This morning we took our sweet time getting up and out of the motel since we had to backtrack anyway. I'd like to find some good in all of this and the most obvious good is the fact that I'm not buying a new computer to finish this trip. When I look at it that way, hey, what's 125 miles when you're having fun anyway.

We get back on SR 23 but this time we're heading north. The day was quite comfortable and we made good time. As you already know, we like lighthouses and, what do you know, there was the 40 Mile Light on our right that we had missed going south. We stopped and took a couple of pictures of the light and Lake Huron (photo 1 & 2). Unfortunately, the light was closed to visitors.

As we are traveling up the interstate, we see the same sign several times which is not intended to be funny, but seems humorous to us, nonetheless. The sign reads, "Killed or Injured Worker, $7500 and 15 years in jail." We had never seen a sign like that before any where on the trip. I understand that Michigan is just trying to protect its road workers, but I wondered how it felt to know that you're life is worth $7500 if some guy nails you while he's changing the CD player. Also, I wondered how bad an injury you had to receive to make the full $7500. Is there a sliding scale? And do other state workers have similar specific fines and jail sentences? I mean how much will it cost you if you kill the State Attorney General, or the state's top lawyer? $100? I don't even want to go into the jail time you get if you run down a state politician.

Anyway, it's not long and we're making our second trip across the Mackinac Bridge. This time I give the camera to Linda who tries to get a couple of shots while I'm bouncing around in the wind and construction work (photos 3, 4, & 5).

We get into Sault Ste Marie around noon and pick up the computer. The motel has a room available so we decide to check-in and stay the night. We take a walk down to the waterfront and snap a few shots of some of the carvings the city has placed around their community park (photos 6,7, & 8). We are really impressed with this city. Santa Clara, CA is a town of 100,000, 25,000 more than Sault Ste Marie, and we haven't done one-half of what Sault Ste Marie has done in terms of public works and parks.

Since were going to be here overnight, we decide to take the "Lock Tour" on the Chief Shingwauk (photo 9), which takes us through both the Canadian and American locks, plus past several other local attractions. We pass a Catboat with a large "barn door" rudder that you seldom see in the San Francisco Bay (photo 10). We pass the Bush Plane Museum, which I would like to see if we have time (photo 11).

Then the Chief Shingwauk crosses the International Border between the US and Canada (photo 12), and not one customs official is here to hassle us. The large building across the river is the Edison Power Generating Plant built in 1902 and still functioning today. It uses the power of the rivers current to generate hydroelectric energy (photo 13).

Since we're on a Lock Tour, it's only proper that we pass the "rapids" of the Saint Mary's River since it was these same rapids that the locks were built to bypass (photo 14). Up ahead we see another Lock Tour boat from a US Tour company; the Hiawatha and we follow her into the locks. The difference in height between Lake Superior and Lake Huron is twenty-one feet. We will lock up to the Lake Superior level, travel around to the American Lock, and then lock down twenty-one feet to the Lake Huron level. You can see the sequence in photos 15, 16, 17 & 18).

Next we pass a steel smelting plant, which is run on coal and lime. You can see a ship offloading iron ore for processing (photos 19 & 20). This is "old" industry for us California "silicon valley" types. We only get to pollute our water with toxic chemicals instead of our air with coal dust. You picks your poison, I guess.

Photo 21 shows us locking down in the American Lock to the Lake Huron level. The process is just the reverse of what you've seen on the Canadian side. The Chief Shingwauk nestles back alongside its pier and we enjoy the rest of the afternoon walking around the waterfront. The Sault Ste Marie Canadians are quite proud of Dr. Roberta Bondar, their first Canadian woman astronaut, and have named a whole complex after her.

I finished with a carving that reminds me of Canada, a carving of the voyageurs in a canoe (photo 24). One of the things we've seen on the road in great numbers are cars with canoes or kayaks on top. There are so many lakes and rivers in the North Country that the canoe has come to symbolize Canada for me.

Tomorrow, we will try to get through Michigan again. We've decided to take Interstate 75 south, and then over to Interstate 69. It may not be a back road but hopefully it will allow us to make up some time.