Booking reservations in Canada's National Parks proved to be
a bit tricky for us, since we'd planned on arriving on the Canada Day
weekend. (For you Americans, Canada Day,
July 1, is much like our Fourth of July.)
We didn't make our reservations far enough in advance -- just because we
were too busy seeing and doing and planning for more immediate stays. Anyway, when we finally got around to trying
to make the reservation we found Sunday was all sold out, but we could arrive
on Monday, July 1, Canada Day.
Because of the uncertainty of how long the border crossing
would take, plus the fact that we wanted to restock our fresh produce before
heading to Banff, it was our plan to stop about halfway between Glacier
National Park and Banff National Park.
But the few campgrounds we had called at the halfway point were booked,
again because of the holiday, so we decided to stay at the Walmart in
Cranbrook, BC. Our internet resources had informed us that
RVer's were welcome to park overnight at the Cranbrook Walmart, but that turned
out not to be the case. At the service
desk they told us we couldn't stay because of
construction across the parking lot.
We called a campground about 7
miles up the road, found they didn't take reservations so they had plenty of
space, and so that became our new plan.
But just as we were about to head from out the Walmart, a man in a big white truck pulled up. I thought he was a security guy asking us
to leave. It turns out he's a retiree
thinking about buying a motorhome and is interested in our brand of motorhome. We chatted with him for about 15
minutes. He mentioned that the Walmart
doesn't allow overnighters because people were camping in the parking
lot -- using lawn chairs and having campfires!
He suggested we try across the road at Canada's Real Superstore.
By this time it was very hot outside and also inside the rig. We walked across the parking lot to the Superstore and noticed there were at
least 3 RV's in the lot. Inside, the AC
felt great. Jim asked at the desk, and
somehow the service persons got the impression that we wanted to camp rather
than park, and there is a difference. A
campground in town was recommended. They
told us that Walmart didn't allow people to stay because people had started
dumping sewage in their parking lot. The
more we talked, it came out that people were allowed to park for one
night. When we explained that was all we
wanted to do and that we'd be out in the morning, the two women at the desk said it was fine.
So, Canada's Real Superstore was our home for the night.
We'd been advised about what you're allowed to bring into
Canada and we'd heard stories about some people who had their RVs searched at
the border crossing. We were told about
produce being confiscated, and on advice we received, we used up the fresh
produce we had and planned on replenishing our supplies after we entered
Canada. For days we worried about having
things in our home strewn about during a search -- not that we had anything to
hide -- and how much time the border crossing would take.
In the end, we showed our passports, supplied the license
number of the car we were towing, stated where we were going, the border agent
smiled, was friendly and wished us a good trip, and we were across the border
into Canada in less than five minutes.
All our worries about searches and confiscations were for naught. We looked at each other in surprise and asked
"That's it???"
