This past weekend in Montreal was great. We were there for my brother and his fiancée’s engagement party, so I got to meet my future sister-in-law’s three brothers and eight million relatives. Matt and I got to stay in a nice hotel room in which the shower was separated from the bedroom area by a glass wall. We walked down the Rue de St. Catherine, visited the Biodome, and took the funicular to the top of the Montreal Tower Observatory at the Parc Olympique. The temperature was in the 20s for most of the weekend, so we decided to save most of the outdoor stuff for August, when we’ll return for the actual wedding.

Crossing the border was surreal. I’ve travelled to various countries around the world, but this was my first trip to Canada. It was odd to just drive into another country. As we approached the border, the ubiquitous green federal highway exit signs started containing the word SORTIE in addition to EXIT, which seemed like an uncharacteristic American accommodation to foreign language speakers. Then we reached the border, had our passports examined and stamped by a guy in a booth, and then continued driving into Quebec. All the signs were suddenly in French. Weird.

Information hound that I am, I’ve found some links related to the U.S-Canadian border crossings:

– maps containing all the border crossings – the maps are enormous; if you click on “full-sized map,” your browser will freeze up.

– border crossing data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

– more data – this page contains links to smaller maps; scroll down to just before Section 7.