The First Part of the Journey

[ascorpiana 0]

Lot's to get done and the time is slipping away. My husband and stepdaughter arrive Christmas Eve. After celebrating with my family and what will sure to be tear jerking farewells we shall drive to Cali. According to my 80 odd page triptrak...........i'll be entering at Sarnia from Mississauga. Never been to Sarnia and one crossed Detroit once about 10 yrs ago for a day trip.......(boring).

I'll be driving my Ford Escape 2007. Anything I need to do?

My major belongings will be shipped by a shipping company - so they are going to do the paperwork?

Man I'm scared. Two weeks now left of work, arriving with no job, but hope that SSN arrives by the end of January........so the first 3 weeks i'll consider myself on vacation (why I really need) It's been one year and two weeks since i'll have seen my husband.......be so nice to be held again.

Ok so yes this is the first part of my journey........

Tips, obstacles, anyone else crossing Jan 2nd?

BTW great blessing to all of you......this site has been my saviour many, many times.

[The Mean Lady 604]

So you're crossing on jan 2nd then?

It almost seemed at the beginning that you were crossing on christmas even.

Jan 2nd should be an okay day to cross.

Middle of the weeks.

Day AFTER a holiday.

I wouldn't anticipate a lot of traffic.

I'd aim to cross around 10am if I were you.

Before 10am, you are dealing with work commuters.

At about 11am (on the weekends) traffic picks up for tourists.

I've found the best days to cross are Thursdays.

They're fantastically slow.

[amberlynnloves 125]

Darn! Too bad you can't cross on the 30th of December! haha We are POEing that day too! At Port Huron/Sarnia. I will send you a PM after it is all said and done and let you know how it goes ok?

[Flames9_RN 358]

Lot's to get done and the time is slipping away. My husband and stepdaughter arrive Christmas Eve. After celebrating with my family and what will sure to be tear jerking farewells we shall drive to Cali. According to my 80 odd page triptrak...........i'll be entering at Sarnia from Mississauga. Never been to Sarnia and one crossed Detroit once about 10 yrs ago for a day trip.......(boring).

I'll be driving my Ford Escape 2007. Anything I need to do?

My major belongings will be shipped by a shipping company - so they are going to do the paperwork?

Man I'm scared. Two weeks now left of work, arriving with no job, but hope that SSN arrives by the end of January........so the first 3 weeks i'll consider myself on vacation (why I really need) It's been one year and two weeks since i'll have seen my husband.......be so nice to be held again.

Ok so yes this is the first part of my journey........

Tips, obstacles, anyone else crossing Jan 2nd?

BTW great blessing to all of you......this site has been my saviour many, many times.

Does it have the "stickers" on the car saying it is compliant? My male brain is off a bit tonight, but their are some recent Canada car questions about this. I think Krikit mentioned this last.

And if after 10-14 BUSINESS days no SSN, download/fill it out from SSA.gov and head to ur local SSA office with ur passport and birth cert (for ID purposes) and say--hey, whats up? if nothing is up--hand over the already filled out application and you have the ID. In many cases, 1 week later the SSN arrives!! Best of luck

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Sarnia/Port Huron is a good POE place. Make sure you have the documentation you need to import your vehicle, your sealed envelope, your passport and the fax number of the moving company who is bringing in your belongings because you will need to fax them a copy of your stamped passport with the I-551 stamp showing your legal entry. Without proof that you are already legally in the US, the moving company won't be allowed to bring in your belongings. A faxed copy works fine. You will need to fill out some paperwork with them before the move and arrange for them to have access to your belongings so make sure that is in place. They will do the major paperwork - the list of unaccompanied belongings that they also need to show at the border.

Enjoy your holiday and use that time until you are able to work becoming familiar with your new home. Drive around, get lost a few times (yep, it will happen! ), find out where the gas stations, the grocery store, the post office, things like that are. Read the local newspaper - and read your home newspaper on line. It actually helps a little bit with the homesickness - and yeah, after a while you can expect that too - while you are adjusting.

While Canada and the US are very similar in many ways, they are also very dissimilar in many more. You will be acutely aware of the differences over the next few months and some of them won't feel very comfortable. The American approach to things is one of the biggest differences you'll notice. Some of the differences will be good and novel - and some will not be so good and may exacerbate the homesickness.

If you don't have a job already lined up, try and be prepared for the fact that it might be longer than just a few weeks before you find something. The American workplace is vastly different than the Canadian workplace - and more often than not, not in a positive way. (Sorry, don't mean to be so discouraging!)

That all being said, yeah, it is a scary thing to pack up and leave everything you have ever known and reach so far outside of your comfort zone. If you go in with as few 'conditioned expectations' as possible and recognize that there will be big changes for both you and your husband as you adjust to your new life together, you will find yourself better able to 'roll with the punches' so to speak. It has the potential to be one of the best things you have ever done - but it will probably take some time and getting used to before you are comfortable enough to feel you are 'home' in the US.

Good luck, have a great POE and a great cross country drive to your new home.

[Darnell 8,479]

Ain't no poutine where yer going. Plan ahead.

[advice from a poutine addict]

[amberlynnloves 125]

Ain't no poutine where yer going. Plan ahead.

[advice from a poutine addict]

I second this motion! Love the poutine!!!

[The Mean Lady 604]

It's not that you can't make your own just because you don't have access to a fast food one.

HOWEVER, I don't think I've EVER seen cheese curds anywhere.

When my husband mentioned cheese curds, I said this: