No Campin’, No Cookin’

It was difficult to get going this morning and the 11 am check-out time arrived too soon! The three hour time change and 5162 kms have caught up with these two old bikers. We spent the night at the very nice BW in Sault Ste Marie, MI so we could spend some time exploring the Soo Locks from the American perspective.
Sault Ste Marie, Michigan has a much smaller population than the city of the same name on the opposite side of the St. Mary’s River, however, it has excellent tourist services. In the old downtown area there are a number of attractions such as a museum ship, a tower lookout, and lock cruises that can be quite pricey. The best attraction, the Soo Locks Park, is free and includes elevated walk ways that overlook the three massive American locks where all the commercial traffic moves, an interpretation center, and a pretty park on the bank of the St. Mary’s River. Although there are no big freighters moving through the locks while we‘re there, we are lucky enough to see the locks in action as two of the cruise ships are taking tourists out and back to Lake Superior.
It is quite fascinating to watch the water inside the locks being raised or lowered 21 feet as that is the difference in height between Lake Superior and the St. Mary’s River. These locks connect Lake Superior, via the river, to the other Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. It is a bright but cold, windy day and we are grateful for the warmth of our leathers as we watch all the visitors in shorts shivering. There are many bikes in town as the American Legion has organized a big rally. Although we ride over for a brief look at the bikes, we haven’t the time and probably the energy to participate in the activities!
When you ride motorcycle you have many unexpected conversations with people, (such as border guards) and this day is no exception, as the security guard at the Soo Lock Park wants to talk. The Americans have very tight security around their locks: high fences, very controlled viewing areas, and guards who search your bags and purses as you enter the park. Under their somewhat crusty exteriors most of these people love to talk as it makes their day more interesting. Our guard wants to know where we’ve been, what we’re riding, etc., and then tell us his riding experiences with his wife, which summed up is no campin‘, no cookin’.
A long toll bridge connects the two cities of Sault Ste Marie. Sault means waterfall or rapids so the name translates as St. Mary’s Falls. Sault Ste Marie, Ontario was established in the 1600's as a fur trading post, later in the 1900's as a site for steelmaking and remains an important port and manufacturing center. The city is also a tourist center and the gateway to hunting and fishing resorts in nearby lake and forest regions. The area is one of the oldest European settlements in Ontario and there is an impressive National Historic Site near the base of the bridge where one can view the Canadian lock (which moves recreational traffic) and walk over to St. Mary‘s Island. There are many historical buildings in the city and we ride slowly along Bay Street so we can stop and take some photos, especially at the Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site.
We had intended to ride over to St. Joseph Island, one of the Manitoulin islands, as we’ve heard it’s very interesting but the wind is brutal today and riding is very hard on Highway17. Although the sky is mostly cloudless there are very bad weather reports from south and mid Ontario that we’re concerned about. So we decide to ride instead of sightsee but the wind doesn’t let up in this area of about 60 miles where three Great Lakes: Michigan, Superior, and Huron come close to one another. Although the area has rugged shores, sandy beaches, much forests, winding rivers, and great views of Lake Huron, we struggle to stay on the bike. Rounding one particularly windy corner we drive by a semi that‘s laying on its side in the ditch and we‘re sure the wind played a big part in the accident. We concede to the wind in Massey and take a room at the only motel in town. It has a 3-star rating (not in this galaxy) but is clean and we’re able to walk to the Chutes (yet another French word for waterfall) Provincial Park before supper. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow.