Foreign exchange

So, last Sunday we packed up our troubles in our old kit bags and smiled our way east and north towards the tundra. Actually, it was pretty smooth sailing until we hit Montana, when it got kind of grim. Sort of blizzardy, actually. So, after a couple of hours on the interstate with eejits who didn't notice it was foggy and snowing and they couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of them, we headed in to Glendive for our last night on the road.

In the morning... well, at least it had stopped snowing. Resolutely, we headed out. Very picturesque and I would have liked to have stopped for some photos. You know, the eerie, things-appearing-out-of-nowhere-because-it's-foggy kind. However, there's no interrupting Mr T when he's on a mission to get somewhere. And to be honest, I was kind of on the same mission.

We hit the border around 11. What ensued at the crossing boggles the imagination.


Border guy: Hey, how are you guys today? (guaranteed to put my back up, since I'm not a guy)


Dave: We're good, thanks (hands him our passports).

Border guy: Soooooooo...... how long you been away?

Dave: Oh, just about 5 weeks.
Border guy: Oh, yeah? Soooooo...... (and he goes into the whole schtick about how much did we buy, did we have any repairs or alterations to the car, were we carrying any drugs or illegal immigrants..... well, maybe not those last two)

Dave: Answers the questions, gives him our truckload of receipts (hey, we have a grandchild now, ok?) and the itemized list of what we bought, where, how much, etc. etc. To his credit, he didn't offer the heart of our firstborn, tho' Border guy looked like he might demand it at some point.

Border guy: Sooooooo..... what kind of work do you do?

Dave: Uh, we're both retired.

Border guy: Sooooooo..... what kind of work did you do, when you were working? I mean, were you some kind of investor or something?

Dave: Well, I had my own business. I was a financial planner.

Border guy (grinning from ear to ear): Yeah, I know you. I recognized your name. You had that old car, didn't you? The station wagon. It had your business name on the side, didn't it?

Dave (smiling now too): Yeah, that's right. I've still got it and...

Border guy: You've still got it? Wow! That's amazing.... blah blah blah

Dave: Yeah, it gets out every summer for a few miles, but that's about it..... blah blah blah

And then ensued an actual conversation, albeit one in which I had limited interest and no part. It was a total aberration from any of our collective experience with crossing the border and thus can only be filed under the heading "Foreign exchange".

And then we just had to convert back to kilometres and litres. That was the easy part.