Thanks for the suggestions. I’m back in Canada for a couple of days and first checked out the US AT & T website using a postal (zip) code for DRO:

http://www.attws.com/buy/consumer/zi...ter_body.jhtml

“AT&T Wireless services does not provide coverage in your area. We are aggressively expanding into new areas throughout the country, so please be sure to check back in the future. Please check your zip code for accuracy and re-enter if necessary.”

So the person down there who told me that people with US AT & T plans had service in that area is probably not accurate.

I then checked the Rogers site again:

http://www.shoprogers.com/store/wire...=Fraser+Valley &RegionCd=100&flow=GSM

“ Our ongoing negotiations with certain U.S. independent carriers have been unsuccessful in securing reasonable roaming rates. Therefore, to allow us to continue to provide you with great roaming coverage at today’s low rates we must exclude certain areas. View the areas that are excluded. ”

“The following roaming areas are excluded from your plan.”

The catch is that there are no places on the "excluded" list in Colorado or New Mexico. However, that wouldn’t be the first time a company website isn’t up to date. And lumping in Verizon with “certain independent carriers” is a little like calling AC a “regional airline.”

I will pursue all the various suggestions and check out Bell Canada, as well as a cheap US Cell plan. I am also intrigued by your idea, Andrew Webber:

“When I re-worked my phone plans a while back, I dropped vmail from my (Rogers) phone. I've got my Rogers phone set to redirect to my home line if busy or not answered. On my home line I have Bell Canada's vmail plan that includes page-when-there's-a-message, which I've set to page at my cell phone.

So if I'm out of my local calling area, a call to my cell phone rolls over to my home phone, which takes a message and then calls my cell phone to tell me.”

I myself have Telus for local lines at two different residences and an independent long distance provider which has worked well for me with calls at about 8 cents a minute 24/7 almost anywhere in the world, so I don’t know if I could set this up.

Again, a final reminder for anybody else as technologically challenged as I am – just because your cell screen reads “Partner” in the US does not mean you will receive incoming calls.

Thanks again to all,
Fredd