I recently discovered you can cross the border into the U.S. without passports and with booze and fruit in the car.

But to avoid this, don乌鸦传媒檛 shut off your GPS if you haven乌鸦传媒檛 driven through Osoyoos in 30 years.

My wife and I were on our way back to the Island from the Okanagan and I wanted to take Highway 3 instead of the Coquihalla. We saw the sign in Osoyoos to go east to Castlegar, but nothing pointing west, so I kept driving straight. A short time later we encountered a sign saying we乌鸦传媒檙e entering the U.S. and we didn乌鸦传媒檛 see a U-turn. I said, 乌鸦传媒淣o big deal. The guys at the border will help us out when we tell them what happened.乌鸦传媒�

Moments later, a U.S. customs agent recites a script of questions he seemed incapable of deviating from.

乌鸦传媒凄别蝉迟颈苍补迟颈辞苍?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淎ctually we乌鸦传媒檙e trying to turn around back into Canada, we missed our turn to Vancouver.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淧补蝉蝉辫辞谤迟蝉?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淣o, we weren乌鸦传媒檛 intending to cross the border.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒泪顿?乌鸦传媒�

I hand over our driver乌鸦传媒檚 licences.

乌鸦传媒淰补肠肠颈苍补迟颈辞苍蝉?乌鸦传媒�

I hand him our little green cards with the QR codes.

乌鸦传媒淒o you have any liquor in the car?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淵es. We乌鸦传媒檙e not supposed to be here.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淔谤耻颈迟?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒渊别蝉.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淎ny cannabis, weapons in the car?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淣辞.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淩oll down your back window for me.乌鸦传媒� (Glances inside. Sees cooler, but apparently no cannabis or weapons.)

乌鸦传媒淒id you stop at the duty-free store?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淲hat? No. We乌鸦传媒檙e not supposed to be here.乌鸦传媒�

The Osoyoos border crossing that day 乌鸦传媒� maybe most days 乌鸦传媒� seemed devoid of human life except for us and border security people, at least three of whom jumped on their computers to do background checks on us. Minutes later, Agent Strange, according to his name patch, asks, 乌鸦传媒淪o, when was the last time you intentionally crossed the border?乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒�2019.乌鸦传媒�

It was the answer he was looking for, I guess, because he handed back our licences and said, 乌鸦传媒淗ey, Chris, you were born in Los Angeles and you乌鸦传媒檙e all vaccinated. You know you乌鸦传媒檙e welcome to come and go anytime, right?乌鸦传媒�

Strange said pre-pandemic they乌鸦传媒檇 get at least one car an hour that missed the turn and ended up at the border. We said, there乌鸦传媒檚 no sign. We乌鸦传媒檇 have to talk to the Canadians about that, he said, and handed us a yellow slip to give to the CBSA people next door 乌鸦传媒� the Canadian and U.S. border services in Osoyoos share the same building with a wall between them 乌鸦传媒� and said to get back into Canada we乌鸦传媒檒l likely have to set up the ArriveCan app and that乌鸦传媒檒l probably be more hassle than dealing with him.

We made a U-turn and explained our situation to a CBSA agent who asked us much the same questions his American counterpart had, handed us instructions on how to set up the ArriveCan app, had us pull into a parking stall to set up the app, and told us to go inside the office if we need help. About 90 seconds later, we went inside for help.

I did make a comment to a young CBSA officer filling out forms to get us back into Canada that this could be an episode on the Border Security TV series. He kind of grimaced and said, 乌鸦传媒淭his just isn乌鸦传媒檛 that interesting.乌鸦传媒�

(Well, maybe it乌鸦传媒檚 just part of the background noise to you, buddy, but you乌鸦传媒檙e not standing on this side of the counter.)

Nobody confiscated our liquor or fruit and we arrived at Tsawwassen in time for our ferry to Duke Point.

Two days later my wife received a call from 乌鸦传媒楾oll Free Serv.乌鸦传媒� Because we乌鸦传媒檇 visited the U.S., she乌鸦传媒檇 been selected for random COVID testing.

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