A few years ago, I undertook an epic 36 hour roadtrip through 68 counties, 3 states, 2 provinces and 2 countries
As part of the trip, I crossed the US-Canada border 4 times (twice into Canada, and twice back into the United States). I thought I’d give a report on each of the border crossing stations, and then I want to hear from you about some of your craziest border crossing stories
Pembina border crossing (North Dakota / Manitoba)
After heading northwest out of Minneapolis, we eventually used the Pembina border crossing on I-29 in the northeast corner of North Dakota. This one was by far our busiest of the 4.
I’d say that we waited around 15 minutes before first being inspected by a US Customs agent – he passed us along with no more than some cursory questions about what we had in our car.
Then we got to the Canadian border patrol officer. We tried to explain to him what we were doing, but to most people the concept of driving around for no real reason (other than seeing new places) is not a “normal’ activity. We were there for maybe 5-10 minutes before he waved us along.
When we told him that we were just driving through Manitoba before re-crossing the border, he DID warn us that Manitoba was “not very interesting”. I left my reply unsaid (“Yeah well North Dakota isn’t very interesting EITHER!”)
Warroad border crossing (Minnesota / Manitoba)
After going through the imaginatively named Manitoban counties of “District No. 3”, “District No. 2”, and “District No. 1”, we made our way south to cross back into Minnesota at the Warroad border crossing.
It was definitely harder to get back to the United States, even though we both had US passports and are both US Citizens. The border patrol agent seemed very interested in the fact that we were from 2 different places (Ohio and Oregon), yet crossing the border in a rental car rented in a totally different place. Even Minneapolis is quite a bit far from Canada, and I GUESS I can see why it might appear strange that 2 people from different parts of the country would want to drive randomly around northern Minnesota… 🙂
I thought this wouldn’t have been so bad, since we had definitive plans to stay at the Super 8 in Warroad, just across the border. The agent also asked my friend where and when he was born (I guess that’s a common tactic? Guess it can make for some interesting border crossing stories
(SEE ALSO: A tale of Two Super 8s: True Budget Traveling)
Rainy River border crossing (Minnesota / Ontario)
The next morning, an hour or so east of Warroad, we crossed back into Canada (this time into Ontario) at the Rainy River border crossing.
This was the easiest of the 4 border crossings. We told the Canadian border patrol agent that we were planning to just go into Ontario, take a picture of the sign (you can even see the Ontario sign in the picture above!), and then turn around. She asked a few other brief questions and then waved us on.
Baudette border crossing (Minnesota / Ontario)
5 minutes later, we turned around and made our way back to the United States, at the Baudette border crossing in Baudette, Minnesota. This was our most difficult crossing. It was about 7:30 a.m. and there was no line, so maybe the officers were bored and that’s why they wanted to take more time with us? 😀
They asked the same questions about where we were from, what we do, how we knew each other, who’s car it was, etc. This agent was confused when my friend, who has elite status with National, didn’t really have a rental agreement, just a door hanger
(SEE ALSO: Getting top rental car status (for free!))
We explained what we were doing, and he even took the clipboard that had our route with all our planned counties. They sent us ahead to park in the “detained” section.
It was frustrating because I wanted to yell “WE WERE JUST HERE 5 MINUTES AGO!?!?!?!!?!” 😀
Craziest border crossing stories
I shared this on the Extra Miler Club Facebook group that I belong to, asking about what other county collectors do at border crossings, and how they explain our weird little “hobby”. I did get a few great border crossing stories, one of which I am sharing here (with permission)
My favorite border crossing involved being punched (hard) by my wife in front of a Canadian border crossing agent. I chose to cross at Ft Erie/Peace Bridge (instead of my usual choice at Lewiston/Queenston) and when we got to the Canadian entrance booth both wife & I had our driver’s licenses but discovered we neglected to bring any documentation for the kids.
