Almost to Canada

We made the drive up I-75 to Sault St. Marie to see the Soo Locks.  Part of the interstate was under construction, so we had to detour on a side road for about 20 miles.  We found a shady parking space for the dogs, since they are not allowed in the park adjacent to the locks.  There was almost no one else there when we got there.  They have a very nice visitor center with lots of displays and explanations about how the locks work, and how hard they have to work to clear the ice in the spring.   This past winter blasted the record for how much of the great lakes area was frozen over.

They have a real-time map of where the freighters are, and they have a pretty good estimate of when one will arrive.  We waited for a little while for the Pine Glen to arrive.  It was a long, flat freighter carrying grain.  There were a couple of tour boats that went through the locks pretty quickly, but the freighter moved VERY slowly.

After that, we drove to the Iroquois Point Light House.  It was a lovely lighthouse very close to the water.  We were allowed to climb the spiral stairs to the top and look out.  We talked with the keeper who lives there with his wife.  We walked on the boardwalk out to the lake, and Baxter got in the water, but the biting black flies were horrible, so we quickly left!

A border patrol boat heading out of the lock.
The bridge in the background goes over to Canada.

Gates opening after a boat has been lowered.

Tour boat leaving.

You can see the two locks side-by-side.
There's a tour boat in the near lock which is rising.
The freighter is entering the far lock to be lowered.

Tour boat is almost all the way up.

Freighter is all the way in the lock.

See how much lower it is?

Keeper's house at Iroquois Point

Looking up through the stairs in the lighthouse

View of the water from the lighthouse.

I wish he could have stayed for a while,
but the black flies were eating me up!

Looking back at the lighthouse

This is how the boys like to ride...on a pillow on a lap!

Lake shore across from our campground.
The Mackinac Bridge is in the background.

Looking back at the campground.
(We didn't have a front row site!)