My big trip!!

Hi everyone,

I hope you all are doing well and had a fabulous New Year celebration!! I wanted to update you all on my big move to Canada!! I have a feeling that this might be a long post, so just know that I made it up here okay...on my second attempt. Feel free to skim the highlights below!!

*December 30, 6:38AM (all times are approx!!)
Oh my goodness...it's so dark in the morning!! Bean and I finished putting the bike on my car and hopped in to start our big journey!! My Mom took a quick picture of us, and it's the only one I have for our trip!! After this point, it pretty much rains and pours on us for the rest of the trip. :)

*December 30, 10:29AM
Thanks to my cousin Caitlin, I had some In N Out cash to spend. Bean and I googled the northernmost location, and found out it was in Redding and that they opened at 10:30. Hamburgers have never tasted so sweet!!

*December 30, 11:03AM
Back on the road, heading up I-5 when a sign tells us that it's going to be closed up at Yreka and they have
no time table as to when it will re-open. It's closed due to rockslides, mudslides, and flooding. Lovely!! I had been planning on driving for 9 or 10 hours the first day, and 5 or 6 the second, and I only got to do 5 on the first day. We made it up to Weed and stopped there because of the snow on the road. I honestly was pretty freaked out because I knew the road up ahead was going to be closed, and all of a sudden, there was snow and me with no snow chains. Luckily, at the exit, there was a wonderful hotel and Taco Bell. We were saved!!

Bean was getting over the last bit of a cold and had slept most of the way, and I got him more medicine and he seemed fine by night. Luckily, I have the coolest Father in the world who kept checking the weather in the area and giving us lots of calls with updates. Turns out that the snow was going away and we would have a little window of time in the morning to
"escape" before another snowstorm came in.

*December 31, 6:35AM
On the road again and it's too dark to take any pictures of the mountains with snow on them. Oh yeah, and it's POURING rain like I've never seen before in my life with lots of wind, so it's really difficult to take pictures.

We are almost to the Oregon border when we notice a car stopped in the fast lane and one on the side of the road. I slow down to see two huge boulders in the road!! Oh my goodness!! It looks like they had just fallen off the side of the mountain, and one car either was hit with one, or by the other car. There was a truck driver and another car helping out, so I didn't stop. There was a lot of confusion already and everyone looked okay, so I didn't feel too bad not stopping.

*December 31, 8:24AM
I pull over to get gas, only to find that there's someone outside of my car ready to pump. I've never been to a gas station where this has happened!! I felt like I was in 1950 or something. "Fill er up, sonny!!" Hahahahahah!!

*December 31, 8:28AM
Okay, I was freaking out so much for the guy pumping my gas that I forgot to hit up the bathroom. We pull over at the next rest stop and notice they have free coffee at these things in Oregon!! They also had other treats, and I really wanted to take a picture of it (since there was this huge sign stating, "FREE COFFEE") but again...really hard with pouring rain and wind. Oregon is cooler than I thought.

*December 31, 11:50AM
Still driving through Oregon and Bean and I decided to stop at Wendy's in Eugene. We walk in to see 90% of
the people there wearing green and yellow. I guess Oregon was playing basketball later on, but dang, everyone was sporting some sort of Oregon gear!! Even two young girls had their hair painted green. I felt really out of place since I had blue on (go bears!!) and because I kept giggling at everyone.

*December 31, 1:20PM
Did you know Safeway sells gas?? Well, it totally does, and it was the cheapest gas on the way up. I believe it was $1.96/gallon. And I thought I had a deal when I found it for $2.01 in Fremont before I left!! (By the way, I'm not looking forward to the conversions with Canadian dollars and litres up at the gas stations up here. I'm hoping Bean will be able to help out and let me know when it's expensive!!)

*December 31, afternoon
We're pretty much just driving through rain and rain and rain and I start to hate Oregon drivers for cutting me off, especially when it's so wet outside. I want to punch them.

*December 31, afternoon
We are now in Washington, and it looks exactly like what I had seen in pictures. Oregon was wet, wet, and wet, and Washington is wet with really big trees. Their drivers just like to get in front of you and make you slam on your brakes. I'm starting to miss California drivers.

*December 31, 5:30PM
Bean and I are in Seattle and looking for a Starbucks. I had gathered a bunch of change before I left and put it on a Starbucks card. I remembered I had it and figured I could get a snack there and recharge for the last leg of the trip!! It was hard to see anything outside since we weren't downtown and it was pretty dark. Canada, here we come!!

*December 31 8:30-10PM
Canadian border!! I was so excited and nervous and ready to get to Vancouver so I could unload my car and sleep for a while!! Bean and I told the guy at the window our story, and we were told to go inside to Immigration. We talked to them for a while and they guy there told me that I would not be allowed into Canada. I was told by a lawyer that I could enter Canada under a "visitor" status and find a job from that point. So that's what I told immigration. I guess there were two red flags when I was up there that would have been nice to know ahead of time. I was told that I would have to have proof of residence in California, proof of funds, and proof of past employment. Also, since I had so much stuff in my car, it looked like I was moving up there, and I'm not allowed to do that as a "visitor." The guy says if I get those papers faxed up, I can come back up. I'm trying to not freak out, and just sort of nod my head at everything he says.

Bean and I turn back around to the U.S. only to have another problem. Since Bean is Canadian, they want to know why he's coming back again. We had to go to inside to U.S. Immigration to tell them our story. Luckily, we had a really understanding guy who said it wasn't a problem. He gave both of us some forms letting us know what type of documents to bring in for my return up to Canada. He also told me that I would really have to prove my point next time because if I didn't get in next time, I could be physically removed from Canada, taken (next door, basically) to the U.S. and be banned for 5 years. I started crying at this point, just from being tired, frustrated, and a bit scared. The guy felt awful, and reminded me that everything was okay, and I should cry since it was so close to New Year's.

*December, 31, 10:30PM
We got the clear to go back to the U.S. and drove to Bellingham for the night. Luckily, by the time we were checked in and found food and got cleaned up, we hadn't missed midnight. I had to call my parents to let them know that I was denied up at the border, and I would need their help faxing some things down the next morning.

*January 1, 9:02AM
After several calls to my parents, who are both incredible people for helping me out so very much, it sounded like we could get all the items I needed. My Mom's friend's Aunt lives up in Bellingham (random!!) and has a three story house. She said she was more than willing to store some items for me so it didn't look like I was "moving" up to Canada, just "visiting."

*January 1, 3:03PM
Bean and I were again on our way with all the documents and had unpacked some items, and totally ready to get to the border. Luckily, the drive was quick, and the wait was about 3 minutes instead of about 20 the night before. We were asked to go into immigration again so I could show my proof of everything, basically. It was a long process with a lot of questions, but I got in!! The guy working was really nice and even had to run a background check. Woohoo!! I get to stay here for 3 months as a "visitor" and in that time, I'll be looking for a job and a work permit.

*January 1, 6:00PM
We finally pull up to the house, get slightly unpacked, call our parents, and order some yummy Chinese food. Mmmmmmm!! I can't believe I'm actually here...after all the drama...and I can't wait to sleep!! One weird thing I noticed while driving from the border to Vancouver, there are little to no reflectors on the roads and sometimes no painted lines. That was sure fun in the dark and rain in a new country!! I'm trying to focus on how many kilometers/hour I'm driving instead of miles, and all of a sudden, I'm not sure what lane I'm in. Hahahahahah!!

Well, if you've made it to this point, you get a gold star!! Horray for finally being in Canada!! :)