Road trip to Calgary

[Knight9]

You'll love Alberta! It's a beautiful province with some real diversity in the geography.

A few suggestions:
1) Bring your credit card Gas will be $1.30ish / litre by summer time and with the Canadian dollar very quickly approaching the US dollar your "roadtrip" will cost you!!
2) Buy or bring mosquito repellant. We grow em big here and its a BAD year so far.
3) You HAVE to go to Banff if you are going to Calgary. Get outside of the touristy area of Banff itself and see some of the sights. You won't regret it.
4) If you plan to go anywhere, do anything, or go to any events in Calgary in the summer, you may want to book now. The Stampede happens every year and the summer is NUTS in Calgary. Hotels, etc are all quickly booked.

Other than that....have a great visit and be sure to enjoy a nice slab of Alberta beef

 

[PBinWA]

You can take your dogs to Canada if you're driving. Just make sure they are up on their shots (rabies) although I've never actually been asked for the certificates.

You don't need a passport to get into Canada but it will make it easier to get back into the US. At the very least bring all your ID's and your birth certificate.

 

[Tdog]

Knight9, thanks for the travel tips. I do plan to get out & see some of the sights. I've always heard that the Rockies up there are spectacular. I'm going to let my daughter be my tour guide. I realize my credit cards will take a major hit - - somehow I don't think gas will go down in price between now & August. I've heard of the Stampede, but have not checked on the dates - - I'll try to schedule around it. Skeeters? Geez, I thought I'd be leaving them behind here in Louisiana.

PB - - not planning on taking the dogs. They are ~~ 60+ lbs each, & with Alpha's mom [or Alpha or, gasp, me] in the back seat, it would start to get a little crowded. Taking them sure would solve the dogsitting issue, though.

Jack

 

[looch]

Make sure your GPS software covers Canada. US and Canada are two distinct software packages on my Magellan.

 

[EddieWalker]

Jack,

My parents are Candians and one of my brothers is a duel citizen. My other brother and I can also become duel citizens if we fill out the paperwork. I've been there dozens of times, but the last time was a disaster.

It was about five years ago and after 9-11. A buddy and I were going hunting there and drove to the border. At the border, we filled out the forms for our rifles, which is fairly simple, and then they ran a background check on us. We both failed.

In 1991 I was arrested and plead guilty to drunk driving. I did what was required and that was that. My buddy through some tresspassers off his land and in the process told them he'd shoot them if they didn't leave. They reported him, he was arrested and spent the weekend in jail. The judge dismissed it and that was that.

The Canadians are able to go back decades in thier searches and find out about every arrest you've ever had. They then require you to prove you served your sentance, paid your fine and are no longer a menace to society. It was up to me to show them my court records that I paid my fine and went to rehab. My buddy had to prove to them that he was never charged.

We had to go to a special border crossing in North Dakota to do this as the Montana crossing didn't have the people to hear our apeal. Since my case was more then five years old, they allowed me to pay a $200 fee to be rehabilitated. That was there term. My buddies case was less then five years old, so he was denied. He was told he could hire a lawyer and apeal it, but it would take months. They did say it was a winner if he wanted to fight it, but they couldn't do anything.

While there, we met people who had been arrested for all sorts ot things and were seeing if they could get in and be rehabilitated or not. One guy stole a Christmas tree as a college prank in the early 70's. Most of us had Drunk Driving convictions going back several decades.

If you have ever been arrested for anythying, no matter the result, it's likely they will find it in there search when you enter the border. It's not garanteed, because another buddy of mine got through fine, but also had a DUI on his record.

Banf and Lake Loise are two must see stops when you are in Calgary!!!

Eddie

 

[Tdog]

Boy Eddie, what a nightmare. That seems almost crazy to charge you a fee to be 'rehabbed'. I assumed the US agents would be the most stringent. Any thing to make a buck.

I'm really fortunate that I've never had any run ins with the law, except for speeding tickets. I did some crazy stuff in my high school & college days, but no arrests. Luckily, I didn't run across Bird while he was on duty!

Jack

 

[Bird]

I did some crazy stuff in my high school & college days, but no arrests.

Didn't we all? I never got caught hot rodding or stunt driving, in spite of doing a lot of it, but I did get some tickets for doing 10 mph over the speed limit back in those days. And I sure got questioned about that in the final interview before the police department hired me when I was 24 years old.

And when I've crossed Canada, I'm not sure they've ever even asked to see ID; just asked whether I had any handguns or tobacco and where we were going. But things are always changing. In 1972, I had 3 handguns and they only told me to bring them inside, unloaded, and they put them in a heavy clear plastic bag with a waxed cord and lead seal after recording the serial numbers and told me to show them to the customs guy when we left the country (so he could see the bag had not been opened). By 1990 and 1991 we knew to not even have any handguns in the RV, but long guns were OK. I told them I had shotguns and rifles, but they didn't even ask to see them.

But I haven't been up that way since '91, so I know it's changed a lot since then.