Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
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Possible cause of delays at the border???
We (Brendan, myself and a newbie Baja traveler) pulled up to the line at 10:07am Tuesday morning......"Okay, we start the count now" I say....."I have
to give a crossing report on Nomads when we get back."
I'm driving and have passports ready in hand and ask my travel buddy for his Drivers License, we get to the border agent at about 10:35am.....I hand
the documents over, "Where have you been?, How long? Where are you going" I answer the questions then he looks at our documents and notices my
friends address on the license....."Oh, you are from Port Orchard" "yes" I say.....he says, "I was stationed in Bremerton for about a year and a half
in the Navy,. then went back to Guam for awhile" We chat for about 5 mins. (maybe more) He asks about how things are going up here, what I think
might happen with the latest round of base closers (do I think Bremerton or Everett might be closed......"Not if Norm Dicks can help it" I assure him,
(Senior Senator from our state Congress) He tells me that he would really like to come back to our little part of the world (I'm thinking that if the
people behind me know what is going on they would really be PO'ed! 
All in all the crossing took about 40mins. (not bad with the chating session and all)
I can't help but think (and I mentioned this to my travel buddy even before we got up to the booth) that it must be the second most boring job in the
world, next to gate agents at the airports.....although they have to have it worse, they must get so much caca! (gate agents I'm meaning)
Anybody else have chatty border agents?
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pokey
Nomad
Posts: 199
Registered: 5-20-2005
Location: ensenada
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Mood: sun burned
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Not me but after waiting in line I'm usually eager to get on with my day so I avoid any chit chat. My conversations with customs usually go like
this: citizenship? U.S.... Truck yours? Yes.... Have a nice day. You too. 
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oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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| Quote: | Originally posted by pokey
Not me but after waiting in line I'm usually eager to get on with my day so I avoid any chit chat. My conversations with customs usually go like
this: citizenship? U.S.... Truck yours? Yes.... Have a nice day. You too.
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Well that doesn't sound very pokey at all.
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yankeeirishman
Banned
Posts: 1070
Registered: 3-5-2004
Location: Kalifornia
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....."Oh, you are from Port Orchard"
Did you know that they are testing you? They already pulled up your data on the computer on you (history and profiles), to ask questions. Not chatty
agents..they are doing their jobs!
What control freaks there are here. Don\'t believe that post you just read!
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John M
Super Nomad
Posts: 1906
Registered: 9-3-2003
Location: California High Desert
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Just chatty?
Yankeeirishman has it about right. They also are watching for your body language, nervousness, voice inflection, and that of others in your car.
On one of our many trips to secondary inspection, an officer one time told us that a number of the people sent to secondary is just because of a
hunch, or "feeling" the officer had when talking to you.
I suppose there may be the occasional chat, just to chat, but it would be rare.
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pappy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 679
Registered: 12-10-2003
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one time, when asked what i had to declare coming back , i told the truth-i have nothing- (i didn't even have a leftover beer or two, iwas literally
empty).bam! straight off to secondary.wasn't too long of a wait.the officer asked waht's up, i told him.he looked in my ice chest, (which only had
some ice left) scanned the back of my truck and shook his head, laughed and said get outta here.he aslo gave me a good tip-at least say you have a
bottle of booze or something.apparently saying you have nothing is an open invitation into secondary.the thing was it was the first time i told the
truth!(usually we would bring back a little more beer/booze than allowed, so we were always a bit worried about dealing with that)since that time i
always make sure i have a couple beers in the cooler so i will be legit when declaring " a couple of leftover beers"
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yankeeirishman
Banned
Posts: 1070
Registered: 3-5-2004
Location: Kalifornia
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as you drink that saved beer....
here's a link for time factors on crossing the border.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/times/menu-e.html
What control freaks there are here. Don\'t believe that post you just read!
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4177
Registered: 3-27-2004
Location: La Paz
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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The link below is for wait times for all USA borders. You will see that the wait times for San Yisidro and Otay Mesa are consierably longer than any
other crossing WHY???????
http://apps.cbp.gov/bwt/
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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pokey
Nomad
Posts: 199
Registered: 5-20-2005
Location: ensenada
Member Is Offline
Mood: sun burned
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Busiest border crossing in the world?
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4177
Registered: 3-27-2004
Location: La Paz
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Mood: mellow
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After going back to that site I find that right now they have 21 of 21 lanes open 90 min wait, they have more lanes than any other crossing. Therefore
are the busiest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Tucker
Senior Nomad
Posts: 664
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: El Centenario, BCS
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Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I gather that a big race is going on up north of here today, could account for the heavy traffic. Read
Hose A's earlier posts.
\"I think it would be a good idea.\"
-- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
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eetdrt88
Senior Nomad
Posts: 986
Registered: 2-20-2005
Location: Az/Ca/Baja
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whatever you do...
dont try to bring any oarnges across the border...i accidentally did this once and got very chewed out by the border cop...didnt matter that i had
purchased the oarnges in the u.s.,that actually made it worse.....i guess the lesson here is,eat the damn oarnges while youre in baja
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Debra
Super Nomad
Posts: 2101
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Port Orchard Wa./Bahia de Los Angeles BC
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I suppose you might be right about "testing" but, in this case the guy talked more about himself than asked questions about us.
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