Entered Canada

Tuesday, June 30, 2009


Rolling into the Falls of Saint Mary's I couldn't help but thinking about the early settlers and trappers who first explored this part of the country. The flat land probably appealed to farmers while the woodlands were undoubtedly teeming with marketable wildlife. It must have been exhilerating to travel through vast tracts of virgin territory. Anyway, the city of Sault Ste Marie now exits on both sides of the rapids that once prevented ships from passing between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. Now there are locks that permit such travel.
After stocking up on supplies and gas, we headed for the Canadian side of the city. This photo shows the view as we crossed over a canal that connects Lake Huron to Lake Superior, and separates the US from Canada. Crossing a long bridge we soon found ourselves in line to go through customs. After a short wait it was our turn. The custom agent who greeted us asked the usual questions then waved us through. The trick now was to find the road that would take us to Orillia and the Mariposa music festival. This, however, proved to be no easy task. The first obstacle was that the Canadian Sault Ste Marie is much larger than its American namesake, and secondly, the Canadians have an altogether different approach to alerting the motoring public as to the location and directions to the major arteries. After an hours worth of wandering aimlessly through false turns and detours, we finally found our bearings. Once we were out in the Canadian countryside all of of recent travails faded away and we were awash in the beauty of the ever changing landscape of rolling hills and tidy farms.
We drove another 200 miles before deciding to stop in a rest area just south of the French River.