing the border into Canada. It was an hour and a half drive to our next destination in Shelby, Montana. We're staying at a full-hook-up site at Trails West campground situated behind the Best Western Motel at the half-price Passport America rate.

We have to say that there isn't much to do in Shelby. When driving through town, we noticed this iron sculpture and sign boards, and we learned a little Montana history. When the railroad came to the new town of Shelby, some of the town's founding fathers wanted to bring notoriety to the area. So they decided to host the heavy-weight boxing championship in 1923 here on the prairies of northern Montana. They offered the champion, Jack Demsey, $200,000 to fight his challenger in the little village of Shelby. That's quite a sum of money for that time! They built a wooden arena that would hold 40,000 people, and put up 20 new hotels--all within seven weeks. The whole process almost bankrupt Shelby when the champ threatened to not show up and many of the people traveling to Montana for the fight decided not to come. But the world heavy-weight boxing championship really did take place here in the tiny town of Shelby on July 4, 1923. We learned an interesting nugget of Montana history today.

But our main reason for this stop is to get everything checked off our list for crossing the Canadian border tomorrow. Knowing that the liters of diesel will be higher in Canada, we filled our 100 gallon diesel tank, as well as our car's gasoline tank. Check!

We also aren't sure if the U.S.-required DEF will be readily available in Canada, so Mark filled that tank up as well. Check!

We had carefully been planning our meals and snacks to use up foods that will possibly be confiscated at the border. So we used up the last of the citrus, lettuce, unlabeled meat, peppers, grapes, etc. That way we'll have less to declare at the border, and hopefully a smaller chance of a motor home search when we cross into Canada. Check!

We won't have full hook-ups very many times during the six weeks we will be in Canada. So we are taking advantage of today's water and sewer hookups to do lots of laundry. We'll cross the border with all of our clothes clean. Check!

We visited the new indoor carousel at Shelby. where Denisa rode her favorite giraffe. Check! (Is that really on the check list?!?)

Mark washed the front of the motor home and oiled the hubs and uploaded maps for Canada to his phone. Even though we'll have unlimited phone calls and texting with our AT&T plan, we have very limited data for the next six weeks. So all the things we normally google will not be available. Check!

Our car insurance is due while we are out of the country, so Mark paid it early. We printed the new insurance verification at the motel, as our old one would expire before we are back in the United States. Check!

Denisa is furiously typing on blogs so they will be ready to publish when we find some free wifi on our journey through Canada. Check!

Mark has been reading about the best way to get Canadian currency, so we think we have a plan. We also have our no-international-fee-best-currency-conversion credit card companies alerted that we will be out of the country. Check!

So many things to do when crossing into a new country, especially since we'll be staying for an extended period of time. It's really complicated with the limitations on data available to us for the next six weeks. But we're willing to do the extra work to wander into even more of God's wonders across the border.