AN & JFP – U.P. 2014 – Day #3

This was “John Day” or Soo Locks day, although Annie enjoyed it too, but probably not as much.  After a timely and substantial breakfast we headed north up I-75 to Sault Ste. Marie, turning off at the last exit before the Bridge to Canada.  After a quick stop at the city’s Visitor Center we headed to the locks Visitors Center for a look at the displays and to learn that no freighters were expected for some time and the (officially unconnected) locks tour boats’ headquarters and jetties were couple of miles east, but the next tour wasn’t until 1:00 PM, this last day of “pre-season”.

We strolled the grounds after a quick walk along the viewing platform which is now glass-fronted and then crossed over to a couple of nice “tourist shops”, both of which snagged some business from Annie.  Having always been up here at the tail end of the season with sparse shelves it was interesting to me to see the shops bursting with a new season’s stock.

We headed down and found the tour boat place but they don’t sell tickets until a ½-hour before a tour and only then if there is a quorum of passengers, so we did a little miscellaneous exploring.  I should note that today was entirely brilliant blue skies with just occasional fluffy clouds, cool but not cold although still breezy until late afternoon – just perfect.  However, by evening the warmth and sun had brought out Michigan’s bug-a-boo, namely hordes of unwanted flying insects.

Before I start forgetting here for my record are a few stats.  It takes ten million gallons a “flush” to fill and empty a lock and it is done for free multiple times a day.  The rise and fall are 21 feet between Lake Superior (the higher) and Lake Huron.  The locks use just 1% of the daily flow.  The US and the Canadian hydro-electric generating stations take roughly 47.5% each and the remaining 4% (controlled as circumstances dictate) still flows down the old rapids.

The tour boats have an open upper deck and a closed lower deck with snack/coffee bar.  Since the upper deck was a bit chilly at times we alternated between the two, me more than Annie who mostly stayed down, although upstairs gave much better “Photo-ops”.  With so few passengers (compared to what would be possible) it was very easy to wander wherever one wished whenever one wished, which was really nice.  I found the whole 2-hour trip fascinating as we went up to the major lock, through and way on beyond and back down through the much smaller Canadian Lock.  This trip had been a minor item on my personal “bucket list” for decades, but I had always been talked out of it before so I was a happy camper.

After the trip we elected to visit the huge tower where (for a reasonable fee) one can take an elevator to the top for great view of either side of the river, as well as the whole lock area.  While we were up there a large freighter was being lowered in the lock and subsequently made its way downstream and right past us.  For an old retired engineer it was a great day.

We had a good run down to St. Ignace where we immediately had an early dinner as we were both hungry.  With the weather by now so lovely we then went to the Pere Marquette Memorial Park for a nice stroll and glimpse of Big Mac through the tree-tops – the tree have grown much taller since our original visit many years ago.  Leaving there we dropped down to the Bridge View Park, read all about it in the informative little visitors center, and took the usual ritual photos of each other with the bridge in the background.

 We have now adjourned to our room for our last night here before moving on tomorrow.

We took pictures and what we selected as memories may be seen here.

AN & JFP – U.P. 2014 – Day #2

This was Mackinac Island day.  We chose not to rush and opted for the Star Line 10:00 AM ferry, giving us an unhurried morning with breakfast “on” and at the motel.  The morning was cool but not really cold and the sun broke through periodically, more and more so as the day wore on.  Star Line has the “rooster tail” slightly higher speed ferries and the 10:00 AM run had the added benefit of a “side trip” to just into Lake Michigan by a few yards taking us under Big Mac twice, which made for some “photo ops”.

Once on the island we wandered more or less at random for a while but when we found ourselves at the foot of the Fort by the ticket booth we elected to go up and in.  Its position on the heights makes for some great overlooks, and we found our wanderings in the fort very interesting, more so than I expected.  Towards the end we went to the Tea Room operated by the Grand Hotel and had very elegantly served coffees, sitting outside in the sunshine.

Our next target was the hotel, but to get there we needed to wander through the tourist shops area so our journey was quite slow with some purchases made & others plotted for our return to avoid too much lugging around of stuff.  The hotel gardens were quite sparse but did have a lot of daffodils in bloom (& geraniums in window boxes).  We wandered the full length and took some pictures and then started the more pleasant return journey since this time it was downhill with the stiff breeze at our backs!  There is a strong sense of olde worlde living with horse-drawn everything, from the hotels luxurious carriages to the grungiest of work carts.  Clearly it is the start of their “season” and signs of frantic preparations were everywhere.  It also meant that the shops had maximum stocks and lots of choices, of which we took considerable advantage.

We did some more shopping and wandering but were getting hungry and leg-weary so we chose a nice bistro and had a good sustaining meal, planning to only snack later.  Conveniently their back entrance opened onto the pier from which our return ferries ran so we agreed we had seen/done enough and took the next ferry back to St. Ignace, where we recovered from the exertions of the day and later soaked our weary limbs in the hot tub.

We took pictures and what we selected as memories may be seen here.

AN & JFP – U.P. 2014 – Preamble & Day #1

Since Annie, for various good reasons, had not enjoyed a “proper” vacation for some considerable time we elected to make an extended trip together to see how we would manage 24/7 togetherness.  Wishes and reasons on both of our parts pretty much dictated a very late May timeframe, although when planning and making all of our arrangements months ahead we did not anticipate that winter would extend almost to the end of what is normally considered spring!

Subsequently we elected to try the 24/7 togetherness much sooner, but on a no-burned-bridges basis.  Nevertheless we continued to look forward to a real vacation together.  Annie’s “bucket list” included a wish to see Mackinac Island, and John is always up for some Northern Exposure, so a slow loop of the eastern half of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was planned and arranged departing immediately following the annual conclusion of John’s Garland Brook Cemetery veterans’ grave locations volunteer activity.

On May 21^st, with me still a bit stiff from the previous day’s Flag planting at Garland Brook, we beat our desired departure time of 8:00 AM by two whole minutes!  Like any trip on land starting in south central Indiana the first day was simply a case of “miles and miles of miles and miles”.  We had an excellent run, with just brief slow periods near Greenwood for the aftermath of a wreck and a few miles of single lane road works near the Indiana Toll Road, and very few pit stops for relief, gas, driver changes, etc.

I drove to the first Michigan Rest Area/Welcome Center, Annie drove a whole lot of “lower” Michigan & I brought us on in so Annie could enjoy her first look at and crossing of Big Mac.  Sadly the weather crossed us up.  30 miles out at a rest area/overlook it was just under 80 degrees, by Big Mac and St. Ignace it was in the low fifties with minimal visibility – a definite shock.  However, a few hours later it is both warmer and clearer so we have hopes for a nice day tomorrow.

In St. Ignace we are in the same shorefront motel overlooking Lake Huron as formerly used with Marissa & Zoe before they became “pet Unfriendly”!  After settling in we went out to check for restaurants and get some information on ferries to Mackinac Island prior to going to eat a delicious dinner at a restaurant at which I had eaten before.  Back at the motel we were the sole users of the hot-tub/whirlpool in which we “got out the kinks” of a 555 mile day.

We took few pictures but what we selected as memories may be seen here.