USA

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Haven to Billings, MT

I was up quite late this morning, almost 8:00. I made and had coffee, then went out to winterize the water system.  That done, I finished packing the truck. It was then time to go to the post office. My cheque had finally arrived! There was also a new SK health card giving me permission to be out of the province till May 31st, 2015. So that’s my return by date!

I came in and did some banking stuff, called SaskTel to suspend service (need to wait till I have US service to do that since they can’t postdate it), and called my mother to let her know that I was heading out. I then did the final swing around the property, putting away the garbage barrel and propane tank, reading the metre, putting away the power cord, etc.

I made a set of keys for Caroline and was halfway to her place when I realised I had forgotten something important: PILLOWS! I went back and grabbed then, then went to C&C’s. They are away this week, so there were no goodbyes. Caroline had told me where to leave keys and I did so with note informing her that I only have one house key (really?!) so to please not lose it. I can get back in through the cab when I get back. 🙂

It was 11:30 when I pulled out of Haven and I was at the border by 12:15. I crossed at Opheim, MT. There had been big changes since I was there in April; CDN customs now has a shiny new building and the US has a new scanner thing that I drove through too quickly… Oops. The customs official was super nice about it and told me to just circle around the building and try it again. I was mortified!

We had a nice chat while two other officers poked through what I had in the bed of the truck. We talked about my job, why I picked Mazatlan, my hamlet, and my planned route and meetups while in the US. He was kind beyond words and just when I was thinking, “This is going too well. Secondary inspection, here I come!” he said, “Drive safe and have a wonderful winter. Exit’s that way.” Wow!

From the border, it was about an hour to Glasgow, the only sizable community between Haven and Billings. As is normal for me on departure day, I’d left on an empty stomach. The stress of the border behind me, I was ready for lunch. I’d done my research into some yummy, quick, and filling and headed to Flip Burger, formerly Quick & Tasty. I had a (veggie) burger my first night in the original Glasgow, so I think my choice was appropriate. 🙂 The burger was great and made exactly to order, no stock toppings. I had cheese, bacon, tomato, mustard, and relish. Service was great and pretty quick.

Quick&Tasty in Glasglow.

Quick&Tasty in Glasglow.

From Glasgow, I continued my European tour by stopping in Malta (ha!) for gas. $3.41! Wow!

After Malta, there was just… land. If I felt so isolated and overwhelmed by the open country around me flying down the highway at 70 miles per hour, imagine how it must have felt to the pioneers trekking across it on foot!

My ETA for Billings was 6:00 and I drove straight through from Malta. I decided to land at a Walmart and from there find a suitable place for overnighting. Because I sleep in my truck, I am not going to share the place I found, but it’s perfect and was the first location I scouted. I’m getting good at this!

Heading into mountains.

Heading into mountains.

I went into the Walmart and came out with an AT&T SIM card with 2.5GB of data, all for $70. I forgot to pack a paperclip, so until I get my hands on one, I can’t set up the phone. Who comes up with these designs?! I have to go back to Walmart for an oil change tomorrow, so I’ll go back to the tech desk and see if they one I can borrow.

Once I found a place to spend the night, I went to a nearby McDonald’s to do research on sushi. I knew Billings has several well rated sushi joints, so I just wanted the closest one, which turned out to be Nara.

Nara was surprisingly packed for a Tuesday night and the kitchen was slammed. Service was slow, but still managed to be attentive. My Sapporo and “OMG, so delicious!!!” miso soup came quickly once I was finally about to put in an order, but the wait for my food was interminable, about 40 minutes. After 15, I really should have gone out and grabbed a book. I wouldn’t have minded the wait then. I did have a whole evening to fill.

Just at the point where I was ready to walk out, a server plopped a big bowl of edamame (soy beans in pods) in front of me. “On the house, ma’am.” That changed everything. They realised that the service level was unacceptable and did something to fix it before I got huffy. The edamame was a smart choice: it’s a super overpriced delicious treat that I never get in restaurants because I can buy a huge bag for less at a supermarket. Their cost was small, but the value to me was big.

My meal came out after. Everything was very expensive, so I just went for a spicy tuna and salmon roll and splurged on two pieces of octopus nigiri. The food was worth the wait and the prices self-explanatory! Look at that roll! Just about every sushi place I’ve visited has had way more rice than fish to cut costs.

Succulent tako (octopus).

Succulent tako (octopus).

The spicy tuna and salmon was melt in your mouth delicious. I like how the salmon was whole piece, which varied the texture a little. It’s funny how I don’t like spicy food, but I love this roll!

Wow, rare to see sushi that focuses on the fish. No wonder this was so expensive!

