Yesterday I went with O to Sweetgrass, Montana, USA. He had to apply for a work permit, and doing it online would take minimum 45 days. It was a really nice drive there. We talked politics, religion, culture. I told him about various places to see, but he didn’t seem to interested in tourism. Just the same, it made me want to get out on the highway again and see the countryside.
He has a Class 7 License (learner’s permit), so I let him drive about half-way there and the last 15km on the way back. I think he needs to work on speed control. He said he failed his first driving test because he didn’t shoulder-check and didn’t stop directly at the stop line at intersections. I don’t think he knew about the North American style habit of driving in the left lane and passing in the left. Pretty good though. He was surprised I let him drive. (I let CY practise driving in my car, too, and she didn’t crack it up.) He drove into his yard with his homestay host mom standing there, watching him. “You let him drive?” she joked. We stood & talked for a while.
She’s selling her house. She says the Realtor wants to knock it down and build again. What a waste! There’s already a really nice house there with fibreglass window frames, good insulation, new siding (not plastic or metal, a kind of wood), a big covered front porch, a 97% efficiency furnace, an attached garage, etc. There’s no way in hell I’d tear down a house like this. I wonder what she’d want for it. What an amazing view. It overlooks the coulee and is at the end of a long cul-de-sac. Really nice place. O lives in the basement.
Oh, what I was going to say was that we didn’t seem to have any trouble getting through the US side of the border. The American side officer got us to sit in the building for 15 minutes or so while he checked everything out. No problems. On your way. “You know how to get back to the Canadian side?” he asked. “Not, really,” I offered. He explained. Nice guy. On the Canadian side, however, the officer was a bit of an obstinate person and acted like a typical border cop you’d see in a movie. Oh well. Good thing I brought my passport. I’d still be waiting in the US! (Kidding.)