~~~Crossing the Canadian Border with Ease~~~

Knowing that a lot of my RVing friends will be heading to Canada & Alaska this summer I wanted to help them NOT go through what we did... "STRESS"



Last year we took off heading for the Alaskan territory and knowing we had to cross over the Canadian border in our motorhome right away started giving us all a great deal of stress & worry... We looked up many sites on the internet checking out what we could and could not take over the border. Many of them had different do's & don'ts. Finally after much research, help from my Canadian friends & actually contacting the customs border here is what we came up with...

We crossed the border 4 times and never had any problems!

The most important things to remember are:

 When you pull up to the border patrol turn off your engine
 Remove your sunglasses
 Only answer the questions they ask…
 Do NOT offer any additional information .... repeat this advice again
 I made an inventory list of all the food I had in the coach but they never asked for it. (Thanks Sue for this advice)
 Have all shot records updated & current for your pets
 Passports up to date, signed and ready to hand to them
 Insurance card from your insurance company for Canada travel (yellow card) Ask your agent about it.
 They will ask where you worked and what you did

Weapons:

 We carry a hand gun with us... we pretty much already knew this was a big no no so we left it with our daughter in their gun safe. You can take rifles with some kind of permit but we were not hunting so this didn't apply to us.
 We also had a BB gun which if under a certain pressure could go. I think over 500 pounds of pressure but not sure... Ours was too strong so we gave it away to a lady in the last RV Park that we stayed in before entering Canada.

Liquor:

This was my greatest worry.... LOL LOL
 I have several bottles in a cabinet and just knew they were going to confiscate them... but guess what. If it is for personal consumption you have no worries... make sure they are open and at least 1 drink out of them. Now I did have a few new ones but I broke the seal I just told them they were all for personal use.
 Beer… I believe is 24 bottles or cans… we don’t drink beer so it didn’t apply to us.

Food:

 You can NOT take any food over the border with a pit in it….Period!
 I had a freezer outside full of meat … they never asked but from what I understood was if it was for personal use it was ok to have
 The fridge was stocked with milk, eggs, butter, everyday foods, some fresh veggies, potatoes and onions… I never offered info and only answered their questions.
 Pet food is ok... the dry food we kept the bag just in case they asked what brand it was but they didn't... we also took canned food.

NOTE: remember I did have a full inventory list of all the food & liquor in the coach in case they wanted more detail

Telephone: Just for your info ...

 Turn off your AT&T... they do not have a great Canada coverage and it cost to much to add it. BUT with Verizon for $20 dollars you can add Canada coverage to your plan & then cancel it when you come back out!

Don’t be afraid… This is what worked for us. Neither our friends nor us were ever searched but another friend kidded around about how much beer he had and they search his rig… Hench do not offer info!!! Because they'll tear it apart BUT you have to put everything back… & they do not allow you in the coach when they are searching it which I wouldn't like….

I sure hope this might have helped someone... and I hope I didn't miss something! Just contact me if you have questions

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

~~~ Aliens vs. Predator ~~~

Now I am not a fan of the movie Alien vs. the Predator but I am a fan of talent...
Yesterday we went to get some fluorescent blubs for Tassie and at the company that sells them they had life-size (monster size) sculptures of Aliens vs. Predator... made entirely of motorcycle parts by a Japanese artist (unknown). They stood at least 8 to 9 feet tall... It was there when they bought the building and they decided to keep them... DUH!!! How cool is that!!!

Scary~~~ Right?

It is always amazing to me the talent that is in our world!!!

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

~~~Happy Valentine's Day~~~

Wishing all my Bloggin' Friends

a Very Happy Valentines Day!

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day,is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted.

It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

May your Valentines Day be very special!!!

~~~ Weather Forecast Ahead ~~~

Just heard on the news that the state of Florida could be sunned-in for the next several days. Residents have been urged to hunker down at your nearest beach and/or tiki bar for further instructions. Use extreme caution when braving this blizzard of sunshine, preferably SPF30. We are asking our friends and relatives to the north to please keep us in their thoughts as we deal with 2 feet buried in the sand.

