2018 Summer RV Trip – Day 25 –Zoo Locks and Michigan Thoughts

The primary reason for coming to Sault Ste. Marie was to see the Soo Locks which we finally did our last day in the area.  For a good service to visitors, the locks has a 24 hour hotline that tells you when the next ships are scheduled to hit the locks and for this day, there was one due in at 11:45 am. 

So we got ready and headed up to the Soo to make our first stop at the Tower of History which is a 210’ tall concrete tower with observation decks and a high speed elevator.  

The tower was built in 1968 by the Catholic Church as the Shrine of the Missionaries but was donated to the Sault Historic Sites in 1980.  It has been operated as the Tower of History ever since.  Here are two shots from the top and the ship in the second one is the one we’ll see going thru the locks and the first pic is the bridge is Canada.

About 15 minutes before ship arrival time, we went to the locks viewing platform and claimed a spot on the railing to watch the proceedings and it just so happened the tour boat we planned to take later was coming thru the locks heading upstream.

The folks in the control tower are closing the lower gates behind him as he gets into position and is tied off. The upstream gates are in the closed position as we get the second look at our ship.

The upper gates open for the tour boat as the freighter approaches.  

Off he goes.

It passed the freighter just up from the locks as the ship headed for the down bound lock.

A big backup on the International Bridge into Canada.

The CSL Tadoussac is a 50 Year old freighter hauling iron ore to the eastern end of the St. Lawrence River on this trip.  Her keel was laid in 1968 and in 2000, $20 million was spent to widen her haul to 78’ and re-christen her.  She is 730’ long, has a 9600 hp diesel engine, a cargo capacity of 30,000 tons (60 million pounds), and a cruising speed of 17 knots.

The original Soo Lock was built in 1882 to allow ships to pass the 21 foot cascading St. Mary’s river between Lakes Superior and Huron.  Note the water on the far side of the locks.

The current four locks are the MacArthur built in 1943 at 800’ long x 80’ wide, the Poe Lock (1896 & 1968 – 1200’x110’), The Davis Lock (1914 – 1350’x80’) and the Sabin Lock (1919 – 1350’x80’) but not used at this time.  The first two are the primary locks in use today.  The locks are owned and operated by the Army Corps Of Engineers and passage is free to all vessels – which surprises me and I assume is true of all locks in the USA.

The ship approached the lock so slowly that it was hard to tell it was moving but it finally made it in, got tied off and started going down.

From the time we first saw it until it cleared the locks, it took about two hours.  We went back to the Tower Of History to catch it leaving. 

Now headed for Lake Huron.

Also the tour boat was returning from its trip upstream.  

Also seen from the tower was a small cruise ship, an anchored freighter, and the Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant completed in 1902.

The 1340' long building contains 74 horizontal shaft, low head generators.  Unfortunately, it was not open to tour.

The Soo Locks are another good example of mans ability to shape the earth to suit our needs.

After watching the tour boat and ship go thru the locks and having already taken the ferry to Mackinac Island, we decided to pass on the $30/head tour boat ride in favor of taking our own boat thru the 72 ‘ drop Ft. Loudoun Lake locks at home.

Michigan wrap up

I enjoyed Michigan and found much of where we were to be similar to our area with lots of trees, rolling hills, and many lakes – but way more in MI.  For the most part, I thought the roads were bad and can’t imagine what it will take to get them all back in shape – many of the back roads had patches on top of patches on top of patches and still with plenty of potholes.  With higher fuel prices than at home perhaps, MI should adopt a law where all fuel tax money goes toward road work – it makes a big difference in TN.  On a positive note, there was little to no trash along the roads vs our trashy situation.

I thought the great lakes were gorgeous and was surprised that much lakefront land was for sale in the less populated areas.  As for the more populated/tourist areas, they were very busy even this late in August after many schools have started.  I found the people we met to be very friendly and especially so during our brief UP stay and I’d like to spend more time in that part of the state.  One thing we didn’t like was the campgrounds without concrete pads and grass were sand and all six of us carried it into the coach, especially the pups when they got wet from dew then walked into the sand – Bev had to take them to the shower a few times.  

I was surprised at the high number of state and local parks as well as the lakes and ponds mentioned earlier.  Also, there seemed to be bike trails everywhere – our biking neighbors would enjoy that aspect of the state.  My main disappointment with MI was the expected cooler temps that had inspired this trip can’t be relied on, our position on Michigan is probably that we’ve been there and done that – but one should never say never as I can envision a return to the UP.

Tune in next time as we move on to Wisconsin.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/14/18 Event Date