North to Alaska - Day 3 - Over The Border Into Canada!

We woke up at Pokegama Dam COE  (Corps of Engineers) campground, Grand Rapids Minnesota, and the rain had pretty much stopped overnight. The sun was starting to peek through so we know it would be a pretty good travel day. 

We made up a nice little breakfast and took our time getting ready to hit the road. There really isn't any need to rush.

We stopped to fuel up and paid only $3.44 a gallon for diesel in Minnesota. Figuring out our mileage, we were up to 15 miles per gallon. That is awfully nice. 

We ambled along, going in the North and Westerly direction and started to looking which crossing we wanted to get over into Canada. We decided the route up through Longworth Minnesota and cross at Piney into Manitoba. 

The roads were in beautiful shape, and the clouds broke apart into puffy white dots of cotton against the bright blue sky.

We stopped at a little park, I think it was called Homestead, to make our lunch. We were using up the very last of our fresh vegetables, and the last of our eggs! I had hard boiled them in advance and we put them in our salad. We made sure that we had no fresh meats, especially no fresh chicken along with us. No eggs. No root type vegetables or fruits. Our dog food is in it's original packaging. All prescription medications must be in their original bottles and not in a pill/date organizer. 

Of course, we had our passports ready and Nick's papers. We checked online about the newest restrictions on border crossings. They tend to sometimes change from week to week or month to month. It's best to check directly on the Canadian website rather than rely on hearsay or old data on someone else's web page.

As we were pulling into the Minnesota town of Baudette, we saw this huge fish. We really didn't stop to examine it. We've been in some like it over in Wisconsin. But it's a cute roadside attraction. Great place to stop with your little kids and let them hang out inside of a fish.

We decided to top off our fuel tank one more time with US priced diesel before we cross the border. On the outskirts of Baudette, Steve found a little gas station. 

Imagine my total surprise when I saw the Godfather's Pizza symbol on the canopy at the corner of the station!!

Yep, there it is! One large Classic Combo. A flavor that cannot ever be erased from my mind or my taste buds.  

We haven't had Godfather's in Wisconsin for a long long time. I will let this little video clip tell the story:

We stuffed the finished pizza into the oven to save for supper time later on that evening. Believe me, it's just as good heated up again in an oven as it is the first time around fresh out of the box.

We had our passports ready, as well as our insurance card from our agent showing that we are covered to drive in Canada with our American Family policy. 

We also had Nick's paperwork all in order which included his health certificate, rabies certificate, and notations of his microchip number. The CDC form we had to fill out online and print out is needed for entering into the United States, not into Canada. But we have it ready for when we enter into Alaska, and subsequently when we return back to the lower 48 in the fall. 

We would much rather be prepared than to fly by the seat of our pants while sitting at a border crossing! 

We drove along up towards the border... This is the only photo I took and I turned off the cameras as we got close to the border agent.

We had a very nice border agent. She asked us all of the routine questions, and we were not subjected to any searches. We were honest and truthful with whatever we had on board. She wished us a happy journey and said God Bless! 

How nice was that? 

So on Friday May 2nd, we crossed into Canada at 3:45 p.m.

It was a beautiful day to enter Manitoba and enjoy visiting our friendly Canadian neighbors to the North.

We were eyeballing a place called Birds Hill Provincial Park just outside of Winnipeg. But then when we looked closer at their website, although the park is open, the camping is not.

So we drove as far as Steinbach, and found a little Walmart tucked back in off the main road. It was actually behind a Staples store.

We were able to dash inside and pick up a new supply of veggies, milk, and eggs. We also were able to obtain some Canadian currency via the ATM machine.

We snuggled into a little place down at the end of the garden supplies. It was time to take a break and rest for the evening. And of course, eat our wonderful Godfather's Pizza!

If you would like to see the YouTube recap of today's journey, click on the link below: 

260 mi travel today 

733 mi travel total