Border crossing concerns

North End

We were getting close to the U.S. border crossing at Pembina, N.D., when my son confessed his concerns. We were on a road trip to Florida in his white Kia SUV along with his yellow Labrador retriever, Andi, who took the back seat as his living space.

Although my son had filed the proper G-325R alien registration documents for us online, and we had proof of Andi’s microchip and recent rabies vaccinations, he had recently read that some Canadian travellers had encountered difficulties at the border if they planned to stay in the U.S. for longer than 29 days and hadn’t completed the appropriate paperwork. We planned to remain from mid-October to mid March.

Much to our relief, the official at the port of entry only checked our passports and asked us half a dozen routine questions before he waved us on.

As we drove away, I requested a bathroom break. Always considerate, my son swerved the car and parked in a lot not too far from the main building. That’s when we ran into trouble.

A border guard spotted us as we exited our vehicle and there was a brief kerfuffle. He told us we had stopped in the wrong parking lot and said we shouldn’t let Andi stroll unsupervised and unleashed on a nearby grassy knoll.

The area was deserted except for two semis waiting to be inspected but we had inadvertently chosen to stop in the space allotted for transports. Chastened, we fled to freedom and the open road. The two semis soon caught up to us on the deserted highway.

Have you noticed these days, how large the trucks have become — the 18-wheelers that clog the roads in and out of the city? Transporting goods has become big business and the drivers are skilled and polite. There were usually a few keeping us company all the way to Florida.

Every three hours we stopped to exercise Andi and to give ourselves a 10-minute break. Five or six hours of driving was our daily limit and our main concern, other than following the route outlined by the car’s GPS, was discovering dog-friendly motels where we could spend each night.

As we made our way across America, we noticed the large amounts of rural space between towns and big cities. Most fields were cleared and only those with corn stalks were waiting to be harvested.

We usually bypassed the big cities but often travelled through the main streets of small hamlets. We didn’t see many factories or much industry, but there was always a used car lot brimming with vehicles.

We bypassed Minneapolis, missed Chicago, sped through St. Louis, touched the lower edge of Illiinois, and drove through Kentucky and the Tennessee mountains before turning due south. It took us an hour to make our way through the traffic in Atlanta, Ga. It was only when

when we reached Florida’s Turnpike that the skies cleared and the weather turned warm and sunny

After four-and-a-half days, we finally reached our destination — a condo in Margate, about a 20-minute drive north of Fort Lauderdale. We opened the door of our air-conditioned car and the 30C heat hit us like a blow – and the humidity was so heavy, it was hard to breathe.

Editor’s note: For information on alien registration in person or online call the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services contact centre at 212-620-3418 or visit www.uscis.gov

To travel with animals you need the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dog import form. Contact DGMQAdminSupport@cdc.gov