That "truck crossing" from B.C. back into Washington State mentioned a few posts back is, indeed, usually a faster alternative. Sticking with the main road south from Vancouver can mean a wait of up to two hours on Sunday afternoons. And the way the road is laid out, once you see the magnitude of the backup, there's no way out of it.

It's better to take the White Rock exit off the highway two or three miles before you hit the border; drive one mile east; and turn right/south again. There's a duty-free at the "truck crossing" but the lines are always shorter and after you pass through into the US you merge right onto I-5.

Interesting note about Immigration and kids. When my son was two and my wife and I were in Victoria waiting to board a car ferry back to Washington, roaming INS agents were doing pre-passage car-to-car inspections -- and a couple of tough-looking men WOULD NOT LET GO until they could make my toddler confirm that, yes, these were his real mommy and daddy. Odd, because we were obviously the white-bread Griswolds, piloting a toy-strewn, tail-dragging Ford Taurus.

Last year, my son was five and I drove up to Vancouver with him without his mom to meet some friends off a cruise ship, and the Canadian border agent glanced inside the car, said, "That your son?" and waved us through instantly. No permission letter from Mom requested (and good thing too, 'cos none was on board).

I sometimes wonder if the seeming arbitrariness of these checks really is backed by some richly reasoned profiling system... or if it's just agents having bad days.

I've not had problems at any immigration point in years and years and years, and I'm not particularly well-dressed (usually barely neat enough) or particularly well-connected.

Here's the most recent three trips to Canada.

1. Flying in to Montreal. Passport gets inspected. Envious sigh. Waved through.

2. Auto with friend on 87 through Mooers.
"Do you have any drugs or nuclear weapons?" "No." "OK."

3. Flying in to Vancouver. I let my (black) friend go before me. There's a ruckus. She doesn't have a passport. I come up. Guy looks at my passport. Says, "how long have you known each other?" "Uh, 28, no, 29 years." "Will you vouch for her?" "Yes." "OK."

Really.......

When you say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"- I've never heard it put that way before.

I should get out of the igloo more often.

The gun device looks to be good for killing seals, do you think Essxjay?

Essxjay?

Will you speak such wisdom again through the magic box?

Essxjay?

Don't taunt him. Please don't!

He'll just come back with more knee-jerk pro-gun propaganda.

As someone who grew up in Washington DC, I can very much assure you that guns kill people. Many times a day in fact.