Tags
A to Z Challenge (2016), blogging101, Family, Journaling, Memories & Reflections, Writing 101, Writing Prompts
It had been a wonderful vacation. We’d left Utah and driven through Lake Tahoe to visit my best friend all through junior and senior high school. From there it was a hop, skip, and a jump to San Francisco. We were only there a day so didn’t hit many touristy places except Ghirardelli Square and the Maritime Museum where I fell in love with the tall ship Balclutha.
We caught Highway 1 and drove along the coast meaning to stay on it all the way to Port Angeles, Washington where we had reservations on a ferry to Victoria, British Columbia. Unfortunately we didn’t realize how S-L-O-W Highway 1 would be with it’s two lanes! Somewhere near Portland, Oregon we got off and took the interstate up to Washington and made it just in time to catch the ferry the next morning.
Victoria was wonderful. We stayed at a quaint hotel outside the city, The Waddling Dog Inn. And yes, they really did have a waddling dog there. I believe it was a cocker spaniel at the time. We spent an entire day at the beautiful Butchart Gardens and the Royal British Museum. We debated having high tea at the Empress Hotel where the Queen stays when she visits, but decided we weren’t dressed for it!
Everything so far had been just great. Then it was time to catch the ferry back to Seattle. We were going to while away the day wending our way through the waters between the San Juan Islands. And that’s when the proverbial “crap” hit the fan. We were sitting in line waiting to board the ferry as the customs agents were coming through to check for passports and drivers license. Having anticipated this, I’d gotten Stef’s naturalization papers out of our safe deposit box. And right now that little green card we needed was hanging on the front of our fridge!
Stef was 16 at the time and had just gotten her license. But it was obvious to anyone that she was a different nationality than us. We explained that we had adopted her from India. That made the border guards suspicious despite the fact that she had her license. It was not uncommon, they explained, for folks to come to Canada to sneak illegals into the US. One of the men leaned through the window of the back seat and started firing off questions at her about her naturalization experience and ceremony. What did she study? Where was it held? TONS of questions. She looked like a deer in headlights!
In the front seat I was getting PANICKED, afraid that they weren’t going to let us take Stef back into the US. I tried to explain to the officer that she couldn’t answers his questions because she’d only been seven when we adopted her and hadn’t had to go through the naturalization process adults would. And the officer got p*ssed. Then Drollery was PANICKED, too. He grabbed my arm and told me to “shut up!” I think that’s the only time he’s ever said that to me!
They held us up for nearly an hour while someone inside their building was tracking down her documents on the internet. Fortunately for us, everything was in order, and we finally got the go ahead to board the ferry. But I have to say, there were a million nightmare scenarios that went through my head about them taking our daughter away from us. It gave me a healthy respect for what it must feel like for folks trying to immigrate to the US. Damn scary!!!
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The Blogging A to Z Challenge — P
Picture Credits:
Balclutha — www.trekearth.com
ferry from Port Angeles — www.olympicdiscoverytrail.com
Butchart Gardens — www.redbubble.com
Empress Hotel — www.excellent-romantic-vacations.com
Anna Tan (@natzers) said:
That’s scary!
Yeah, US Immigration is scary 😦 I had to go through it just for a work trip and they quizzed me about like a gazillion things about my company… and I’d just barely joined them at the time. lol.
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calensariel said:
Yes it is. We were VERY intimidated when we were arranging to get Stef here. The questions they put us through, having to have our fingerprints put on file, ALL the paper work. It was SO overwhelming. The organization we worked with (Holt International Children’s Services in Portland) was just wonderful. And they took care of all the paperwork stuff in Bangalore by courier. That was a relief. I can only imagine that it’s getting worse going in and out of the country for work. It’s certainly not going to get any better. Did you have to do all that when you applied for a passport?
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Fimnora Westcaw said:
Goodness Gracious Green! Apparently I haven’t gone anywhere since forever, because there was never a passport needed to go up into Canada – where we went many time back in those days. I don’t think I’d have gone anywhere else again if that happened to me.
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calensariel said:
Well the times they are a changin’, me bucko!
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Deb said:
That is definitely a panic moment. I think I would still be shaking! I’ve barely been out of Indiana..can’t imagine the anxiety of leaving the country!
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calensariel said:
Well since we’ve been talking about panic issues in our commenting, I can tell you our cruise to the UK is 17 months away and already I’m stressing BIG TIME!!!
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Deb said:
Exciting…but I would be a total wreck! I went to the beach last summer and I was seriously considering backing out, but nobody would let me. I’m glad I went, had a lovely time..but don’t see another trip in my future any time soon!
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calensariel said:
Didn’t make you brave enough to want to try going again?
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Colleen Keehne said:
When we (first hubby and inlaws) drove to Alaska via the Al-Can highway we had to stop at the border. They made us get out of the car and then they did a very though search of the car. Even tested the dust/dirt on the floor mats. But crossing from Canada into Alaska we just had to show our drivers license and birth certs. This was back in 1974.
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calensariel said:
We never had any problems getting into Canada, it was getting in to the US. You’d have thought they’d never heard of adoption before!!!
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randombitsoftrialanderror said:
So happy it all worked out!
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Elusive Trope said:
Gone are the days when I lived in the Pacific Northwest and a trip to Canada only required a driver’s license.
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drkottaway said:
Scarey… I took my niece and kids to Canada once. Coming back, the US Customs agent said, “How do I know you can travel with your niece?” I said, “Here is a notarized signed letter from her father, another from her mother, her passport, and a notarized signed letter from my kids’ father and their passports.” He grinned and said, “Prepared, are we?” Oh, yes, very.
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calensariel said:
You don’t really think about what could happen until you’re in a situation like that. What a mess it would have been had you been forbidden to bring your niece back into the country!!! 😮
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