July 21 was a travel day. We left the Maritimes and headed back to the States. Our destination for a two night stay was Houlton, Maine. There isn’t anything exciting going on in Houlton, but we weren’t scheduled at our next destination until July 23 so we were killing a day and it just happened to be in Houlton. Why here…border crossing back into the States.
Everyone told us that U.S. Customs were tough and that there was a great possibility we would be searched. We had all our declarations of purchases itemized and receipts ready. We had only bought a few sweatshirts, some rain gear, and a bottle of scotch so we really weren’t worried about that…we just didn’t want our coach torn apart in a search. I did have a plant that I probably wasn’t suppose to enter the States with, but it was stored in a basement bin.
Upon arriving at customs, passports were given to the inspector and questions were asked. He then asked to come inside. Guess we were lucky because all he did was look in the bedroom, never opened a bin, or did any type of a real thorough search. However, he did ask if there was any citrus fruit on board. I had one lime and it was confiscated! I asked him how I was suppose to make my Gin and Tonic tonight!! His reply, “We do sell them here in the states”… HA! The basement bins were never checked so the plant made it! Guess we just look honest and got through very easily.
Now the real reason I am writing this little entry, is to tell you about “my close” encounter on a rainy morning in Houlton, Maine. Maybe God was getting me back for not declaring that plant; sometimes our honesty gets checked even for little things we do or don’t do? To make a long story short, I got locked in our teeny tiny bathroom for over an hour and it took three men to get me out! We had been having trouble with the knob sticking the day before. Frank took it apart and reset it…there in itself may have caused the problem…Frank the Engineer!! I went in the next morning, shut the door, and got stuck…the mechanism totally froze up…we don’t even use the lock. Why lock the door? There are only the two of us on board!
If you have ever been in an RV’s bathroom, then you know how small they are. Being shut in one for over an hour is not pleasant and can get rather claustrophobic. Frank began work on jimmying the lock, but no luck. Couldn’t take the door off the hinges because of the way it is hinged. At least I had a place to sit down and wait! Frank passed me a book under the door so I could read…the book’s title, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! How appropriate! Finally, not getting anywhere with the knob, Frank went next door to get some help.
We had met this lovely couple from Utah the night before…Dixie and Jerry. They were getting ready to go into Canada and we had shared our wealth of information with them over a beer. Jerry comes and looks the situation over and he starts trying to jimmy the door…they both try all sorts of things with that knob and lock. Frank then goes to get the manager of the campground…Now there was gonna be Larry, Curly, and Moe trying to get me out! While Frank was gone, Jerry became the hero. He just broke that lock all to pieces. Shrapnel was flying everywhere! A few minutes later… “tah dah“, I am free! WHEW!!
By that time Frank had returned with the manager; there were three men standing around examining the broken lock and me! Luckily, I had my pj’s on…my dignity had not been totally destroyed!
We now have a new doorknob on the bathroom door…one with no lock!! What if that knob had frozen up when Customs was inspecting? Why, we could still be in Canada!!
No comments:
Post a Comment