Exploring the Fifty First State -- Yooper Land

At least that is what some of the Yoopers in the UP of Michigan wish it were, and it is vast areas of forest and bog with tiny hamlets scattered along the incredibly straight roads! In our two days of travels we are still getting oriented geographically, as the sun does not set across what looks like an ocean out our RV front window, which faces south. It sets to our right, west of course. We are camped at St. Ignace, where the Michigan and Huron lakes come together.  This post is another Two-Fer; for yesterday and today's travels in Yooper country. 

Yesterday, we drove up to the Soo, as Sault St. Marie is called and this year it is celebrating 350 years as a community.  Sault means place of rapids, which was what the Chippewa portaged around, the French built fur trading posts beside and the Canadian and Americans finally built four locks across so massive ships can move from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. We visited the 20 story Tower of History to get a look at the Saint Mary's River and the locks at the Soo.  Pamela was thrilled to find a gluten free crepe place, and she delighted in a Nutella and strawberry HUGE crepe. We walked across the street to learn more at the Sault St. Marie Locks Corp of Engineers Visitor Center including, history of the river, how the locks work and why a wider and longer lock is needed.

Tower was built by the Catholic church to in memory of early missionaries

Soo Locks Observation Platform

Tug and barge in lock waiting for water to drop about 12 feet

It was a good visitor center and one of the main attractions is the observation platform so people can watch the ship traffic of over 3,000 ships a year that go through the locks.  We watched as the tug Zeus took a barge of petroleum products through and watched the approach of a large Polish ship enter on its way to a Canadian port on Lake Superior.  It is a long, straight 50 mile drive up to the Soo from St. Ignace--it is nice to have the Forester to make these trips in.  Unfortunately, it was 50 miles back as well.

Today, we decided to drive up north again to Whitefish Point on Lake Superior to visit the Great Lakes Shipwrecks Historical Society Museum and lighthouse. Off this point is the location of many ship wrecks, including the most famous.

Whitefish Point Light and Fog Horn

That famous ship is a song by Gordon Lightfoot song running through our heads today, after viewing the poignant movie on "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" in 1975. He wrote the song shortly after the tanker sank. Twenty years after she sank in November, the Canadian navy took many of the family members out to sea to watch as divers cut loose the ship's bell and brought it to the surface. A diver then took down a replica brass bell with every man's name engraved on it for a memorial. The original bell was cleaned and is at the entrance to the Whitefish museum. 

We also saw a unique light house lens. This large flat lens could project light 28 miles out to sea, across Lake Superior for the early ships in the from the mid-1800's through mid- 1900's. 

We did finally find the ice cream Neil had been looking for, at a beautiful state park, called Tahquamenon, which has lower and much higher upper falls. The upper falls are the second largest volume of water east of the Mississippi. Can you guess the largest? They are on the border between the US and Canada, east of us. The walk to the the Upper Falls was well worth it. We learned the major species of trees in the forest (this one for Katherine, who asked) -- Eastern Pine, Beech, and Sugar Maple. The Beech have a beetle infestation imported from Europe into Nova Scotia that is spreading into the native trees. This explains why we have seen so many large trucks carrying short logs for firewood. 

Tomorrow, we will sail away to Mackinac (Mac-in-ah) Island, the summer home of the Governor, where no motorized vehicles are allowed. Looking forward to not driving, horse carriage ride and lunch at the Grand Hotel.  Best wishes to all,

Neil and Pamela