We were referred to the customs office where a stern female border control agent was less than amused with my cavalier attitude and then took offense at my final comment “look we’re just crossing into Canada for a wedding, it’s nothing major, it’s just another state!” At which point my wife is fed up with me and tries to grab my spine through my stomach, telling me to shut it and she’ll deal with it. Border agent looks at wife with appreciation, smiles, and asks how she can help us on our way.My second favorite border crossing was getting from ON back into NY on the same trip referenced above. We crossed at I-81 / Thousand Islands Bridge about 13 hours after the Buffalo fiasco (which resulted in our undocumented (but notated in the crossing logs) kids getting into Canada with us) at around 2am. At the US booth the US agent had all kinds of questions after I revealed that the kids had no paperwork (wife and kids are deep asleep at this point) and I could get wife’s license as it was under her legs and she was asleep… the clinching argument, after I recounted the whole Buffalo crossing incident, was “look, this has been a rough day – please just let us back into our country” (or maybe it was that the guy was having too hard a time not laughing his head off and so finally waved us through)
Now it’s your turn! I know a group of travelers like my readers has got to have some great border crossing stories – so let’s hear ’em! I want to hear your best, wildest, most outlandish border crossing stories in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
On a recent trip to Italy our award flight home back to the US had us going through London Heathrow where we’d would be able to spend time with friends in London. We lived in London for a few years and this gave us a chance to hang out and visit. We get to the passport control area in T5 and it’s a crazy place full of people and 50% don’t know the drill. We went to the non-residence line and it was taking very long, one of the officials desk was located behind a wooden wall that most of the passengers couldn’t see, this made waiting longer. When we got to the line the officer asked us how long we would be staying, the usual questions. Then he asked if we had ever lived in England. This prompted many other questions, like who do you work for? Why are you back here? Nearly 30 minutes of questions then we were escorted to a holding area inside the passport control area where everyone waiting to get through could see you. The only thing missing was bars or bright yellow tape to show we were being held for questioning. The officer told us he had some concerns about why we were back in England and had to check on a few things, to wait there and he’d be back shortly. That lasted nearly another 30 minutes. When he returned he told us that because we left England and not officially closed out our VISA the border control had to run a few background checks. All the while we have a driver/car waiting for us…..who eventually left…..and we owed the service 75GBP. It’s now 5:00pm and traffic will be a nightmare.
On a road trip to BC last summer, I wanted to go visit Point Roberts on my way home. I used my Global Entry card in the NEXUS lane, as I am allowed to do, but the CBP officer told me that I couldn’t. He said I could use it for the Mexican border, and asked if I thought this was Mexico. Snarky already! I explained that the Global Entry website said I could also enter from Canada as well. He then dropped it saying he wouldn’t give me a hard time about it, still implying that I couldn’t use the NEXUS lane. He then grilled me about why I was going to Point Roberts. I explained I was a US History teacher and wanted to visit the unique exclave, and that I am a geography buff and avid traveler and wanted to say that I have been there. He still couldn’t understand why I would go just to go, but then proceeded to give me tips on what to see there, while people continued to wait in line behind me. I crossed back into Canada about an hour later, explaining why I was in Point Roberts, and the CBSA officer said, “So you wanted to see the anomaly for yourself?” EXACTLY! He gave me back my passport and I was on my way. I had no issues entering the US again at the Peace Arch crossing, using the NEXUS lane with my Global Entry card.
Started the day in Vina Del Mar, Chile, wanted to end in Mendoza. Drove through the Andes pass and got to border around 4PM. The line to cross into Argentina was thousands of cars, and nobody was moving.
My high school Spanish as our guide, I learn that it is the end of a holiday break and everyone is heading home at the same time. We wait for 6 hours to cross, and get into Mendoza around midnight. We find the only hotel open and get a room. Famished, we find that McDonalds is still open. Glorious McDonald’s.
We wake up at 6AM the next morning and hit the road.
How was Mendoza? I don’t know, but they have good McDonald’s there.
I was going to share the same story. Took a bus from Viña del Mar, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina. Took 18 hours, with five hours waiting at the mountain pass and six hours at the border. No one on the bus seemed fazed was except me. I started flying from that point on.
Went to visit YUL (not Montreal, YUL) for 15 minutes. We are Canadians living in the U.S. on a visa, and my two youngest daughters needed entry stamps in their passports as their previous ones were about to expire (which is another very unfunny passport, visa, border crossing story). They were traveling on special, limited duration passports issued by the Canadian consulate in Miami. Getting into Canada was not a problem, even when we responded “15 minutes” when asked our length of stay, However, after turning directly around after entering the terminal, crossing back into the U.S. through the preclearance facility proved a rather lengthy process. For some reason, they weren’t very happy with our 15 minute visit and we were taken in the back for secondary screening, where we watched the only person working there finish with the person they were dealing with and go for lunch. Happily, they only took about 20 minutes for lunch, then met with us. I explained the situation and that all we needed was the entry stamp in their temporary passports and they were fine with letting us pass back into the U.S. And escorted us back out to the terminal. Except I still didn’t have the stamp in the passport! Had to ask them to take me back, then there was no one at the desk where they stamp passports, so they had to call that person back over, and then, I was free to return to the U.S. with my bright, shiny new stamps. Good thing I left three hours for all of this. Still had enough time for a Montreal smoked meat sandwich and a load of poutine before we boarded the plane to come home!
