Wawa was great. We discovered part way through the day we arrived, that it was Fathers Day!! Probably about the time we were biking and walking up a really steep hill to explore town. Well we will make it up some time - probably when Fathers Day is celebrated here.
Kim thought a Starbucks voucher might be the go???

Wawa is known for its 28 foot tall Canada Goose built in 1960. The name Wawa comes from the Ojibwe word 'wewe' meaning wild goose.
The Wawa RV Resort had vacancies - we stayed 2 nights. It was very comfortable with OK showers. On the second day we rode to the High Falls, a picturesque falls 75 feet high fed by the Magpie River. The round trip was 10 miles with a couple of serious hills and gravel road!

As Trevor said  '... the scenery reminds me of Dad's Field and Stream magazines every corner we turn ...'


Our next night was at Batchewana Bay - Sunset Shore Resort - a bit of a misnomer! A lot of the RV park is closed for winter and it looks as if everyone has left town. But not one inquisitive and hungry chipmunk.

 

And then we were headed for Sault Ste Marie down Highway 17 (that's Trans Canada Highway).
For the most part we were driving beside the lake and from time to time a bit inland. Overcast with the chance of rain - muggy and humid.
The lake still looks magnificent.

We received emails from Kim with photos of Mace's 25 years service presentation morning tea at Activ.  Quite something! Well done Mace! We are sorry that we missed it.

Highway 17 takes us through Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and onto the International Bridge which connects Canada with the US. Once over the bridge you come into Sault Ste Marie, Michigan - the oldest community in Michigan. But first there is a border crossing!

At the border we handed over our passports and visas. We had been warned by people in the parks on the way down that we would be checked to see if we were bringing fruit and vegetables; possibly other foodstuffs, into the US.  I was a little worried about my pot plant! Nah! We were a real problem for them. They wanted to know why we were coming to the US; how long were we out of the US; whose RV were we driving; why was Trevor given permission to make application for a Drivers Licence in South Dakota (which they indicated was impossible for a person on a Visitors Visa).
So we were taken into the office while they checked through the RV. They must have done a fairly good search for when the officer came back  he asked 'Well - was it the $92,000 RV?'  He had gone through my journal of our preparation for the trip and our internet searches for RV's.
The situation then became much more friendly - they knew we were not anyone they were looking for.

And best of all they entirely ignored the food and pot plant! It was an experience. We were treated courteously. And we are back!!

Then into Michigan.

Our first stop was the Soo Locks, one of the busiest lock systems in the world. The Soo Locks consist of 2 canals and 4 locks that allow vessels of all types and sizes to safely traverse the 21 foot drop in elevation of the St Marys River between Lake Superior and Lakes Huron and Michigan.
More than 11,000 vessels, carrying up to 90 million tons of cargo pass through the locks each year. The vessels vary in size from small passenger vessels and workboats to large 1,000 foot ships carrying more than 72,000 tons of freight in a single load. Most cargo is iron ore, coal, grain or stone.

We were fortunate enough to arrive at the locks just as a large freight liner was going through the locks - it was fascinating to watch the ship lifted up by the water and then sail on through when the water reached the required level.

Then on to a Good Sam RV Park in St Ignace where we are staying for 2 nights. We are back on dual carriage highways and wide open spaces.

We are starting to see a change in the foliage as trees, especially smaller trees, are starting to change colour.

And I caught the sunrise this morning as I set out for a walk!

Labour Day is the first Monday in September in US and Canada. It is a long weekend. We were warned to book early and try not to drive over the weekend as the roads would be clogged. We took that advise and booked ahead for the 3 days of the Labour Day weekend at Chippewa Park and Campground in Thunder Bay. We were now in North of Superior Country, Northern Ontario.

Where is everyone?

Chippewa Park was quite a way out of town and all but deserted. It was beautiful and secluded - but empty! There were other activities at the park which were busy but the RV park was very quiet.  We were the only ones there!! We made inquiries about hiring a car which would have been easy to do and very inexpensive ... but the next morning we decided to move on. Happily we were able to cancel the extra 2 nights we had booked.

On our way out of Thunder Bay we visited the Terry Fox Monument, a 9 foot high bronze statue set on a 45 ton granite base with a spectacular view of Lake Superior. The monument was erected in memory of Terry Fox,  a one legged runner who embarked on a cross country run for cancer research - the Marathon of Hope. The site of the monument is not far from where he ended his 3,391 mile (5,342km) run, stricken down with the disease that ended his life on 28 June 1981.

We were headed for Nipigon but the RV park was closed ... where is everyone?? We ended up driving 200 miles and finally found Neys Lunch and Campground - no vacancies save in the 'overflow' - a grassy field without services. We were self sufficient, but it cost more than most other parks which provided all the services!  Anyway ...

We met a couple of girls - probably in their 40's - who were biking around Lake Superior, all 1220 odd miles!!  They had set themselves a month to do it in. They were from Michigan and had a love of the lake!  One of them said she could recall the day the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. 

We continue to follow this story of the Edmund Fitzgerald!

We were seeing road signs to White River, Ontario - the birth place of Winnie The Pooh!  Come on - you've got to be joking!!  But it's true!!

