It was 6:45 a.m. when the first train came by, and 7:15 a.m. when the second one made its appearance, blowing its horn for a half a mile before it reached the crossing. Then there was the added sound of the breaks as they squealed along the tracks, trying to slow the downhill speed of this freight train. Of course, we can't forget the shaking of the cabin we were in when you are only 50 yards away from tons and tons of rolling steel (photo 1). All of that and Linda slept right through it. Go figure.

As the morning sun rose over the little harbor of Rossport, we felt comfortable in our cabin while we prepared ourselves to continue our trip eastward (photo 2 & 3). The Rossport Inn had been a nice surprise and we felt good about being there. If all goes as planned, we should be in Sault Ste Marie (pronounced Sue Saint Marie) by the time the evening sun sets. The only real question is will we get rained on today?

The roads we've traveled on in Canada have all been in very good condition and Hwy 11/17 East didn't disappoint us. We made good time as the road followed the lakefront for much of its length to the border. We stopped several times at some of the turnouts, one of which was Old Woman Bay (photos 4, 5 & 6). I found it interesting that this road sign referred to Bill Mason, a Canadian canoeist who passed away several years ago. I own all of his films on canoeing in Canada and on Lake Superior. He's one of the reasons I wanted to take this route. What a treat to see him "officially" recognized.

Lake Superior and its islands ducked in and out of view for much of the day but surprisingly, the grandeur we had been expecting on the ride was somewhat lacking We wondered why we felt this way. Yes, the ride around the top of Lake Superior is a very nice ride but I don't think it compares to major sections of Canadian Highway 3 in British Columbia. The main attraction, Lake Superior, is not all that visible until the latter half of the ride, and then only sporadically. It is indeed grand when you see it, but you don't see it nearly enough to make this ride a superstar.

We are now on our twenty-third day on this trip and we have been on some great roads, some great rides. I won't list them again, but all of a sudden, we've become spoiled. Another factor may be the fact that this road was over hyped. They raised my expectations to a level that was unrealistic for even a nice road. Would I recommend it? Sure, if you're in the area. Visiting Canada is always a bargain, in any case. Just expect a nice ride, but nothing to compare to Glacier's, Road to the Sun or the Beartooth Mountains, or the California and Oregon Coasts.

As we proceeded southeastward, the clouds started to get dark and the chance of rain seemed to be increasing. Because of yesterday, we decided to put on our raingear sooner than later. We stopped at the small community of Marathon, a ski resort in the winter (photo 7). While we were suiting up, a strange thing happened. A middle aged fellow and two teenage boys were in a truck watching us get dressed. Before they left, the adult driver motioned me over to the truck and proceeded to tell me that he had just come from the direction we were heading and that it was raining so hard that he could hardly see the road. That was an interesting piece of information but the really interesting part, for me, was that as he was telling me all of this, and there was no rain on his truck or windshield. At first I didn't know what to think, but I told him I had no choice except to go back or go forward, and forward was where I intended to go. He suggested that I stay put. I thanked him and he went on his way.

I didn't say anything much to Linda but as we left I started watching all of the traffic coming our way. Not one of them was wet or was using the windshield wipers. Mile after mile, the road remained dry while the clouds continued to get darker. I saw several motorcyclists, several of whom had rain gear on, but not one was wet. After about a half-hour of this I told Linda what the fellow had said and also told her I thought he had been pulling our leg. The question was why? Were they watching the Yanks from California dressing for rain and saying, "What are they doing? It's not going to rain." I have no idea but I didn't believe that someone could have just driven through rain so hard you could hardly see and not have any leftover rain on his truck. It was only 64 degrees out. Too cold to evaporate rain very quickly. It gave us something to wonder about as we headed towards the border.

We eventually stopped for lunch and for gas at White River, and I talked with two Harley riders who had just come from the direction we were heading and they said they had not been rained on that morning, but the clouds were getting darker (photo 8). I told them basically the same thing about where I had been. They were going to put on their rain gear and expected to get wet.

We did get rained on eventually, of course. It took awhile but it finally came. It was never so hard we couldn't see but after it started, it was steady until we reached Sault Ste Marie. About an hour later when we pulled under the overhang of the Sleep Inn Motel, we were ready to get out of our wet gear and have a nice warm room The raingear did its job well, but I don't like riding in the rain. I do it only because I have to. I actually prefer a soft rain to gale force winds. I guess the worst of all situations would be heavy rain in gale force winds. Bite my tongue.

Sault Ste Marie is a really nice city of 75,000 but it has facilities of a much larger town. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as we got in and dried off, the rain let up and by 6:30 that evening, we were able to walk the quarter mile to Dock's Restaurant for a salmon dinner. Later, we walked around the waterside park seeing the attractions (photos 9,10,11,12), and even got to listen to a bagpipe band. Three hours earlier it was raining cats and dogs, now we're making like tourist in the late evening sun. Aint' life grand?

Little did we know that we would get to know Sault Ste Marie much better than we ever wanted to. But that's a story for tomorrow.

Today's Route: Canadian Hwy 11/17 from Rossport to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada.