Eastward Bound - Canada 2024

That was a nice experience for ya'll. Great pictures. We were in those stands in May '22. The lock ya'll went thru was closed when we we were there.
We also saw a couple freighters go through
Thanks for sharing your journey

 

Having been through multiple Locks hundreds and hundreds of times in my youth, it's very odd to me that it is a 'spectator sport'. Our system isn't this big, but the ones on the Ohio River are. Been through a couple of those also.

'Gongoozlers'

 

Not so much a spectator sport......more of a security measure. We Yoopers need to keep an eye on those crazy Canucks, eh? You never know when one of them is going to jump ship.......

 

Great pics. That's wild to find your old truck like that. How did the new truck perform towing the trailer through mountain passes?

 

campinspecter said that the truck had no problems at all on the hills. He was able to use cruise control for most of the time. I didn't have any trouble either when it was my turn to drive.

 

Woodwidow, You would make a terrific tour guide

 

Why thank you, sir. My family just tell me I like to talk a lot.

 

That must have been very enjoyable for both of you. I remember be at the Locks in the Panama Canal and watching the freighters and cruise ships make their way through. I stood on the docks taking pictures of the tourists taking pictures of us on the docks!

 

The day after our boat tour of the US side of the locks, we went back to the Canadian Historical locks location. Although the lock itself is shutdown right now for repairs, we were able to wander the grounds and walk the trail over to the rapids.
This is the original powerhouse of the locks. The Canadian lock built in 1895, was the longest in the world and the first electrically operated lock.
Sault Ste. Marie Canal National Historic Site


I am beginning to appreciate the brick siding on these old buildings. We don't have anything like this back home. It just happened that I have been watching a couple of videos on how to reproduce this look for doll house miniatures.


Canadian lock looking downstream.


Looking upstream. We crossed over on a bridge over the closed lock.


The closed gates. The bridge was expanded metal so Shadow was packed over the bridge.


From the two pieces of the island that the lock cuts through, we were able to cross another bridge to Whitefish Island and walk a trail out to see the rapids.


Massive beaver dam between the islands. We didn't see any beavers.


Looking upstream at the rapids from the water lookout.


Looking downstream.


Across the rapids at the US side and the new lock construction.


We walked up along the side of the island until the trail disappeared. The rapids are quite shallow.


Zoomed in to the rapids.


For quite some way along the trail were these forget-me-nots. It brought to mind the story of Anne of Green Gables. For any woman of my age group, we read this book of a story of a girl living on Prince Edward Island in the late 1800s/early 1900s. In the woods where she walked in the spring, would be carpets of bluebells and/or violets.








I climbed the many stairs to the viewing platform above the locks. This is looking upstream. You can see where we crossed the lock to the trail.


And downstream.


Here you can see into the penstocks of the original powerhouse. Water erosion over the last 129 yrs needs to be addressed. These penstocks haven't been seen since they were installed.


Here is one of the original butterfly valves that were used when the lock was first built. Over the years, they have been replaced with gate valves. It is over 10 ft. wide.


The next day we went to the Bushplane museum not far from where we set off on the boat tour. It was a fascinating place. So fascinating that I didn't take the phone out and take any pictures.
Many of the planes we saw such as the De Havilland Beaver, Otter and Turbo Beaver were very visible when we were active pilots. Beavers are still being used in our area after 60 years of being out of production. Many have been resurrected from crashes from all over the world.
Republic Seebee was another one we used to see. Republic RC-3 Seabee - Wikipedia
A lot of the information on the aircraft was in relation to the wildfire protection service in the province of Ontario.
The Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Sault Ste. Marie | Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre

 

These are great pictures and as I follow your thread/travels I feel I am also learning some history
Thank you

 

A lot of what we are seeing are places and events that we learned about in school and over the years. Our local history doesn't go back as far as eastern Canada.

 

If you have time and ambition PEI is an excellent place to visit. My daughter had gotten into a tv series called Anne with an E” we took a trip up to the island a couple summers ago. Beautiful scenery, nice beaches, friendly people and excellent food. The bay of Funday Wes excellent as well. Only downside was the mosquitoes. We have them here but nothing like what’s up there. And it costs an arm and a leg to cross the Confederation bridge…

 

That's great

 

The TV series was based on a series of books by Lucy Maud Montgomery called Anne of Green Gables. First published in 1908. Most women my age in Canada read and reread the books. The books centered around PEI in the late 1800s. I definitely would like to go there.

 

Oh
Yes, her mother read her the books.

 

Is this trip over?

 

She said she didn't have good internet service where she was. They have made it to Niagara Falls area so far.

 

I remember my two sisters reading Anne of Green Gables books. And Nancy Drew. Didn't know there were movies and made for TV series based on them.

 

Sorry. The last couple of campgrounds had very poor internet so I couldn't load pictures.