Welcome to Shelby
Travel time: 7
hours
Distance covered: 277 miles towards Canada - 34 miles away from Canada.
Current location: 48º 25' N 111º 53'W (Shelby, Montana)
Current time and temperature: 9:25pm • 12ºF
Distance covered: 277 miles towards Canada - 34 miles away from Canada.
Current location: 48º 25' N 111º 53'W (Shelby, Montana)
Current time and temperature: 9:25pm • 12ºF
I had expected to be writing this entry from Canada
but as you might have noticed from the location info, we're still in
Montana.
We left Butte at 11:45 heading north on the 15 again. It was bitterly cold, only 2 or 3ºF, and the roads were a little icy. We were travelling though mountain passes, so I decided just to take it easy and get as far as we could without doing anything stupid. As we approached Helena, though, the highway straightened out and we were back to 85 mph. We were surprised when we hit Great Falls just how small it was - in fact all of the cities in Montana have looked really small from the highway - maybe because the highway runs next to them, not through them. At any rate, we sort of blinked and missed Great Falls and the next thing we knew, we were headed out into nowhere again without having stopped for lunch. It was already 2:30.
We finally found somewhere to eat in Dutton - a nice little burger place that had the best vanilla malts I've ever tasted. It wasn't long before we were on our way again, now counting down the miles to the border. Wendy started getting excited, and so did I. It was infectious. Five days of travel and we were nearly there... well nearly a lot closer, at any rate. A couple of hours later, there it was: the Canadian border! There were no cars waiting, and we drove right up to a Canadian immigration/customs booth. We explained that we were moving, showed our passports, and pulled into the parking lot on the left as directed. The immigration officer in the office was friendly and efficient; he said he'd have us through in a couple of minutes, and he did. The customs officer was equally friendly, even as he asked us if we had an export permit from the U.S. customs for our van.
"Uh, a what?"
"Well, the U.S. requires you to get a permit to export your vehicle. You didn't know that, eh? Most people don't."
He told us what we had to do and where - basically back out and hang a U-turn. We said we'd be back and packed the kids up.
The U.S. CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) officer was... well, let's just say concise... economical with his words... basically short and terse. After looking at our passports, he told us we had to park and come into the office... "all of you - even the children." Man, I thought, we're busted. What did we do wrong?! Again, more high-level scrutinising of our documents... and then another officer came over, I realised after a few moments, to deal with immigration. Immigration? We're emigrating! Well, no worries. He was very curious about Wendy's green card and, after a few minutes of examining it suspiciously, said that because it was issued in May, he needed to see her previous one - the expired green card. Huh? I mean... wait, we're just here about the car. We're trying to LEAVE this place! Of course, she didn't have her expired green card with her. After a few minutes of authoritarian head-shaking and posturing, he explained to Wendy what her options were. She can surrender her green card now or... uh... I dunno. Something. Neither of us listened or cared. We nodded, said "uh huh" a few times, and got back to the van issue.
Well the van issue was definitely more of a problem. When we bought the van, we financed it and still owe on it. The U.S., apparently, will only grant an export permit for a vehicle with a lien holder if a) we can supply a duplicate title deed (which isn't issued to the financee in the state of California) and b) a letter from the lien holder authroising us to take the car out of the country. It was 5pm Montana time, 4pm in California. He suggested we turn around and stay the night in Shelby while we sorted it out.
I called the California DMV as we headed south down the 15. After two dropped calls and a dozen or so menu options, I was connected to an agent. After I explained the situation, all he said was, "Sorry, we won't do that." Okay... so I had to call the loan company.
I explained the situation to the agent at the loan company. She just kept saying "oh, wow. Oh, wow!" Finally, "I'm going to put you on hold, Mr. Powell"... and she certainly did. I kept checking the phone thinking the call had dropped. After about fifteen minutes, she came back and said, "I'm sorry, but we can't do that. You're not allowed to take the car out of the country."
"Well, jeez. That blows! Any suggestions of what I can do?"
"Nope. Sorry. Good luck."
So here we are in Shelby, Montana... a skanky little border town, and I don't say that lightly. This is the first time on our trip that I've taken everything out of the van that I can manage. This town is all bars and casinos - fine if you're a guy on your own looking to blow a little cash - but not cool if you've got your wife and kids AND thousands of dollars worth of pro audio gear in the back of your van. I don't expect to sleep too well over the next couple of nights.
My in-laws have offered to charge the balance remaining on the van to a credit card and let us pay them back later. How amazing, eh? I'm going to call the loan company first thing in the morning but of course, owning the van isn't the end - we need the title to get across the border. I'm hoping they can get that off to us immediately, Fed-Exed over night, and we can get back underway on Saturday. We're all just anxious to get there at this point.
I remember the van ownership issue coming up a few months ago - I was concerned about something exactly like this happening. I decided I'd talk to our immigration lawyer about it, see what he thought, and if he didn't think it was an issue, I'd just forget about it. Big, big mistake. He said it wasn't a problem. Of course on the Canadian side, it isn't... but he's a Canadian immigration lawyer.
I suppose the upside is that there's a casino attached to the hotel - just slots, video poker, and a bar, but it might provide an hour or two of diversion. God knows I need it right now.
The day started pretty damned cold!
