POE Review - Blaine...plus an account of my drive across America!

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Hi all!

First of all, let me apologize for my relative reticence lately -- there has been a lot to do here since my arrival, and will still be much more ahead until I get working and get into a routine again.

Now that that disclaimer is over and done with...

My POE was at the Pacific Highway crossing in Blaine, Washington. I chose this over the Peace Arch crossing for two simple reasons: first because it was about five minutes or so closer than the other one, and secondly because Biglos had recently crossed there with no problems.

I pulled up to the border right around 6:00 AM and the border officer at the booth (officer Crabtree, no lie) asked the usual question of "where are you going?" to which I responded that I was there to activate my CR-1 visa and continue down to Alexandria, Virginia. He asked a few more basic questions, such as why I am moving there ("my wife lives there") and if I had a job lined up ("no, I don't"). He seemed a bit concerned about the fact that I didn't have a job lined up, saying that it's not an ideal circumstance, but I decided not to remind him that I wouldn't actually be authorized to work until they activated my damn visa at the border first anyhow! He then asked me why I didn't choose to cross on a K-3. This caught me off guard, and I told him that the K-3 is now obsolete, and the CR-1 allows me to be a permanent resident right away etc. He seemed surprised when I mentioned that the K-3 is obsolete. And I, in return, was surprised that HE didn't know that! A little scary, actually... Anyhow, he kept my passport and gave me a pink slip to bring in with my sealed envelope to the secondary office.

I pulled into secondary and walked inside. No one else was lined up, and I was called to a desk right away by an officer with the last name of Justus (again, no lie). In all honesty, there's not a lot to relate about the POE process. I wish I could say that I was asked a ton of questions, but in truth it was indeed just a case of him processing things. After a few cursory fact-checking questions (where does your wife live, do you have any organic plants you will be taking with you), he asked me to sit down on the bench in front of the desk. He asked questions of the other border officers there quite openly, especially Officer Crabtree, who came into the secondary office shortly after he directed me there. All in all I think four different border officers had input in how a CR-1 is processed... There were some rather worrisome comments I overheard, like, "Oh, you have to change that letter to show that he has been admitted", met with a snicker by someone else there... I really felt like more of an object than a person, to be honest! But no biggie. Justus had me roll my right index finger in ink and put my print on two sides of a sheet. He couldn't find any proper wipes to give me to wipe off my finger, so he walked over to the counter and grabbed a Lysol cleaning wipe and gave it to me... Shortly after that he bundled up the paperwork and said to me, half as a statement, half as a question, "So I guess that's it then?" I said, "Well, I believe I need to do the car importation..." To which he replied, "Oh riiiight. That." He had me go back to my car to get the registration while he filled out the import form. He then took my keys and went to my car for about two minutes before returning. He had me sign and date the import form, then he said, "It looks like we're done here. Welcome to America" and gave me back MOST of my documents. More on that shortly.

In all, it took just a bit less than a full hour. I wasn't nervous about being rejected or anything, though I was admittedly a bit concerned about them missing a step or two there. I still am, to be honest. My passport has the oval stamp across the visa, which is crucial for the short-term stuff, though I'll be much happier once I see my SSN and Green Card arrive in the mail.

--------------------------------

As for the drive across America? Well, it was an experience! I was out of the POE at 7:00 AM local time and on my way down toward Seattle with a completely packed 2007 Chevy Malibu. My father previously had air shocks installed to offset the weight of all my belongings. The drive was uneventful for the first hour...until just North of Arlington, WA when I got pulled over by a cop who had been parked on an overpass. I was legitimately surprised to be pulled over, actually, as I didn't think I was going much over the speed limit. It turned out I was doing 82 in a 70 zone. The officer came over to the passenger side of the car and I lowered the window. He deadpanned, "Oh, so you ARE in there somewhere" to which I chuckled. He informed me of my speed and asked for my license etc., also asking where I was going. Surprisingly enough he didn't ask for my vehicle registration... Anyhow, after writing up the ticket and handing it back to me, I was on my way, and resolved to use Cruise Control as much as possible for the rest of the 3000 mile drive.

