Just went to 24/7 , line up going south was by duty free (peace arch) and on the way back prob 15-20 min wait. Used nexus so was thru both ways in less than couple of minutes. And has on D street was at 1.16 regular
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made it over the bump on the canadian side no problem
the road on the hill leading up to the border sucks though

Just got back for the weekend. All I can say is thank the Lord for NEXUS.

Border wait at Pac Hwy on Friday at 9am was ~3hr. Line-up just started south of 16th Ave (!!), so I had to make a detour to get around to 4th Ave to get to the NEXUS lane (which was empty) or else stay and wait for about 2 hours to far enough for it. Having done the detour once, now I know where to go if the wait is that long.

I'm not sure if people knew that most retail was closed on the way down today (Easter Sunday). It was so weird seeing that since it's not the case up here in Canada. That said, the outlets were open but were absolutely packed.

^ Should have drove 4 extra hours to Portland outlet
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Just came back from Portland today. Woodburn was pretty crazy on Saturday as well. Lots of BC folks down there. Strangely, NEXUS on my way home (around 7pm) was really quiet.

BTW, did anyone ever figure out how to get to the duty free at the truck crossing when using the NEXUS lanes?

last time i went to portland, i was there for like 45 minutes since i was just passing through there heading back home. It was completely dead then since it was almost closing time. managed to but $100 worth of stuff which was nice. I should make another trip there some time within the next two weeks

Didn't want to do the drive down to Portland. I've gone three times in the last 4 years, so this short trip was just a nice jaunt to Seattle.

You can't. If you're at duty free wanted to get back into the nexus lanes, there's a small gap in the cones where it all kinks right. But that requires you to get past 2-3 lanes, AND the nexus lane. Pretty much impossible. Might as well take a spot in the normal lanes.

Ah, that's a shame. I ended up getting my liquor in Portland anyways because of this. You'd think the Duty Free store would raise a stink about losing all the NEXUS customers because of a lane change.

My friend uses at the border mail, which is right next to the duty free, he said there is a way to get back into USA from there. I don't remember and it sounded kind of complicated, but it us possible.
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Any idea which service and location your friend uses? I was just at Pacific Highway Crossing, and once you pass the 2 duty free stores you're pretty much stuck into crossing into Canada. Unless it's some bypass back into the States (the ones that rejected travellers take), I'm having a hard time figuring out where exactly one could turn around after shopping at the duty free store.

he uses "at the border mail" which is located right before pac can duty free. apparently there is an alley right after the duty free you turn right into and that leads you back to D street through some roundabout way.

Can anyone recommend a place where I can get my passport photo taken in Richmond?

Thanks :)

If you have a Costco card, then Costco. Otherwise places like London Drugs, Kerrisdale Camera, Blacks, Broadway Camera, etc.

Costco is the cheapest place I've found for passport pics.

Next would be those chinese places inside the malls, I went to the one inside Empire Centre. <$10

Everywhere else such as Sears,Blacks,London Drugs charge a shitload for passport pics.

Does anyone know if my visiting relative from Hong Kong (HK citizen) is allowed to drive cross the border with a HK license to the U.S (has acquired a visa) using my vehicle? They plan on staying for 2-3 nights around Seattle. Thanks.

I would buy 3rd party insurance, and have a written consent letter that gives them permission to borrow your car in case uscbp or cbsa questions the ownership of the vehicle.

In the letter, have contact information and address, so the officers can call to confirm that you are borrowing the vehicle to them.

walmart isn't too bad either

Thanks. Will do!
Does anyone know anything about the HK license and if there are any 'restrictions' of being able to drive across Canada border with it??

Remember that when you cross the border, you're under American laws.

WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Moving? Get a Washington State driver license

It looks like your friend is good to go.

Is the Texaco on D street in Blaine open 24 hours?

LOL~ Looks like the Point Roberts crossing is gonna get a LOT busier real soon! :lawl:

You may be able to smoke legal recreational pot in Point Roberts this summer | News1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Our neighbours in Washington State are set to open up legal pot shops in our backyard as soon as this summer.

BC smokers and tokers won’t have to travel far, with places as close as Point Roberts applying for licences to open up these shops to sell weed for recreational use.

Those licences are set to be handed out in July.

According to BC marijuana activist Dana Larsen, plenty of people here are looking forward to making the cross-border trek.

“A lot of Canadians and a lot of British Columbians are going to head across the border to try legal marijuana, but they better not tell a customs agent,” he tells us.

If you are going across the line, Larsen says you shouldn’t tell border agents you’re going there to smoke pot; while lighting up is legal in Washington State, it’s still a crime federally and could get you banned from the US for life.

Went over on Sunday morning and the white CBP spoke to me fully in Cantonese...:lawl:

That's always a trip when you see someone you don't expect speaking a totally far-off language. I have a co-worker who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Spanish. His wife speaks the same 4 except swap out Spanish for Portuguese.

But when Caucasian people speak orient languages, those are always the craziest to me.

maybe the office find its easier to communicate with u in cantonese?

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...ma_oh_snap.jpg


Went down on Monday (victoria day). Tried Pulse Packaging and their service was easy, friendly and cheap. $2.50 flat rate for all items (4 tires costed only 10 usd). I will probably use them again for larger size items since 24/7 does charge almost double.

Got the tires installed at Border Tire LLC, about 10 minute drive away from the border. The shop is not the prettiest but they were really friendly and provided a very professional service. $60 bucks to mount/balance 4 tires.