Lakers? Salties? Who Cares - I Just Want A Rumble

There are two Sault Ste. Maries – one in Ontario Canada and one in Michigan. They are right across from each other separated by the International Bridge. The one in Canada has about 75,000 people, the one in Michigan only has 15,000. The big draw here are the Soo Locks. I have splurged and gotten a camping spot about 5 minutes away from the Locks called the Soo Locks Campground, funny enough. It is basically an asphalt parking lock with the campers all squeezed in next to each other. There is no room to even put out an awning but make no nevermind – it is amazing – we are right on the river and we can see the big – no make that giant – ships coming through the Locks going from Lake Huron to Lake Superior and vice versa.

These ships are really something. I toured one of these big ships that was docked in Toledo last year but seeing these ships in the wild, where they are free roaming is something totally different. You hear a deep rumbling as they come toward you on the river that resonates at the cellular level. It is rather thrilling and anytime I felt one coming I had to get my binoculars out and run to the shoreline to watch them go by.  I now have an app on my phone where I can look up any ship in the world and see where it is, where it is going and all the little details about that ship.  For the last few days, I've been following some of the ships I watched pass by.  

View out my front window - you can't even take a picture of the whole ship because they are so large

I've come here to make believe I'm one of those big Lakers (ships that work the Great Lakes) or Salties (the ocean going variety). I am going to ride thru the locks on my very own ship. Well, maybe the Nokomis is actually a smaller boat that hauls tourists thru the locks – but who cares.

Before we get to the pictures – perhaps I should confess – for a short amount of time, I was an illegal alien. The boat goes up through the American locks and then crosses into Canadian waters and comes down through their lock. I did not have a passport, I did not have a visa. Immigration on either side did not even notice. Whew!!!!

Entering the Lock

Water is rising

Almost to the top

Just waiting for the gates to open, we have been raised 21 feet

One of my tires on the Cooper started flashing a low air message so I stopped at U.P. Tire. They took off the tire monitors on the stems and checked the air. The tire monitors are external ones that signal back to the RV when I'm towing the car what my tire status is. Otherwise, if the car were to have a tire problem, I would never know it. They determined that there were no leaks and made sure all of the tires were properly inflated. All tires that is except one. One of the monitors was cemented onto the stem and would not come off. They tried different solvents to try to loosen it up and nothing worked. Finally they had to saw it off. These guys were tire specialists and they really struggled trying to get it off. I figured that I could get another monitor, but what if I was on the road, in the middle of nowhere and I needed to do some maintenance or put air in that tire. Your local gas station guy wouldn't have a clue on how to get it off. They spent about 45 minutes working on it and did not charge me a cent. U.P. Tires rocks!!!!