Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Day 1 photos: Across the border and through New York to Pennsylvania

OK, I seem to have a good connection tonight.  I'm currently in Dandridge, Tennessee.  I finished Interstate 81 this afternoon, so tomorrow start the long trek west on Interstate 40.

But for tonight, here are my photos from Tuesday, day 1 of the trip.  This is crossing the bridge at the Thousand Islands, from Ontario into New York state:


This is at the first rest stop- looks like Canadians are welcome, but they gave this one a hard time at the border!  Pulled me inside for a secondary interview.  Having no fixed address looks very suspicious at the border, but even though he didn't like any of my answers to his questions (apparently, following all the rules counted against me, it was a little surreal), he did let me in in the end when I showed him my bank balances and that I had enough money to support myself there without working.  I didn't conceal the fact that I had looked into working there before (which also counted against me, despite the fact that the process I had followed is mandated by the American federal government!  I think someone needs to tell the border guards about the NAFTA agreement, and that certain categories of workers, including nurses, are allowed to seek work in each others countries.)


I think New York has the nicest rest stops:


The photo below is taken at a different rest stop, I took one here last year too:


Here's a random snap from the road, I think I'm in Pennsylvania here:


That's all for day one, I stopped for the night at Wilkes Barre, south of Scranton.

2 comments:

  1. The rest stop looks amazing!

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  2. The border crossing experience is always interesting, and always changes depending on who interviews you. I'm not surprised you got delayed, your situation is definitely "different". You probably don't come across as a threatening individual, but they do have to take some time to figure out exactly what you're up to. In the end, you gave them what they needed (or at least wanted) and convinced them. Welcome to Post 9-11 America!

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