Crossing the border

I have just ended my Vancouver/Richmond (Canada) stay and crossed the border at Seattle. My brod-in-law Demy Tan and wife Pacita drove me over. It was a beautiful sunny day earlier today, after days of rain and overcast weather. So I was enjoying the passing scene of vivid colors -- such an awesome display of God's Hand in the red, magenta, gold, yellow, orange, salmon autumn leaves. The trees are shedding their covers in anticipation of winter and pumpkins are as huge as one can imagine them to be. Kids are excitedly preparing for their trick-or-treat costumes as Halloween is the highlight of the autumn season.

Approaching the border, my brod-in-law instructed me to declare whatever I had in my possession that may be subject to confiscation: meat and other food items, agricultural products, cash beyond US$10,000, purchased items in Canada that will be left in the US (not intended to be brought home - for foreign visitors). Failure to do so will mean non-admittance into the US. I was asked to come down to the immigration office to get my I-24.(Immigration form that required me to undergo biometric check-up and to be photographed.)

I was attended to right away by an accommodating lady officer who asked me some questions about my visit and what I had with me (she never inspected my luggage which was in the car in the parking lot.) A $6 fee was required, after which we were ready to go.

Along the way, we made some stops at factory outlets offering ridiculously low, low prices. An example is $7 sale price for a $50 blouse (my sister-in-law got one!) or 50%-70% off on items storewide. First stop was Burlington, the oldest outlet right after Billingham - the first city after the border. Shops are not as many and items not as updated. Second stop was the much bigger factory outlet at Tulalip. It is an area with an Indian tribe-managed casino resort. Northern California through Portland, Oregon up to Vancouver, Canada are Indian lands, known as the Pacific Northwest. In exchange for their "occupied lands", various Indian tribes are mostly given casino resorts to manage.

Tulalip has numerous outlets of well-known brands, offering tempting slashed prices, such as Jones New York, Eddie Bauer, Stride Rite, Ralph Lauren, Nine West, Puma, Nike, etc. It is wise to spend time here, as what we did. Then, on we went to Alderwood Outlet in Lynnwood City- celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Rendezvous point for my Seattle hosts - Emy and Cherry Sia of Bothell (Washington).

Crossing the border turned out to be a short and pleasant experience, as pleasant as the three-hour drive to Lynnwood from Richmond. Try it...you will love every minute of it, as I did.

See you all by Halloween time - BOO!