CANADIAN/AMERICAN ADVENTURE including coffee.

This was the most exciting thing that has happened to me in several weeks (it's winter, after all).  Peggy asked me to accompany her on a drive up to Canada to pick up some coffee.  The coffee was ordered somewhere in Canada by the Snyder's, a missionary couple who live in Mexico.  The Snyder's are close friends of Peggy's and she has been on several mission trips to their ministry.  I don't know why but the coffee could not be shipped to the USA.  Sooooooooo Ben F. arranged to have it sent to a business in Niagara Falls, Canada.  The team of teens that Ben is taking to Mexico in a few days are going to take the coffee with them and give it to the Snyder's.  So anyways, Peg and I drove up to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada to pick up the two twenty pound boxes of coffee.  We picked it up without incident and then we went to AlMac's Buffet where we had the breakfast buffet, even though it was noon.  We had had the dinner buffet at a different AlMac's location a couple of years ago.  I was not very impressed with the buffet, it was heavy on starch, and the bacon was really strange and who eats pork and beans with breakfast? (I know, the English do and apparently the Canadians do, also).

We headed back into New York.  When we showed our passports at the entry to NY (at the American side of the Lewiston Bridge), we were told to pull over to the left hand side and park, for a routine, random check.  The guy kept our passports!   We parked and went inside and immediately an officer called out "Margaret and Carolyn".  We went up to the counter and two officers asked us a bunch of questions.  Peggy told them about the coffee that we picked up and that it was destined for Mexico.  She referred to me as "my 12 year old sister", then corrected her statement to "12 years older".  Peggy did all the talking (thank God) and they asked questions about the coffee.  They asked if it was laced with anything?  Peg did not answer this directly.  I think she said "is that a thing?"  They never asked how the coffee was going to get to Mexico.

Anyways, the two officers went out to the car to check things out.  While  they were out, Peg was texting Ben and I took a few  pictures.

  It was apparent that we were temporarily detained and not able to leave.  I found this out when I got up and headed to the door to let a woman in who was  pushing a cart or something with lots of snack foods in boxes on it.    I was stopped and an officer opened the door for her. The officers returned and gave us our passports and told us we were free to go, and that they had opened one of the boxes of coffee and also opened one packet of it to check it out and we were told we were free to leave.  I went out the door first and asked Peg to stop so I could take this picture.

  And I took these pictures, too.   Peg walking to the car.

We headed out and went to Lewiston to visit Carrie.  Peg decided to check out the two boxes of coffee.  Both boxes had been opened up as well as one packet.  (the one she is holding in her hand).

Peggy said that she is 57 years old and has crossed the border into Canada and returned MANY MANY times and this is the first time she has been stopped and checked out.  

I told Peggy that we really did not know anything about the contents of the boxes.  Sure, we trust the Snyder's  (who ordered the coffee) BUT we picked the boxes up at a business that we had never heard of and knew nothing about, and we know nothing about the company that shipped the boxes.  I said "we could have ended up behind bars."