Wow, rare to see sushi that focuses on the fish. No wonder this was so expensive!

As for the octopus, I can’t remember the last time I had some and I hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed. Not in the least. It was so tender and succulent. I think this is the first time I’ve had some with the little suckers still attacked. They’re very chewy, but not in a rubber band sort of way.

So while the wait was disappointing, my overall experience at Nara was positive and this restaurant will be filled into the category of some of the best sushi I’ve had.

Now, I’m at a McDonald’s near my overnight spot, getting a start on downloading work for the weekend and also just passing the time because I don’t want to go to bed too early.

Not sure how tomorrow is going to go. I have to get an oil change and run a few errands. I think I’ll meander my way towards Yellowstone National Park and plan to spend the day there Thursday.

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Ready

Oh, I do hope the cheque is here tomorrow because I am ready. One might wonder what I would have done without this three-day delay. Well, I could have definitely been just as ready to leave first thing Saturday morning. I just stretched out the final chores to fill the days.

Here’s what’s left on my list for tomorrow (or whatever day that dang cheque comes…)

-pack final items into the truck (overnight, computer, and food bags)

-rinse out the black tank and put away the sewer hose (I leave the grey water open so the hose is always hooked up)

-drain the water system, apply the water heater by-pass, and add potable anti-freeze

-put away my garbage barrel

-buy my  US travel medical insurance

-put my SaskTel service on hold

-pack up the booster

-turn off the power, lock the breaker box, and read the metre

-drop a set of keys off at C&Cs

I can do some of those things before checking the post tomorrow, but there’s no sense winterizing until I know for sure that I’m going.

If I am unable to leave tomorrow, I will have to make yet another run into Willow Bunch for food. 🙁 What I bought on Friday was just the right amount to get me to tonight, but otherwise I’m down to nuts and miso soup, not quite a healthy diet!

Mail is sorted by 9:30, so I should know by ten if I am good to go. If so, I’ll be out of here by noon. I’ve conceded that the Opheim crossing makes the most sense even though I haven’t had great experiences crossing there. Should I get through with minimal delay, I’ll be in Glasgow for a late lunch and then I am going to drive hard to Billings. Google Maps says I’m looking at a seven hourish drive, so I wish I could set out sooner than noon, but it is what it is.

In Billings, I need to get an oil change done on the truck (my oil levels are fine for the drive down), buy a new GPS unit (the app I downloaded on my phone is not working well for me) as well as a paper map book, and see about getting a US SIM card for the phone. So that should eat up a good chunk of Wednesday (or the first day after departure…).

Twelve hours to go before I can for mail. Hopefully my next post will be about heading out! 🙂

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Upgrading a Magnetek Converter

Stock RV converters are notoriously poor battery chargers. One of the worst, and most common, is the Magnetek. It is essentially a trickle charger that can boil batteries dry because it doesn’t know when to stop charging. I spent up to six months at a time plugged into shore power in the last few years and I know that is part of the reasons my last set of batteries didn’t last long.

Because the charger in the Magnetek only puts out a few amps, it is not efficient for charging batteries with a generator. I usually consume 45 to 70AH per day and the generator puts back in an average of 1.5AH. At that rate, I would have to run my genset for up to 47 hours to get a full charge using the Magnatek only! Of course, I have solar, but when it’s grey like it’s been here the last little while, solar just isn’t enough.

An easy and relatively inexpensive solution is to charge the RV batteries with a dedicated charger that can put in up to 15A. This works well enough when I turn off the solar, otherwise the dedicated charger thinks the batteries are full and won’t work. But it’s a pain to have to hook it up and run an extension cord.

What many boondockers do instead is upgrade their Magnetek converter to a better multi-stage smart charger, such as a Progressive Dynamics Converter Upgrade Section, matching the Progressive Dynamics unit to their Magnetek model. For example, my Magnetek was a 45A model, so I had to pair it up with the 45A Progressive Dynamics model.

I picked this converter upgrade because it was well rated and available on Amazon so it didn’t cost me much out of pocket ($2 for the unit, $21 for tax, plus the gas to go get it in Montana). I had it shipped to Opheim, MT, where it arrived Friday.

This morning, I headed out around 8:45 and enjoyed a scenic, albeit very isolated, drive to the border where I was grilled about my last trip to the US. Oh, I hope not to have any issues this fall…

My package wasn’t at the post office since they don’t accept Fed Ex, but I was told to try the bar across the street. My package was there and cheerfully given to me in exchange for $5. I got some beer for C&C while I was there, filled up with gas since the SK stations were closed for the civic holiday, and then I headed home.