On 24 August 1914 a tiny female Canadian black bearcub was brought by a local trapper to the Canadian Pacific Railway train station in White River, Ontario. A troop train bound for Quebec stopped at the train station.  A young officer, Lt. Harry Colebourne, a Canadian Army vet attached to the 34th Fort Garry Horse Regiment from Winnipeg, Manitoba got off the train. He noticed the young bearcub and bought it for $20.00. He named it Winnipeg after his home town and later shortened the name to 'Winnie'.
The bearcub became the mascot of the 34th and accompanied them overseas. When Capt. Colebourne received orders to go to France he left 'Winnie' in the care of the London Zoo.
Winnie was to become the main attraction at the zoo, captivating many including Christopher Robin Milne, son of A.A.Milne.  And the rest is history ...

Neys Camp! The best bbq!

Continuing our travels around Lake Superior.

Same lake - different day

I don't know what it is about Lake Superior that is keeping us close; there are 5 Great Lakes and we will see/touch all of them.  For the moment though there is only one and we are there!

We spent 2 lovely days in Grand Marais - it was truly beautiful! We biked everywhere; found a coffee shop and a fudge shop! All tastes catered for! I bought a CD - Loon Echo Lake -recordings of loons mixed with music including Vivaldi and Debussy's Claire de Lune. We went out for dinner on the second night - Dockside Fish Market for a meal of  fish and chips sitting on a deck overlooking the lake.

On Friday 31 August we crossed the border into Canada and Pigeon River. We turned our clocks forward an hour - now on Eastern Time Zone and only 12 hours behind Perth!
Miles became kilometres and petrol/gas became litres instead of gallons.

We had no problems at the border with visas or the RV. The reason for our entering Canada to continue driving around Lake Superior was accepted with a smile as if the most obvious.

And now we could seriously start looking for a moose ... or even a bear!

Monday 3 September - in Wawa, Ontario.

We have spent the last 5 days exploring the shores of Lake Superior and last Friday we crossed the border into Canada. A little backgound information on Lake Superior ...

It is the largest freshwater lake, by surface area, in the world:  31,700 sq miles or 82100 sq kms
It holds 10% of the world's surface fresh water.
East-West it measures 350 miles or 563 kms
North-South it measures 160 miles or 257 kms
Average water temp is 40F or 4.4C
Length of circle tour is 1,300 miles or 2092 kms.

The Ojibwe also known as the Chippewa call the lake Gichigami meaning "big water."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as "Gitche Gumee" in The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song,"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

The first French explorers approaching the great inland sea during the 17th century referred to their discovery as le lac superieur. Properly translated, the expression means "Upper Lake," that is, the lake above Lake Huron. The English, upon taking control of the region from the French in the 1760s, following the French and Indian War, anglicized the lake's name to Superior, "on account of its being superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent.”

Many towns around the lake are either current or former mining areas, or engaged in processing or shipping. Today tourism is another significant industry. The sparsely-populated Lake Superior country, with its rugged shorelines and wilderness attracts tourists and adventurers.

Lake Superior has been an important link in the Great Lakes waterway providing a route for the transportation of iron ore and other mined and manufactured materials. Large cargo vessels called lake freighters, as well as smaller ocean-going freighters, transport these commodities across Lake Superior.

The southern shore of Lake Superior between Grand Marais, Michigan and Whitefish Point is known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes" and more ships have been lost around the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the last major shipwreck on Lake Superior, sinking 17 miles (27 km) from Whitefish Point on November 10, 1975.

According to legend, "Lake Superior seldom gives up her dead". This is because of the unusually low temperature of the water, estimated at under 36 °F (2 °C) on average around 1970. The water in Lake Superior is cold enough year-round to inhibit bacterial growth and bodies tend to sink and never resurface. This is alluded to in Gordon Lightfoot's ballad, "The Wreck of theEdmund Fitzgerald". The Edmund Fitzgerald's 29 crew members all perished.
So there you have it ... thanks to Wikipaedia

!

On our last morning in Duluth we got up early to watch a freighter come in to Duluth port, which by the way is the further inland than any other port in the world.  It was a large ship; the bridge lifted right to the top and the ship glided under it, coming in between the 2 piers.  It was quite a sight. The bells started to ring about 20 minutes before the ship went under the bridge and traffic was held up for at least 25 minutes - you would certainly need to check the Shipping News before heading off to work!

 We took 'the road less traveled' out from Duluth - old Highway 61 - it was great! Driving beside the lake with constant views of the vast tract of water that we love!!!!  Well perhaps a little exaggeration but I am coming from a perspective of 500 miles later and we are still enthralled! We were headed for Grand Marais, Minnesota - yes there is a Grand Marais, Michigan directly across the lake! We had made bookings ahead as were approaching a long weekend in the states and Canada - Labour Day on 3 September and anticipated that camping spots might be tight. 

We stopped at Gooseberry Falls; water very low given the time of year but very 
pretty. Also went on a tour of the Split Rock Lighthouse. We were told of the weather on the lake in winter - quite a different story. Waves can be 30 feet high.
I forgot to mention morning tea at Betty's Pies! World famous so how could we drive by?  Delicious!!
Arrived at Grand Marais mid afternoon - a beautiful place.  The RV park is right on the harbour and handy to everything that we wanted - bikes to the fore! After evening meal we went for (another) bike ride to a pretty lookout.
The evening light created an impression of the lake, horizon and sky merging into one - almost like a watercolor. Just amazing!  I know we are going to enjoy our stay here.