Doing the Burlington, Wa, Anacortes, San Juan Islands (Friday Harbor), then on over to Sidney, BC. Staying in the area for a few days, then on to Vancouver via ferry. Any advice?
Please check with your Local Service Center before going into Canada, advise them you intend to travel there.
They may have updates or be able to add/adjust your car to make a successful transition for your drive/foray into Canada.
#1.
Be sure to bring your US passport with you, as you will need it when you try to return to the US.
#2.
US AT&T and Canadian AT&T are NOT fully compatible.
Okay, they just don't speak the same lingo.
Most of the time I had ZERO Bars or at most ONE Bar for connectivity.
Your car has a GPS SIM card, and it
might get you some places, but mine showed a grey gridded screen on the console and a jagged blue line, which was not a part of any road I could get on to. We judge distances by scale, and without any roads, the blue line was just a blue line.
The left hand part of the screen on the dash had some navigational/directional information, but it was not always viable (out-of-date information).
Canadian MSs can come into the US, and they are cool, ready to roll.
US MSs going into Canada, hmmm, could use some Navigational Improvements.
Depending on how old your car is, the GPS SIM card might need to be updated, (mine is almost 15 months old).
Arriving from Tsawwassen, I was on a very new road near the airport, and it had almost no traffic (very few other cars) and the road had concrete barricades/barriers on both sides.
And lots of signs indicating direction back
to the US Border (South), but I wanted to head North.
Without any context (like on a typical navigation map), it is really hard (actually it was impossible) to figure out where I was, or was going.
Once in Canada, I switched the car over to KM, as that is what all local roads in Canada are measured in for distance and speed.
But, that made some things even
more confusing (to simple-minded me), as 35 KPH is not the same as 35 MPH.
#3.
Bring a huge dose of self-depricating humor with you, enjoy the drive (adventure) in Canada as if it is a scary ride in a theme park or a bad Twilight Zone segment.
You will certainly get lost (without viable GPS), and if you can keep your wits around you, you will eventually figure it out.
I actually had a printed Atlas for all of the US and Canada with me, and had been to /Vancouver twice before, once while driving and ferrying from Seattle.
But the shear scale of the vicinity is daunting, especially as I went further from Vancouver toward Squamish (I had never been that far out of Vancouver before).
If I were to do the drive into Canada again, I would absolutely bring a large printed version of a map of the area with me.
And USE it.
Best of Luck!!!