I got grilled by CDN customs about why I’m now living out here and then paid the duty and tax on the beer and the tax on the converter. Then, it was an easy drive home. The trip took just under three hours.

I got to work immediately, having previously read the instructions and gathered the bulk of the tools I would need (many types and sizes of screw drivers and wrenches, plus a wire cutter that I only needed because one screw in my DC panel was badly stripped and I couldn’t get the wire out without cutting it). I also had different coloured electrical tape on hand to use as markers. This came in handy when I had to wire the new DC panel as I had many wires the same colour. I wrapped each one in a different coloured tape and then made a note of in which order I had to reconnect the colours.

Installation was easy. I just followed the step by step instructions and really didn’t have any problems beyond needing a strange screw driver that isn’t stock in most basic tool kits (thankfully, I’m well beyond a basic tool kit) and having to struggle with too short wire lengths. It took me 2.5 hours to install and a good part of that involved getting up to get more tools, trying to get the flashlight angled so that I could see, and wrestling with tight screws. None of the difficulties had to do with the technical part of the installation.

I’ve been so nervous about tapping into the factory-installed wiring, but now that I have, more upgrades are in my future!

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Minot to My Property

I’m glad I hung out this morning because I got a call from Sheree at GCR Tire Centers about my service call yesterday and that I wanted to dispute the $100 service call fee I hadn’t been told about. I said that if I had known the bill was going to be that high, I would have likely left the motorhome, gone to Minot in the toad to pick up a used tire, and then followed a service truck back.

She was very understanding and said she would speak to her manager then get back to me. She did so very quickly and told me she could take $50 off the bill since they had sold me the tire at cost (!). Good enough! I recommend GCR Tires for mobile tire repair in the Minot area. They got to me FAST and got me back on the road in no time at all.

I left Minot at about 9:00. I had about a quarter tank of fuel left so I decided to wait till Kenmare to tank up (60KM) so as to arrive in Canada with as much U.S. fuel as possible.

That first part of the day SUCKED. It was just soooooooooooooooooo windy. And, spoiler alert, the rest of the day’s driving was like that, too. 🙁

I was surprised that the folks at the Kenmare gas station (the one right on the highway) let me gas up without prepaying.

From there, it was about a half hour to the border.

The Portal crossing really confused me. There was a sign saying commercial vehicles thataway to an area with no overhang. The non-commercial lanes were under an overhang marked with a 12′ clearance, but in front of that was another sign saying that the clearance was just 10′ 5″ (I need 11′ 3″). The obvious thing was to get in the commercial lane, but I know better than to presume in such situations! I waited at the junction until a lady came out of a booth and waved me over to the commercial lane.

She was really nice! She asked me how long I’d been gone, how much I had to declare, where I’d gone (nodding when I mentioned the Mexico trip, so I obviously pre-empted her on that), and the usual questions about booze, firearms, and tobacco. She then asked me to park so that someone could look inside and confirm there was no one with me. This was, of course, a reasonable request, but her tone really made me okay with the search as it felt like routine, not suspicion.

Would you believe that my secondary inspection guy looked like the secondary inspection guy who interrogated me at Coutts? Just a mini version of him, shorter and less muscly.

He started by asking me a few questions about my trip, why I went to the U.S., why I stayed as long as I did, how I supported myself, and how I met the friends I visited along the way. His tone was neutral and I didn’t know yet how the inspection was going to go. He then asked me to go to the rig with him because of Neelix.

I knew I was clear the minute we stepped outside because he handed me my passport.

The two times I had a difficult crossing, my passport was held until the very end. Last night, I Googled what my rights are reentering Canada and basically you have NO charter rights until you are detained, at which point you have the right to remain silent and get counsel. What being ‘detained’ means is fuzzy. For me, the line is crossed when I lose control of my passport.

As we walked, I brought up the subject of food, and his, “We really don’t care about that” made me realise that I have never been asked about food coming back into Canada! Yes, there are rules, but it’s at the bottom of their priority list. Dang, I should have smuggled in more cheese!

He asked me if I wanted to go grab Neelix and I suggested instead that I just guard the door. He thought that was a good idea. He continued to ask his questions as he poked through the rig and I made a mistake, not telling him that all the renovations were done in Canada (they are worried about mods being made to hide drugs). This wasn’t a huge deal, but I wish I had thought to tell him.

We talked about work and money and whatnot and his tone was 100% American: curious and open-minded, not suspicious. SO REFRESHING. He asked to look in the cab of the motorhome and then asked me one more time about any mods or repairs made to the vehicles. I told him what I had told the lady, about the throttle cable and the three blowouts (all tires declared), and then he told me I was clear, to be safe on the road, and to have a nice day.

