Monday
Ah ha - fine weather so it's off to the ship wreak museum at Whitefish Point which I bypassed yesterday on account of the rain. Superior is the largest of the great lakes and Whitefish Point light house guides the ships into the bay of the same name. Not all have made it - "Superior it is said never gives up its dead when the gales of November come early" - so say the words to the song of the Edmond Fitzgerald. Some ships were lost to collisions but the vast majority seems to have fallen victim to storms. It's a very nicely set out museum featuring not only the wreaks but life in general of the lighthouse and boat station.
In the afternoon I rode over to Sault Ste. Marie (Sault pronounced Soo). The locks at Soo lift the ships 21 feet to compensate for the different water levels of Lake Huron and Superior and of course there is a tour boat that will give you the experience for a mere $23. Sounds cool and it was - I thought it was a great trip. It would have been nice to see the locks with some commercial traffic transiting through. In fact I arrived in town just as a ship exited the lock and rode parallel to it for some distance. It was so close to the road I could hear the noise of the ships engines over the motorcycles' and aside from it being a most unusual traveling companion I was surprise how fast it was going.
Stayed the night in the RV park just down the road from the tour boat dock and whilst it was quite expensive it was right on the banks of the St Mary river so we can watch the big freighters go by as they head to the locks- if any will on my watch. As it happened one did.