The weather started getting better as I got into Eastern Washington State on the I-90 (it had been raining at the border and up until where I turned off the I-5 shortly after Everett), and by the time I hit the high hills / low mountains of Northern Idaho, the weather was quite nice indeed. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is a beautiful little city with a lovely lake etc. I was quite surprised, as it's not one of those cities you really hear about much...but it would make for a nice retreat for anyone within a day's drive or so. The Idaho portion of the drive was only about 50 miles long, since the I-90 cuts through the panhandle of the state. After Idaho, the beginning of Montana was quite mountainous as well, which isn't all that surprising given the state's name (i.e.: the word means "mountainous" in Latin). I got into Montana at around 2:00 PM, and it was quite a nice drive. I stopped for gas in Butte around 6:00 PM and when the clerk at the gas station saw I was Canadian, the first thing he mentioned was the Olympic men's hockey game.

I had planned on stopping that night in Billings, Montana, or possibly Hardin, which is about 50 miles further East...but when I got into Billings I realized I still had a lot of energy, so I decided to keep going. Well, shortly after I got through Hardin it started snowing. Not badly, mind you, but I've never been a fan of driving in snow at night. Nevertheless, I kept going...and was surprised to realize that there weren't really any communities with lodging and gas etc. for quite a distance past Hardin. Ultimately I made it to Sheridan, Wyoming that night around 11:00 PM and stayed at a Super 8. I was in bed by about 11:45. The next morning I was out the door by 7:00 AM, got gas and got on the road. It was a nice morning there, though there had been an inch or so of snow on my car and on the ground. The I-90 only cuts through the Northeast corner of Wyoming, so it wasn't long before I was getting in to South Dakota. Now here I took a little bit of a detour to see Deadwood...the historic town where Wild Bill Hickock was shot. My wife and I both loved the HBO series based on the town, so naturally I stopped and got some souvenirs. It was snowing quite hard by the time I got off the interstate though, and the town itself is up in the Black Hills. I actually skidded a bit as I was coming off the freeway, and wondered more than once if the detour was a good idea...

I was in Deadwood for about an hour, then proceeded to get back on to the I-90...and this is where the fun began. Shortly after Rapid City, the infamous Badlands begin -- an area famous for its high wind and erosion. Well, couple a low, flat valley with snow and high winds for a whole 70 miles, and you can start to understand that this portion of the drive was rather harrowing. I won't get into TOO much detail, but suffice it to say that in that stretch of the I-90, at least a dozen vehicles were off the road in deep, snowy ditches...and they weren't just cars. Big trucks, and even a large truck with a horse trailer on it were in the ditch. Large semis started passing traffic in the left lane, and ultimately I decided to pull in behind semis for two reasons -- first because they were making nice, big tracks in the snow, and also because the drag coefficient from the semis created a vortex behind them that deflected much of the blowing snow away from my car. Still, it was a very challenging drive. Then, about an hour after the Badlands ended, there was an actual snowstorm! It wasn't as bad as the wind and blowing snow though...although there were a few cars in the ditch caused by that too! Finally I got to Sioux Falls, filled up with gas and got off the I-90 and on to the I-29 to hook up with the I-80 instead. Weather had improved to rain by the time I junctioned with the I-80. I had planned on staying the night in Des Moines, but I also felt I could continue longer that night too...so I called my wife and asked her what cities were past Des Moines. Ultimately I decided to stay at a Travelodge in Iowa City.

This motel is worthy of its own little paragraph. It was $60 for a night, and was quite possibly the ugliest room I had ever stayed in. Not only that, but when I got into my room, I noticed a strong smell of incense, and could also hear the television and a conversation from the next room. Not only that...there was also a pass-through door between rooms! Both of them locked, thankfully...but I could see light under the door. When I talked to my wife, she suggested I get my money back and try another motel, but I figured that all I needed was a bed and six or seven hours of sleep there, so I would just put up with it. Well, I should have listened to her. I turned out the light and crawled into bed, and moments later heard the people in the next room start talking about having a threesome. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I, in a motel with paper-thin walls was forced to bear witness to the sounds of...well...you can guess. The walls really were thin. I tried my damnedest to fall asleep...but couldn't actually do so until well after 1:00 AM (I had my alarm set for 6:30, by the way). Seriously, anyone who reads my posts on here knows I'm no prude (by any means!), but even for ME that experience was a little jarring...

