Heading home

After a short, two night stay in Sault Ste Marie it was time to head back South. All of or previous Ontario trips had been a week long as after tleaving the Soo we would drive 250 miles to the Killarney Peninsula to stay in a rustic lodge on the banks of Lake Huron, known as Georgian bay in this area. A more quiet  and restful place might be hard to find. We had 4 wonderful visits there in October 05 06 07 and 08. The Killarney Mountain Lodge was our home and we indulged our love of Fall Color there.

No time for that in May 2012 alas. We have many happy memories of simple relaxing times there and hope to return some day.

Once packed and armed with an array of British candy from the Shell gas station next door we decided to stop at the locks on our way home to see if there were any ships passing through....we hit the Motherlode!

A gritty -looking barge being towed and pushed by two muscular tugs

There's ample street parking, hotels and restaurants where fish and chips is the staple dish, right by the locks on the Michigan side of the river.

back to the Locks!

And another one!

Two coming though at the same time. The Alpena is at least 40 years old.

The Alpena is gone. Now the lock sits empty waiting for the next traversal.

Looks like a hard working ship. Time for a dry dock?

She's not Cruise-ship-pretty but she has a different kind of job to do

The Arthur M Anderson heads towards Lake Huron while the Algoma Discovery dips it's toes into Lake Superior.

Although we could have stayed there longer it was time to go. We would pass through US customs quickly and be welcomed back into the USA for a nice leisurely drive to Charlevoix in Michigan.

First a look at the traffic board in the Locks welcome center

Bye for now Soo Locks!!