My husband and I were headed to Whistler for a weekend stay at the
Westin for some R&R and fun. We were very excited since Joe's mother came
to stay with Morgan while we went on our mini vacation. When we got to the
Canadian border Friday evening we were randomly selected to pull over and be
"checked out". We went inside the building where a lot of people were
waiting as well. At first it didn't seem to be any big deal. A few people were being
asked questions here and there or being able to return to their vehicles. But
then one guy was being questioned a bit more critically it seemed and another couple
got separated and were being interrogated by the border patrol like they were
criminals. The lady was crying hard when they were done with her. This
was turning quickly from an inconvenience to something a little more
scary. They called Joe up (alone) and had two officers stand around him as they
had him show he had no weapons on him and then they asked him a bunch of
questions. Obviously from the background check Joe's past came up from almost
20 years ago. The officer was not very kind in his questioning and even went as
far as to insinuate Joe could be a terrorist. Joe replied with "Officer,
I'm a combat veteran and faithfully served my country, I'm NOT a terrorist.".
(I was so proud when I heard about the conversation later.) They had Joe sit
down after quite a lot of questions and asked me to come up. My heart was
racing, but I kept telling myself this is crazy! We haven't done anything
wrong, we just want to go into their country and spend money. They searched me and my purse, asked me if we had reservations someplace and then told me to sit down. After a few hours
of being there we were finally told we could not enter
Canada. It was very disappointing and almost unbelievable. Later we read
about how you can be allowed in the country again (if you have a record), can you guess how?
Pay them money! $1000 to be exact. LOL! No thank you! We will use that money to
get Joe’s record expunged. Which we actually had been working on anyway so he
can have his rights back. Now he is motivated more than ever – even selling off
some of his hunting gear and if you know Joe, you know that is HUGE!!!
So we didn’t end up going to Canada, but the reason I put this on my blog as
Christy’s picks is because we called the Westin to let them know what happened and even though the
deal I had bought was paid for already they refunded our money. It was a
huge blessing. We have stayed at the Westin in Whistler before and really
enjoyed the hotel and all the amenities they offer. Check it out if you ever
book a trip there.
We ended up going to the Semiahmoo Resort which was close by, but there
isn’t much to brag about there other than they were very sympathetic to our
situation and upgraded us to a suite for free. Sadly I can’t recommend this
place though. If the beds were comfortable maybe for a very quiet get away, but
the beds and pillows were very hard. The sheets were old and scratchy. The
whole resort is a bit rundown and desperately needs a face lift. There is not
even a cute town nearby to check out. The two towns are ghost towns because of
the economy. The resort food was okay, except the Seafood Mac and Cheese was to
die for! Their staff is very friendly and accommodating as well and we did have
a nice couples massage during our stay.
It was definitely a disappointing trip. Had we known ahead of time we would
have selected a different destination, but you live and learn.