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed just before the alarm went off and had a shower in the rather scuzzy bathroom. Indeed, after I had a shower in there, I felt I could use another one to wash off the feeling of the room in general! I checked out, got gas and got back on the road. Oh, one thing I should mention is that at virtually every road stop I looked in vain for a Starbucks or a coffee house of some sort, but ultimately had to rely on gas station coffee and cold coffee energy drinks. For whatever reason there aren't many coffee places from Idaho to Illinois… Anyhow, my initial plan was to continue along the I-80 through the outskirts of Chicago and Cleveland, coming down through Pittsburgh toward D.C. I changed my mind at the last minute though and chose instead to take the I-74 which took me through Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, but enabled me to avoid Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. It was an extra 50 miles or so, but I figured it would be worth it to avoid those urban centers.

This portion of my trip was mostly uneventful. Weather was finally fairly warm, approaching 70 degrees as I got into Ohio, capping at 72 with light clouds when I got into Columbus. Unfortunately I hit Columbus right at rush hour, which probably cost me fifteen minutes or so. It's actually a really nice city. I was surprised. I also couldn't help but marvel over the fact that the Columbus Blue Jackets, an NHL team, are actually in the WESTERN conference! Here I was, half a day's drive from my destination after driving for two and a half days, and it was still considered the West by the NHL… Bizarre. About an hour after Columbus, I hit Wheeling, West Virginia. Now, the thing about Wheeling is that it has a major hydroplane race every year on Labor Day…and my father races a vintage hydroplane. He has often talked about going to the race in Wheeling, so of course I decided to make a bit of a detour into the city itself to see if I could find a memento for him (i.e.: a postcard I could write "Wish you were here!" on). Oddly enough, despite spending at least forty-five minutes there, I couldn't find a damn thing! I decided to give my parents a call, just to mention that Wheeling was a nice little city (it is). Well, my father started asking me about how my car was doing etc., and I told him that it seemed like all the air had gone out of my air shocks. My father grew very concerned about this and started making dire proclamations about what could happen if the air was, in fact, gone from the shocks! He talked about how one pothole could break the axle, then I'd be screwed etc. So needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper about that…and was admittedly pissed off that he inadvertently turned a mostly enjoyable cross-country drive into a final five hours of worry over my axle! Indeed, I stopped at a gas station and checked the air pressure in the shocks…and there was none. I hooked up the air pump, but nothing. Something must have punctured one of the air lines. So yes…a very angry Wyatt's Torch continued his drive in anxiety.

That anxiety was increased once I got into the mountains on the I-70 / I-76 in Pennsylvania. A major storm front had moved in from the Atlantic, and the darkness, heavy rain, dense fog and ubiquitous semis, not to mention lots of roadwork AND the aforementioned worry about my car's shocks conspired to make it another white-knuckle drive through that terrain. But as you can surmise, I made it through alright…though I had thought I was closer to Washington D.C. than I actually was at that point. Nevertheless, the final stretch of the drive through Maryland was uneventful, and I took the feeder route I-270 to the I-495 beltway. It took quite awhile to get around the beltway to the Alexandria area, given that it was quite literally on the other side of the beltway from where the I-270 joined. But at long last I got to the junction of the I-495 and the I-395 and got off at the correct exit…and promptly got a little lost. Yes folks, 3000 miles of driving without any missed turns or exits, and I take several wrong turns within a mile (not even exaggerating!) from home. After driving around Landmark Mall for a little while, I finally figured out what I did wrong…and made it home at long last at around 11:30 PM. Woo hoo! I was pretty exhausted, but my wife and I unpacked my car regardless, and I got to see our new apartment…and loved it!