A Montana mountain pass.
What's up with these bizarre octane ratings?
The "Cafe Dutton - Home of the monster burger"! We had lunch here.
At this point, we thought we were going to Canada. Fools!
We left Butte at 11:45 heading north on the 15 again. It was bitterly cold, only 2 or 3ºF, and the roads were a little icy. We were travelling though mountain passes, so I decided just to take it easy and get as far as we could without doing anything stupid. As we approached Helena, though, the highway straightened out and we were back to 85 mph. We were surprised when we hit Great Falls just how small it was - in fact all of the cities in Montana have looked really small from the highway - maybe because the highway runs next to them, not through them. At any rate, we sort of blinked and missed Great Falls and the next thing we knew, we were headed out into nowhere again without having stopped for lunch. It was already 2:30.
We finally found somewhere to eat in Dutton - a nice little burger place that had the best vanilla malts I've ever tasted. It wasn't long before we were on our way again, now counting down the miles to the border. Wendy started getting excited, and so did I. It was infectious. Five days of travel and we were nearly there... well nearly a lot closer, at any rate. A couple of hours later, there it was: the Canadian border! There were no cars waiting, and we drove right up to a Canadian immigration/customs booth. We explained that we were moving, showed our passports, and pulled into the parking lot on the left as directed. The immigration officer in the office was friendly and efficient; he said he'd have us through in a couple of minutes, and he did. The customs officer was equally friendly, even as he asked us if we had an export permit from the U.S. customs for our van.
"Uh, a what?"
"Well, the U.S. requires you to get a permit to export your vehicle. You didn't know that, eh? Most people don't."
He told us what we had to do and where - basically back out and hang a U-turn. We said we'd be back and packed the kids up.
The U.S. CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) officer was... well, let's just say concise... economical with his words... basically short and terse. After looking at our passports, he told us we had to park and come into the office... "all of you - even the children." Man, I thought, we're busted. What did we do wrong?! Again, more high-level scrutinising of our documents... and then another officer came over, I realised after a few moments, to deal with immigration. Immigration? We're emigrating! Well, no worries. He was very curious about Wendy's green card and, after a few minutes of examining it suspiciously, said that because it was issued in May, he needed to see her previous one - the expired green card. Huh? I mean... wait, we're just here about the car. We're trying to LEAVE this place! Of course, she didn't have her expired green card with her. After a few minutes of authoritarian head-shaking and posturing, he explained to Wendy what her options were. She can surrender her green card now or... uh... I dunno. Something. Neither of us listened or cared. We nodded, said "uh huh" a few times, and got back to the van issue.
Well the van issue was definitely more of a problem. When we bought the van, we financed it and still owe on it. The U.S., apparently, will only grant an export permit for a vehicle with a lien holder if a) we can supply a duplicate title deed (which isn't issued to the financee in the state of California) and b) a letter from the lien holder authroising us to take the car out of the country. It was 5pm Montana time, 4pm in California. He suggested we turn around and stay the night in Shelby while we sorted it out.
I called the California DMV as we headed south down the 15. After two dropped calls and a dozen or so menu options, I was connected to an agent. After I explained the situation, all he said was, "Sorry, we won't do that." Okay... so I had to call the loan company.
I explained the situation to the agent at the loan company. She just kept saying "oh, wow. Oh, wow!" Finally, "I'm going to put you on hold, Mr. Powell"... and she certainly did. I kept checking the phone thinking the call had dropped. After about fifteen minutes, she came back and said, "I'm sorry, but we can't do that. You're not allowed to take the car out of the country."
"Well, jeez. That blows! Any suggestions of what I can do?"
"Nope. Sorry. Good luck."
So here we are in Shelby, Montana... a skanky little border town, and I don't say that lightly. This is the first time on our trip that I've taken everything out of the van that I can manage. This town is all bars and casinos - fine if you're a guy on your own looking to blow a little cash - but not cool if you've got your wife and kids AND thousands of dollars worth of pro audio gear in the back of your van. I don't expect to sleep too well over the next couple of nights.
My in-laws have offered to charge the balance remaining on the van to a credit card and let us pay them back later. How amazing, eh? I'm going to call the loan company first thing in the morning but of course, owning the van isn't the end - we need the title to get across the border. I'm hoping they can get that off to us immediately, Fed-Exed over night, and we can get back underway on Saturday. We're all just anxious to get there at this point.
I remember the van ownership issue coming up a few months ago - I was concerned about something exactly like this happening. I decided I'd talk to our immigration lawyer about it, see what he thought, and if he didn't think it was an issue, I'd just forget about it. Big, big mistake. He said it wasn't a problem. Of course on the Canadian side, it isn't... but he's a Canadian immigration lawyer.
I suppose the upside is that there's a casino attached to the hotel - just slots, video poker, and a bar, but it might provide an hour or two of diversion. God knows I need it right now.
The day started pretty damned cold!
A Montana mountain pass.
What's up with these bizarre octane ratings?
The "Cafe Dutton - Home of the monster burger"! We had lunch here.
At this point, we thought we were going to Canada. Fools!
Posted: Thu - December 15, 2005 at 09:35 PM
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Published On: Dec 30, 2005 02:40 AM
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Published On: Dec 30, 2005 02:40 AM