Rounding The Corner...

Well, as lengthy as the upper shore of Lake Superior is (from Duluth, MN to Sault Ste. Mariie is about 630 miles!!) - it has to end sometime.  It is really difficult to articulate the emotions we all felt as we gradually rounded the coast of this extraordinary and awesome body of water and realized that we would soon say goodbye to these craggy shores.  The scenery along the roadside rapidly changed from mile after mile of gorgeous forest to ever-increasing roadside signs advertising lodging, gasoline, food and entertainment opportunities.  At a place appropriately named "Marathon" we finally reached the point where we would begin to head South toward Sault Ste. Marie and the end of the Canadian part of our journey.   (For those of you who haven't been here - or whose French is rusty, that is pronounced ... Soo Saint Marie!!  We spent the night on the Canadian side of the border - perhaps subconsciously prolonging our visit to our Canadian cousins for a bit longer.  I know a lot of you are very familiar with this part of the world but, for me,

it has always been a bit mysterious.  The "Great Lakes" seemed almost unfathomable and it was difficult to grasp their enormity - much less remember all of their names!!  Anyway - we were approaching a point that always seemed particularly striking - where three of these watery giants come together.  The point at which Lake Huron nudges her dainty shoulder against the bulk of Superior and Michigan and appears to demand a bit of "elbow room" for her beautiful "Georgian Bay."  All of this happens at a point on the Saint Mary River where the rocky portage found by the early explorers caused them to call it an area of turbulence or rapids ... a "sault" in the language of the discoverers.  Thus - Sault Ste. Marie!!!  Interestingly, the city is third largest in the Canadian province of Ontario with about 80,000 residents but it's U.S. counterpart has only about 15,000 residents.  Presently, the whole area is a beehive of activity as vessels of every description make the transit between the lakes, conducting their local trade or preparing for  continued voyages all the way down to the mighty Atlantic.  It was a delightful visit and after dinner we spent an hour or so strolling along the beautiful park that borders the canal and locks between the U. S. and Canada.  The deep-throated muttering of ship's horns and the bells and sirens of the working craft moving the ships around within the canals pointedly reminded us of the end of this part of our adventure.  As we descended into the narrow section where travel between the United States and Canada is such a dominant feature of the landscape we again experience the "butterflies" that come with transiting the entry-point to our country.  And then ... Linda decided that the Transportation Security Agency agent checking our passports would be a cool photo!!!  Wrong!!!!  After getting the message that taking his picture would probably result in the worse of ...  incarceration, demolition of our vehicle or confiscation of our wine supply (... no contest there, huh??)  we agreed not to take the photo.  So ... with signs of Halloween heralding our arrival (... hmmmm.. kinda appropriate ..)  we entered

Artwork - Sault Ste. Mari

Chippewa County and the state of Michigan.   As I said earlier, this stretch of land is really interesting and the next "roadway feature" we were to encounter put exclamation points all around that description.  We were approaching the famed Mackinaw Bridge and that, folks, is a breathtaking structure.  We'll be back to describe it in much greater detail so come on back and join us for the "tour."  See ya.