So that's pretty much it! One other point of interest, though, is that the next morning, when I went to get a parking pass for the building, I had to get my vehicle registration. I went into the glovebox to get it and…it wasn't there! I went up to the apartment and looked through all of my files…it wasn't there either! It turned out that the border patrol officer (Justus) accidentally kept it. Grrr! I called the border crossing about it, and got a very gruff officer questioning me a few times about why I didn't take the documents back before I left. He was quite obstinate, but he DID look through the lost and found box and found my registration, then took down my address so that he could mail it back to me. So that means that I drove through the entire country without vehicle registration! I'm so fortunate I didn't have any accidents. I'm also fortunate that the police officer in Washington State only asked for my license, and NOT my registration. Dodged a bullet there, to be sure. Of course, the down side is that I have to wait for that registration to arrive before I can do any of my car insurance / titling / registration / emissions stuff down here. I'm a bit leery of having British Columbia plates still, but there's not much I can do. Hopefully I get it in the mail soon.

These last few days have been great, for the most part…though quite busy. I've been applying for jobs, integrating my stuff in the apartment and doing all sorts of other things. My poor wife caught my cold, so she's been quite sick…but has still had to work during the day, since it's entering in to her busy season, AND she just got a promotion, meaning that she has even more work to do to begin with! She feels bad that she's going to have some twelve-hour days coming up, but it's not an overly bad thing. I've got lots I need to get done during these days anyhow.

So there you have it…another ridiculously long review from me. Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time on VisaJourney soon, but until then, hopefully all of your journeys are going smoothly!

[ScooterMac 2]

Glad you made it safely!!! Congrats on the (relatively) easy POE! Hope you get settled in and get your registration soon!

Edited March 17, 2010 by ScooterMac

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Sounds like it was a fun and adventurous journey!!

If you weren't worried about making sure all paperwork was in order, I'd tell you to say 'screw it' to the ticket unless you're planning on driving in Washington again. They can't enforce it if you live out of state lol.

Glad all went well and that you're home!

[Flames9_RN 358]

no SSN after 10-14 days,just head to the local SSN office and ask about it! Be prepared to fill out a new application! 1 can download the form at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/online/ss-5.html The line at the SSN can be long, so best to get their early in the morning and wait for the doors to open!

Did ya stop at Wheeling WV for a timmies? lol Thats all I really saw of wheeling! I drove straight to the timmies, then left for home.

At least the weather is back to sunny now! Enjoy it now before the humidity hits.

[redmen99 1]

Wow! What a story! Glad you made it ok.

Welcome home!

[OBX 51]

Wow! What a drive, especially through the bad weather. Enjoy settling in

[Married2009 32]

Thanks for the entertaining read! Glad you made it there in one piece!

[The_Dude 1,142]

Sounds like it was a fun and adventurous journey!!

If you weren't worried about making sure all paperwork was in order, I'd tell you to say 'screw it' to the ticket unless you're planning on driving in Washington again. They can't enforce it if you live out of state lol.

Glad all went well and that you're home!

Thats not exactly correct. They can issue a judgement against you in absentia and send it to a collection agency. Most won't, but if it's a small town, i'd say that increases the odds that they would.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Thats not exactly correct. They can issue a judgement against you in absentia and send it to a collection agency. Most won't, but if it's a small town, i'd say that increases the odds that they would.

Yeah, I'll pay it...begrudgingly. If it wasn't for the possibility of collections, I might reconsider, especially since my driver's license number and license plate number will be different in two or three weeks. But I'm a law-abiding kinda guy anyhow, and I DID do the "crime" of speeding, even if it was by a mere 12 MPH on an interstate. We could definitely use that $113, but so it goes.

[Kimbear 53]

Great story Wyatt. As always you have outdone yourself once again...Seriously..you should take up some short story jobs..i get the feeling you'd be great at it.

Glad you got home safe and sound with the weather, long drive etc.

[Leafgal 3]

Very great review. Thanks for sharing it and glad you made it all safe and sound.

[Malrothien 6]

You don't need to worry about having BC plates since 'most' states have a 30-day registration law.

[Peachey 10]

Yeah don't worry about your plates, I've had my ON plates for almost 3 months now. Mainly because the border guard forgot to have me fill out a form, which I am getting today from the closest airport

[Flames9_RN 358]

$113, wow, thats pretty cheap for a ticket!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

What a journey! Wow - thanks for the report and I'm glad you made it safe and sound.