safe and sound

So yesterday I got up shortly after five in the morning, and got the last few things loaded into my car. I was out of Rexburg by six, out of Idaho by seven. All the mountains in Montana that I was worried about were clear - no snow at all. The roads were perfect, and I actually made it to my halfway point (Great Falls) in less than five hours. It's a good thing that part of the trip went so well, because the rest was a little less fun.

I got to the border, and they made me go inside. I had had to in September too, but it wasn't a big deal. This time was more complicated, because I was planning for staying so long. And, after they looked in my car, seeing all my stuff (since I didn't put any in storage), made it look even worse. And it didn't help that I've gone through the process of permanent residency before, so they can tell I've wanted to live up here before and am aware of the process of being able to stay. I had to explain the track system at school, and just pray that they believed my story. The girl seemed reluctant to let me in, but she said, "Don't make me regret doing this," and then gave me a temporary visitor's pass thing, saying I can't work or go to school (which is expected), and I have to leave the country on or before April 20th, since that's when school starts. I'm not going to make her regret it, because I do plan on leaving Canada, and I plan on taking all my stuff back out of the country too. But it was a stressful little bit, while she asked me all sorts of questions and all that.

So the border took up an hour of my time, putting me back on schedule. The next hour and a half was fine, but after passing through Lethbridge, it started to snow. At first there was more snow blowing around on the road than the grass, but eventually it got harder and harder to see the edge of the road, and then it became difficult to even see where the lanes were. We all generally drove behind each other in the slow lane, so it would stay partially clear. But, even after all that slowing down, I still made it to Aaron's apartment only 30 minutes behind schedule. The drive through the snow was scary enough, I don't even want to think about what it would have been like after dark. But I'm here, and I'm safe, and VERY grateful that I drove out yesterday and not today!