Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 18:30:39 -0800
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Re: Snow tires, Police, getting stopped, etc.
In-Reply-To: <199811162314.PAA27563@elroy.corp.Adobe.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
What??? The RCMP were not nice to you? What happened? I find they are
usually the nicer of the two evils in Canada. Town police in Canada are
REAL butts from my previous experiences ( mostly teenage experiences ). If
I got in trouble with the RCMP, it was because I deserved it ( speeding
mostly ).
In 1996 I bought an Audi 90 Sport Quattro at the beginning of my vacation
in July. There was a problem with the front wheel bearing so the dealer
was going to replace it for me. Late the next day I went from Abotsford to
the Sumas boarder crossing in to Washington State. Now, at this time I had
not shaven in about 4 days, I had dirty jeans, a smelly t-shirt and a
Mexican oull-over poncho on. I also have had ear ring and a 30cm long pony
tail ( read scruff! ). As I pulled up to the American boarder guard he
asked me a few quetions. He then put a piece of paper in an envelope and
sealed it and told me to drive over parking spot number 3 and give it to
the fellow waiting there... I was instructed to get out of the car and give
them the keys. Two guy with big flashlights and a dog went over every inch
of the interior of my car. They asked me if they could open the truck, so
I opened it. In the trunk there was a Canadian miliray backpack with my
cloaths and camping gear in it. I was asked where I got it, what was in
it, can they search it etc etc. Then they noticed that there was a "false"
wall in my trunk. The back of the trunk was not in the same place as the
back seat. I explained to them that a Quattro has the gas tank in the
trunk to make room for the rear differential. Well... this was not good so
out came the lining of my trunk and they searched.. then they searched the
engine bay and under the car. Then I got asked all sorts of questions.
Who am I, where do I live, where do I work, why am I going to the USA, how
much do I make, have I ever used drugs, have I ever smoked pot ( uh.. same
question guys ), did I ever vote for a communist party, then they started
asking me computer questions ( I suppose to see if I really did work for a
computer store ) after about 15 minutes of bullshit I was allowed to go.
No latex gloves - thank God! I went from there to Montana to see how good
the Quattro did at top speed. On the way back to Canada (didn't shave yet,
although I did change me cloths) I was stopped by the Canadian boarder
gards at the Alberta boarder crossing. I had two questions: What was the
trip to the USA for. My answer - revv revv!! Did I have fun - revv revv!!
The last comment was that the speed limit in Alberta was only 100km/h and
she wished me a nice day...
So... all in all, a pretty rude welcome to the paranoid USA... I hope this
wasn't the average reception us Canadians get! RCMP... I'll take them ANY
day!
At 15:15 11/16/98 -0800, Malcolm Holser wrote:
>So while lots of folks are debating various police agencies, I would like to
>say that _all_ of my dealings with the CHP have been pleasant. I know that
>some are not, but I think that the CHP is the largest police force in the
>US, and might be one of the best in the world. I _have_ been roughly
>treated by the RCMP, so the mounties don't get my vote.
>
>Malcolm H.
>
>
-- David Marshall --
-- 78 1.8L VW Rabbit, 80 2.0L VW Caddy, 87 Audi 5KSQ --
-- 85 VW Cabriolet, 88 2.0L VW Syncro 16" Double Cab --
-- Volkswagen Homepage http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Volkswagen/Audi Parts http://parts.volkswagen.org --
-- mailto:david@volkswagen.org - Quesnel, BC, Canada --
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