Not anywhere near the easiest border crossing of my life, but that’s two good ones coming back into Canada in a row and I think I will be A LOT less stressed next year.

I’m just surprised that I wasn’t sent to the cashier. Between new batteries, a watering system, several tires, glasses, a computer hard drive, and all the goodies I bought this winter with Amazon gift certificates, I was WELL over my limit. And, yes, I declare everything. I can do basic math and know roughly how much I’ll be asked to pony up. Last month, some morons imported an RV at the same crossing, underdeclared the purchase value by about $13,000 to save about $300 in taxes… and had to pay $9,000 in penalties to get their rig back. Stupid!

From the border, it was a quick drive to Estevan. It was only 11:00 (I had gained an hour) and super windy out. It seemed stupid to hang out at Walmart when another 3.5 hours or so of driving would get me to my property. I grabbed lunch and then figured out where The Source store is located. It was just 1KM away, but I’d been to the mall before and knew it was barely walkable from the Walmart. So I just drove out there and, thankfully, found a place to park.

I went into the mall, found The Source, and was greeted by Joel. I told him I wanted a Turbo stick. The only Bell product they had in stock was a Mifi 2. I really didn’t care what the device is as long as a) it has the flex plan that starts at $10 and gives you up to 15GB for $100 and b) it doesn’t need 120V power to run. Joel made several calls to make sure that the Mifi 2 was eligible for the plan and then he got it up and running for me and we tested it on my Macbook Pro. What I like about it is that it’s like a wifi router, so I can connect my computers, iPad, and iPod Touch to it all at once. The stick would have been $0 down for a two-year commitment and the Mifi 2 was $50, with  no activation fee. Good enough. The device has an 11-hour lithium battery that can be recharged through the computer (like I charge my phone) and it also comes with a wall wart.

From Estevan, it was another windy hour to Weyburn, where I planned to refuel. Halfway there, I glanced in a side mirror to see the plastic wheel well cover over the driver’s side rear dually snap loose and fly away! CRAP! Thankfully, I saw this happen, it didn’t hit anyone, and it happened at the first place I could pull over in about 40KM! I parked and then walked the side of the road until I found the part. It is really banged up, but I can likely effect a decent repair. Anything will look better than no cover at all! I’ll have pictures of that later.

There was a gas station right at the junction of 13 and 39 that looked like easy access, but I had to make a sharp turn into the pumps and I really didn’t think the toad was going to get clear without damage when I pulled out. I inched my way out of there and discovered that I really do know how to handle my rig because I was able to effect the necessary corrections to not only get the toad clear but also still make a very tight turn away from the pumps. A guy coming out of the c-store actually complimented me on my driving skills!

I think the GPS has the wrong speed limit programed for highway 13 because it always way overestimates how long it will take to get to my property. My ETA was 6:00 and I got there at just past 5:00. The drive in was scenic beyond description. In terms of wintering options, it would have made so much more sense to buy land in B.C. (never mind that I will never be able to afford to live there, much less buy property), but I so much prefer the landscapes and climate here (sunny hot dry summers, sunny cold dry winters). This is the land of my dreams and I am so lucky to own a piece of it.

I unhooked and made many failed attempts at backing Miranda into the lot. There is the beginning of a driveway entrance where the curb drops and it took several passes to finally get lined up with the entrance and backed in. The ground was SOFT and I completely failed at getting onto levelers, with my rear tires now in pretty deep. Dang. 🙁 But the front ones are on cement, so I am optimistic that I will be able to get out of there once the ground firms up a bit. For one thing, I’d like to be much further back.

As I suspected, the village is too low in the valley to get a cell signal! 🙁 So no internet at home. 🙁 🙁 🙁 I only have to go 1KM to get a signal and 3.5KM total to get to a spot where I can pull over safely. So I will head here once or twice a day to do online stuff. I’m going to make the back of the truck comfortable for hanging out so that I can do what I need to do without feeling too put upon. I just don’t like not being more reachable. I’ll figure out how to make this work. At least, the Mifi 2 is FAST. I came up here tonight to download some files for work to do over the weekend and thought I’d be here for hours trying to download stuff. Nope. So that almost makes up for no signal at home.

I’m wiped. I’m in work mode for the next bit, so the blog will be quieter than it has been. I’ll check in with pictures at some point tomorrow.

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Quick Update From Estevan

I’ll have more later, but I just wanted to say that I made it back to Canada!

It is crazy windy in Estevan and I have work to do this weekend, so I am heading to my property. I have an Internet device, but I don’t know if it will work at my lot. Worst case scenario, it’s 20-minute drive to Assiniboia where I will have coverage for sure.

So check back tonight or tomorrow for details about the border crossing.