Here is the last part, the “rest of the story” were I left off in Fernie.
MY heart pounded out a missing beat when I heard the words from the border patrol ” I’m sorry mam but you can not come in at this border crossing”.
Before leaving on the Canadian ride I had checked with the Roosville border Officers and was told what I needed in the way of papers and passport to make my return crossing into the United States but what they did not clearly understand was the fact that I was RIDING across the country and would be in Canada for 6 months. I was given the wrong information. I needed a USDA veterinary to check the horses into the country. That gave me two border crossing to choose from. Sweet Grass border crossing( eastern Montana) or the Kingsgate border crossing south of Cranbrook in Idaho. I had 6 days before all of my veterinary papers would expire, the choice was clear I had to haul over to Cranbrook. Between Dr. Hart and Jon Levesque and their quick thinking they managed to get me safely across the U.S. , Canadian border before my veterinary papers expired. Dr. Hart called the Sheerness Veterinary Clinic in Cranbrook made arrangements for me to have the horses vet checked by the Canadian officials . Tom Linfield, Montana’s USDA border vet knew of my rides and was also helpful by calling the USDA vet at the Kingsgate crossing to let him know what was happening. Everything was set. Jon Levesque came over early on September 21st to hook up to Dr. Harts horse trailer. I was up all night getting myself prepared to haul the horses, preparing for “just in case scenario” when I walked out to the barn and there it was …a skunk sitting casually on my packs had tore open the pannier, food was every where, my sleeping bag ripped, stuff hanging out of the saddlebags, what a mess and Claire and I got sprayed!! oh my goodness. I made the terrible mistake of going back into the house and left a smell there Oh dear, it was awful. Poor Jon had his pickup window open all of the way over to Cranbrook and I would not doubt it if he told me his truck still smells because I still smell the odor on some of my gear. I felt so awful, here these men and their families had been helping and what a mess I had made… I don’t know that I will ever be able to thank Jon Levesque and Martin Hart enough they really came to my rescue when I needed it most. Besides the skunk everything went off smoothly. Jon dropped me off at the border and I waited about 3 hours before the USDA vet could see me, after he checked the horses to see that yes indeed they belonged to me and were not diseased in any way. I got into the long line of cars, what a sight that must have been. By this time all of the border patrol officers knew that I was coming back into the U.S. Claire ofcourse being the star of the show, photos and smiles flashing. “Check her license plate”, “hey maybe we should take her into secondary and check for noxious weeds” lots of jokes.
