into the Upper Peninsula today.

First (short) stop was St Ignace, just over the bridge.  We snapped a picture of the lighthouse and continued on our way.

I know, I’ve shared road trip pictures before, but these long, straight roads just seem to sum it up sometimes.  I’d have been knitting, but having reorganised our luggage for the island, I didn’t have it to hand.  So I sat and sorted journal ephemera and entertained the crew with the sound of rustling paper.

We are travelling close to the Canadian border again.

Before long, we were in the city of Sault Ste Marie.  It’s nothing like as affluent as some of the small towns we’ve been travelling through, but we had a clear destination in mind.

We were going to take a look at the Soo Locks, which enable shipping to travel between Lakes Superior and Huron.

We’re right there in the red O and looking at it like this, we can get a great view of where we’ve been.

With a small yellow boat in the lock when we arrived, we lost no time in getting out there to see what was going on.

But once it had gone, we returned to the Visitor Centre to see what it was all about.  Looking at it like this, the importance of these locks became clear.  Thinking about it, what’s the alternative?  (if there is one at all?)

The relative levels of the lakes and the St Lawrence Seaway (and the Atlantic Ocean) was interesting to see too.  Who knew that Lake Superior was so deep – or so high?  Not me!

Anyway, as we stood chatting and looking around, we noticed there was another ship due. 

So we dashed out to the viewing area to take a look.

It was a slow old do, but eventually, the Federal Bering eased into the lock basin, close behind the cheerful red and green tug which had been sailing alongside.

We stood watching as they progressed through the whole lock process and eventually sailed out into Lake Huron, on the way to Sorel, east of Montreal, Canada.

Meanwhile,  we were chatting to our fellow ship nerds and watching as another tour boat came through.

All rather entertaining, if a little slow.  Plus, the show seemed to have ended for today.

So, it was time to go and check into our Hampton Inn for the night – a bright new property on the edge of town.  Not quite the Grand Hotel but a perfectly comfortable and very familiar format which suits us very well.  We identified a good place for dinner tonight on the way, so we can be back in time for Fixer Upper!