It was another nice day here in the Vancouver area,
so I hopped in a (borrowed) car and went for a little drive. Before I knew
it, I was driving down Zero Avenue, along the CAUS border. I took many
pictures, and will post them when I reduce the file sizes of the digital
photos.
There were a couple of new discoveries: the
tangle of weeds and shrubbery that defined the border, with the exception of the
odd partially hidden marker, was gone. Someone had mowed down all the
growth in the more wooded areas. Also, all the border markers had their
bases painted white. Maybe this makes them easier to spot from the
air?
I saw no Border Patrol or RCMP at all.
Usually a BP car is parked near the border, but not today. However, I did
see some new tower cameras -- though these were further back from the actual
line, partially obscured by trees. I still plan to visit the Border Patrol
HQ where all these cameras feed their images to.
The best border marker was #7 -- someone had placed
a pumpkin over the pointy top of the marker. Perhaps it was someone
marking the Great Pumpkin's pumpkin patch? It was labelled as "The
Czarnagoon's." Perhaps they live nearby?
And the day ended at Peach Arch Park. I found
a great parking spot and wandered down to the arch. There were some US
kids playing soccer (football) through the arch. Nothing really new
here... but I did wonder about crossing the border here -- between customs
buildings. For fun, I wandered all the way to the US washrooms (about 30
metres south of the border) to see if anyone cared. No one did. And
then on my way back, I caught my shadow crossing into Canada before me. A
picture of my cross-border shadow is attached.
The question: was this an illegal entry into
the US, in that I walked in and out with out reporting? As the park is
meant to be that way, I wonder if there has been any overzealous Border Patrol
officers hauling people off. I would guess if you had a hunting
rifle... ha ha!
I also wonder what this area was like on 9-11, with
the border locked down. And that is another question -- as we were on the
GCEBE, I don't even know for sure if the CAUS border was ever sealed.
Anyone?
Hope you all had Sundays that included border
visits!!
Doug
Doug Murray Productions / Border Films
CBC
Infomatrix / CBC POV Sports
Vancouver BC
604-728-1407
Best Vancouver excuse for being late for
work:
"A movie was being shot and they detained me for
continuity."