Pier & Marina in St. Pete

Clearwater Beach ~~~ Campsite at Fort Desoto

Fort Desoto Beach

Sunset at Fort Desoto Beach ~~~ Skyway Bridge Sunrise

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

~~~ A Day with Salvadore Dali ~~~

Yesterday I met up with my sister-in-law, Kathy and our friend Helen early in the morning… Our day was planned to go to the Salvador Dali Museum and have lunch at Bella Brava Italian Restaurant. I hadn’t been down to the St. Pete locations for a couple of years because we were traveling. What a surprise for me when I saw the museum and new Mahaffey Theater next door. They were gorgeous!

Salvador Dali was a monumental pioneer of twentieth-century art and this is perhaps the best collection of his work in the world. His art has so many hidden objects in them. He was definitely a little strange but his work is phenomenal.

Located on the scenic waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg, this 68,000-square-foot structure showcases exhibits which include oils, watercolors, sketches, sculptures and other works from a 2,140-piece permanent collection. The building stands more than 75 feet tall and is adorned by 1,062 unique, triangular glass panels. A 58-foot-high building with thick concrete walls protects the art. This unfinished concrete box is disrupted by a flowing triangulated glass “Enigma” (also the name of a 1929 Dali painting) that opens the museum to the bay and sky while forming an atrium roof that draws in natural daylight. The building protects this priceless art collection from hurricane-force winds and water. The fortress-like structure is designed to withstand the 165-mph wind loads of a Category 5 hurricane. The roof is 12-inch thick, solid concrete and the cast-in-place reinforced concrete walls are 18 inches thick. Located above the flood plane on the third floor, the art is protected from a 30-foot-high hurricane storm surge. Storm doors shield the vault and galleries. Specially developed for this project, the triangulated glass panels are one-and-a-half inches thick, insulated and laminated, and were tested to resist the 135 mph winds, driven rain and missile impacts of a Category 3 hurricane. In the exhibition galleries on the third floor, seven unique suspended black plaster “light cannons” funnel daylight onto the largest of the Dali masterworks

A soaring, concrete spiral staircase goes from the ground-level entrance up to the third-floor galleries & 75-foot-high glass atrium. The spiral flows from its base with light cable-stayed stainless steel guardrails. The helical stairway design is an allusion to Dali’s fascination with spiral forms in nature and the double helix of DNA.

This very modern museum houses the world's most comprehensive and most valuable ($125 million dollars) collection of works by the renowned Spanish surrealist and for art lovers is reason enough to visit downtown St. Petersburg. Housing six of the artist's masterworks, it is the highest-ranked museum in the entire South. It includes oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and more than 1,000 graphics, plus posters, photos, sculptures, and a 5,000-volume library on Dali and surrealism.

After wandering around the museum for about 3 hours we were off to lunch at Bella Bravas. Another place I hadn’t been to and what a pleasant surprise… Great atmosphere, friendly service and fantastic food… I had the Ala Norma Panini (roasted eggplant, red peppers, basil, goat cheese, ricotta and a sundried tomato pesto) with homemade potato chips and a Bella Brava Wedge (creamy gorgonzola dressing, Apple wood smoked bacon, red onion, hardboiled egg, and crumbled gorgonzola).

You can never have enough cheese!!! ☺

GREAT day, GREAT food & GREAT fun with friends!

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!

♥♥♥ Anniversary Dinner at Buca Di Beppos ♥♥♥

Today I celebrated being with my Best Friend and the man who makes my life so happy & complete… for 42 years… Yes all the things we promised in our vows have happened… Good times, bad times, sickness & in health but we managed to stick out through thick & thin… The time is going by so fast.

We have two beautiful daughters who are both nurses and married to wonderful men who love them so much… I have 6 grandchildren. Two beautiful & special granddaughters, Twin grandsons who are 5 and full of energy and excitement, and 2 Step grandsons who are perfect little gentlemen (almost). We are so proud of the way they have all turned out and enjoy being with them when we are not on the road.

We started out with my honey making me a delicious breakfast… and then in the late afternoon we went to one of our favorite Italian Restaurants Bucca de Peppo’s in Brandon, Fl. The food was simply to die for and I am sure it did some clogging of the arteries but it was oh so good!

When we arrived they took us on a tour of the entire restaurant including the kitchen

a wine cellar on the ceiling... how cool is that

Each room was themed...they even had Frank Sinatra room

the food was delish... we had warm bread with a salad

The dinner we had was Quattro al Forno
Four of our favorite baked pastas, Cheese Manicotti, Chicken Cannelloni, Baked Ravioli and Stuffed Shells. Then the waitress surprised us with a dessert of a yummy walnut brownie with ice cream & whip cream on it. Served by candlelight!

What a fantastic day and we are so fortunate to be living the life we always dreamed of Fulltiming in our 40 foot motorhome Tassie… We have traveled to all 50 states and seen a lot but there is still so much more to see…

Have Fun, Travel Safe & Stay Healthy!!!