Please make a correction. Agents at Ports of Entry, are NOT “Border Patrol Agents”. They are CBP (Customs and Border Protection) agents.
While also part of DHS (Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol agents are the guys that actually PATROL the border, the imaginary line between the US and either Canada or Mexico.
BP Agents, of which I was one for 23 years have never worked at POE (Ports Of Entry) and hate the very idea, as you are stuck at one place rather than being able to move around.
I live in a border town. I used to coach hockey and used to attend the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate Saint John Flames hockey games almost every time there was a home game.
When I crossed the border into Canada, I was always asked where I was going, what my purpose for visiting Canada was, any alcohol, cigarettes…etc. If I was going to shop or dine I received the third degree treatment, sometimes getting pulled over for a thorough vehicle search.
But when my son was with me in full hockey regalia or I mentioned that I was heading over to Saint John to watch a hockey game I was waved through the crossing without so much as an I.D. check.
I guess the conclusion is that the Canadians take there hockey pretty seriously.
In the last decade when CDs were more popular (their about to stop selling them at Best Buy this year btw, end of an era!) my friend and I took a chartered bus from Portland to BC so that my friend could distribute some mixtapes he had made of his music. I’ll note we were the only dark skinned ones on the bus. When we got to the border everyone got off the bus so that CBP could ask the nature of their visit and so on. Well needless to say it was a seamless experience for everyone but us. They saw the 100 or so mixtapes in my friends bag and we explained our reason but they seemed unsure. They took us to a side room a questioned us individually, we both answered truthfully and without attitude and yet they exclaimed we still had to wait. They ended up taking out the mixtapes from my friends bag and opened the packaging of every one as if they believed we were trying to sneak something into Canada. This took so long that that charter bus had reloaded all the other passengers and decided to leave without us because of th hold up. We got put on some other charter bus heading to the same destination about 30 minutes after our original bus left without a single apology from CBP for opening and damaging my friends mixtapes. Fortunately we had a a good time in BC and everyone else we encountered was super nice so I still have love for Canada but from then on I decided I would only ever visit if I flew there. I also might add CBP can suck my d*ck cause it was pretty obvious we were being racially profiled even though we were entirely compliant and fourth right from the beginning.
Used to cross at the Peach Arch or Pacific Highway crossing between Washington and BC to attend Canucks games up in Vancouver. When going into Canada I would be asked where I got the tickets. When returning, I would be asked the score. Hockey is serious business in Canada!
This morning at the Toronto airport, trying to get through customs / immigration preclearance was a nightmare! I had a 7a flight so planned to arrive at 4:30, clear customs but 5 and be the recommended two hours early for my international flight (home to the US). Apparently the computer systems went down or something- they couldn’t process anyone. We stood in line for over an hour while the line grew and grew until the line was well outside the customs area/building. Eventually they were able to start processing people again but the earliest flights were certainly held up, and my 7a flight is now requiring anyone with checked baggage to re-check in before we board, which they’re saying is because of the issue at customs. I can’t tell you how many people in line were muttering “have they tried restarting the computers??!”
I dont even want to share my story crossing into Palestine/West Bank from Jordan as a US Citizen.
Late 80s, as product marketing manager, headed to Edmonton, AB, Canada, for an industry trade show in corrosion control. I was hosting a hospitality suite at the HQ hotel for clients and prospects. Had a bunch of sales brochures, technical literature, etc. Canadian CBP agent asked purpose of visit, and I simply said “business.” That earned me about a 45 minute interview with a Canadian Immigration Agent who proceeded to verify that I was not planning to live in Canada, not planning to set up a business in Canada, demanded to see my return air ticket etc. Detailed inspection of my bags, sales literature, etc. On future trips to our neighbor to the north on business trips, I said I was calling on customers — less than 5 minutes to clear Customs.
Another time on a leisure trip to Niagara Falls, ON, in 2003, I had walked across the border with family and friends, no problem. On the way back to the US, I stopped in a gift shop on the Canadian side and bought a small trinket (less than $10) , paid and took it with me as I walked toward US entry point. A Canadian agent chased after me because I was supposed to tell the store clerk that I was taking the item back to the US. It had to go thru the “duty free” room, where it then was returned to me on the US side.
And a third “Canada experience” was another entry at the Port Huron to Sarnia crossing. As I approached in my rental car, I could see a line of cars about a mile long. A US citizen ahead of us had perfectly legal (in Canada) hunting rifles in his vehicle, but had forgotten to note this to the Canadian agent, who of course spotted them. Canadian Customs was kind enough to pull this guy out of line to allow the rest of us to quickly transit. When I passed, this guy’s car had the fenders removed, car seats pulled out, etc.
