Why you need TWO people to drive an RV

This quick post could also be titled “How to NOT approach customs”.

We are back in the USA.  We were feeling pretty good this morning, approaching the Montana state line.  We had gotten an early start, made good time, etc. etc.  This is what it looks like cruising up to customs.

We have been through customs going to and from Canada many times.  There was one lane open, we got in line.  Then we got closer and were the next up.  That’s when I noticed the text under the red arrow below.

Can you read it?  Neither can we apparently.  It says Clearance 13′ 1″.  We have a label stuck on our dash that says 13′ 4″.  Oh Oh!!!!  Jim had been busy concentrating on squeezing us through that little lane.  I noticed the clearance at the last minute.  Again…Oh Oh!!  We weren’t going to fit under that roof!

You can just imagined what ensued.  Jim hopped out and explained the problem.  The customs officer was a little mad, but we scrambled to unhook the Jeep (you can’t go backwards when towing a car).  Two more customs officers had to come out and man the newly opened lane the cars behind us had been redirected too and the one we were trying to vacate.  Then our original officer had to open up a gated third lane for trucks that we were supposed to be in (It didn’t have a roof..see the green arrow in the above picture).  I had to back the Jeep out of the way.  Traffic had to stop so Jim could back up the RV.  etc. etc. etc.

Honestly, in all the times we have been through customs, with and without an RV, we have never seen a lane with a lower than normal roof (normal being 13′ 6″).

We (or, I) did some profuse apologizing.  The officer checked our IDs, asked us each a few questions, handed back our IDs and pointed us to an area where we could hook back up.

Phew.  We have been very vigilant when coming to bridges to make sure we fit.  It never occurred to us that a border crossing in remote Montana wouldn’t be tall enough.  Every other border crossing has been. Lesson learned!!!!  Also, as we implied in the title, two sets of eyes are better than one.

I wonder if we have a target on our backs the next time we go through customs.  I hope not!

I have a blog post half written about our time in the Canadian Rockies…that will have to wait until tomorrow.  It’s been a long day.

8 thoughts on “Why you need TWO people to drive an RV

    1. Corinne Post author

      I once saw one of the Fireman’s Carnival’s trucks get stuck under that railway bridge. Fortunately, we didn’t get that far into the lane. It would have been an expensive oops.

    1. Corinne Post author

      Cheryl…no, the customs guy did not indicate how we should have known to go to a closed gate. There could have been a warning sign that we both missed, but I doubt it. I think it was supposed to be “intuitively obvious.” Next time it will be…I hope!

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