Hello Canada!

We’re ba aaack! After driving through upstate New York (beautiful – I’d love to go back in the summer), and stopping on the US shores of Lake Ontario for one last visit and goodbye with our friends we crossed the Rainbow Bridge into Niagara Falls, Canada.

We had fretted about the border crossing (and potential inspection), eaten down our food stores, organized and calculated our receipts for purchases and made a thorough list of the food & alcohol we were carrying (in other words, we had prepared, unlike last time!). Crossing was almost a disappointment – no drama, no nothing. After a few cursory questions, we were free to complete our crossing into Canada (I know that’s a good thing, but I was expecting something to justify all the preparations! Of course, it was likely those preparations that facilitated our easy return.). 

I have been looking forward to getting back to my home country for quite a while, but in the end I felt like we rushed through so much during our travels up the East coast, in order to return within our allotted 6 months allowed in the US. The exact rules on crossing dates are little fuzzy (is it 6 months, or 180 days, 183 days, or what?), and, it’s not so much the coming back to Canada part that’s the issue, as much as it’s the “if we want to re-enter the US at some point” (and we do want to be able to!), that encouraged us to follow the guidelines. So, even though our friends were asking us to stay the weekend with them (and I would have loved to!), we decided to play it safe and cross 6 months, to the day.

It does feel good to be "home", but I was actually a bit surprised at how uncomfortable leaving the US felt. Perhaps that’s because it felt a bit like we were being kicked out of somewhere and told not to come back for a while (of course that was only in my head. There was no actually person saying “Get out!” I actually have no idea what the border guards would say if we attempted to go back to the US.)

It also takes a bit of time to readjust to the small differences that differentiate the two countries, especially when we've been immersed in one for 6 months. But we’re good at adapting quickly. Now we’re planning our Eastern Canada travels, getting excited as we learn of all the things to see and explore. But first, we need to wait for spring to arrive! Many campgrounds are still closed and we are limited in where we can stay for just a little bit longer (in part because very few people camp before May long weekend, and in part because it has been a long cold winter.)

A couple personal thoughts on Canadian things:

I've missed kilometers. They just make so much more sense to me.

Holy fuel costs, batman! Can we say sticker shock. It was $4.00 a gallon on the US side, and $139.9 per Litre on the Canadian side. Ouch. I really wish we would have fueled up before crossing (yes there are some right gas stations close, but none that were accessible with the trailer on).

Familiar groceries and grocery stores are so nice. Who knew I could get so excited over margarine and laundry detergent? The prices seem to be relatively similar for many items. Except milk. Why is it so expensive here?!

Canadian money is so much easier to work with than US cash. Other people may laugh at us for our colorful money, but it’s a snap to pull out the bills I want without fumbling through a wad of them!  And, yes, my purse may be loaded down with 40 pounds of coins now, but, hey, I also a have $40 in loonies and toonies in there!

Canadian TV is different from US TV. It just is. First program I watched that first evening back was the Rick Mercer Report, and the show was about escaping from your car if you've driven into a lake. It was funny, it was serious, it was informative. If you’re Canadian, you’ll get this. If not, that’s okay. Look him up.

And for some strange reason the chorus from the tune “Blame Canada” (from South Park) has been running through my head at irregular intervals since we left New York. No idea why. Out darned song, out!