Hey Dan,
This may be too much of an ancient relic for your post but I will forward it to you.
Back in 1970, in Vietnam, my buddy Dave and I were infantry officers on a one year tour assigned to the Vietnamese Airborne Division. At that time, if you agreed to a six month extension of your tour, you got 30 days free leave and flights to anywhere in the world.
Dave & I chose Pan Am Flight #1 to Frankfurt so we could tour Europe with stops on the way in Bangkok, Rangoon, & Delhi.
Here’s the report. “Yahoos in Europe”,
1970, leaving Venice, Italy. We thought it would be a good idea to visit nearby Yugoslavia (present day Slovenia) not knowing we needed a visa to get into the communist bloc country.
Dave & I drove our rental VW Bug to a remote mountain border crossing, not another car in sight for the entire hour we were there. The border guards were not sure what to do with us.
Do you speak Italian? No.
Do you speak French? No.
Do you speak German? No. Wait.
After they checked our car and luggage. “OK. We give you a 24 hour visa. Spend the night in Yugoslavia but travel to Austria tomorrow”.
I have quite a few “fun” ones with the border agents on both sides, as I travel back and forth from the U.S. to Canada and back again, but some of the more memorable ones are with the U.S. side, where all the agents are suited up in tactical gear like they are on patrol in Baghdad. Two years ago, the wife and I are coming back from Thanksgiving in Canada, chose to go through the Windsor/Detroit point of entry, as we would be flying out of Detroit back to Dallas. I work as a contractor with the EPA – a U.S. government agency, and when we get to the booth, the agent begins with the usual questions – where are we from, going to, reason for going to Canad, etc. Well, when he got to the part about where we were going, he claims he was “stationed in Texas, out near Marfa”. He asks if we know where that is (really?), we say yes, small talk about west Texas starts, then asks about the fertilizer plant that blew up in the town West, which is south of Dallas. I said yes, I had to gather documentation from all the EPA responding agents, etc, for legal/FOIA matters. He tries to indicate that the town of West is located in west Texas and not south of Dallas, told me I was wrong about it’s location – wife and I were both born and raised here – and was indicating that I might be asked to pull over for more questioning. Thankfully the wife grabbed her phone, brought up google maps, and showed him where West was. Well, flustered, he said that he meant “another town in west Texas named West”…uh, yea. I went to Texas Tech, I worked as an archaeologist for the State of Texas, I drove around west Texas for 7 fricking years, there is no town of West, Texas in west Texas. We got through after that one…and for a quick one, last year I was coming back after Thanksgiving again, but alone. Another Long story made short, the agent asks where I work, I tell him I’m a government contractor with the EPA, and he asks me “What’s the EPA?” I tell him the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and he says he’s never heard of it….great.
Regarding the agent who didn’t know what EPA is, for several years the FAA has been hiring people to become air traffic controllers not based on experience operating radar systems for the military, or flying aircraft with radar and other instrument controls, or having attended private air traffic control courses, but solely on “diversity compliance” Maybe this border agent also was hired for “diversity” purposes with no regard to knowing anything about the federal government.
Just remembered another one, actually 2 on the same trip, one with Canada Customs the other with US. In 2005, attended a wedding in Vancouver, BC. Wife had gone 3 days earlier because I couldn’t get time off. Plans included a cruise to Alaska departing from Vancouver, during which we celebrated a significant wedding anniversary. So, I had a gift necklace with a very small diamond in it. I declared same, and the Canadian agent asked to see the receipt. Fortunately I had it with me. Wonder if agent would have seized it if no receipt.
Then at the Vancouver cruise ship terminal, we go thru US Customs. Agent asks the usual questions about birthplace, current residence, why we had been in Canada, etc. Then he asks me, “Do you know the unusual description given to the purchase of the Alaska Territory from Russia?” Fortunately I had had excellent history teachers years before in public school, and I replied, “Seward’s Folly.” I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t known the answer.
In the 1970s I was hitchhiking from the United States to my brother’s house in Ottawa. I intended to cross over via bridge in Detroit. A ride dropped me off at the Detroit side, and I walked across. Long walk. At the Canadian border station they told me I could not hitchhike into Canada, and that I would have to walk back to the Detroit side and try to catch a ride. It’s a long bridge. I stepped out of the station to a sort of patio area that overlooked a sidewalk into Canada. It was about an 8-foot drop. I looked back into the station office and the officer had left the counter. Without really thinking about the consequences, I jumped down to the sidewalk and walked into Canada. Eventually I came upon a bus station. I figured they might be looking for me, so I purchased a bus ticket to Ottawa.
That is a pretty wild story!