Say Yah to Da U.P. Sault St Marie

We found Sault St Marie to be a really nice quiet town.  Brady and I took long walks in tidy neighborhoods and parks.   The Valley Camp Museum Ship and Locks is just a short walk from our campground.  The Valley Camp is a retired freighter.  It has been preserved to depict life on a Great Lakes working vessel and also holds nautical displays and wreckage from the Edmond Fitzgerald. 

For those to young to remember the Edmond Fitzgerald sank during a terrible Lake Superior storm November 1975, none of the 29 crew members survived.  The only pieces recovered were two viciously damage lifeboats.

The Soo is undergoing a lot of infrastructure updating (the roads and sidewalks are all tore up).  We were still able to wander through downtown and get to the Soo Locks.

The Soo Locks were built in 1837 by the Corp of Engineers and remains under their management.  The Locks join Lake Superior and Lake Huron (aka the lower Great Lakes).    The locks bypass the rapids of St Marys River.  10,000 ships go through the locks ever year.  Ice closes the locks annually from January to March.  My Mom and Dad lived in Sault St Marie just after they were married in 1945.  My Dad was assigned to the Lock Guard Attachment.  There are so many questions I never thought to ask them.  I have great hind sight.

On to the Island Casino, Harris, MI.  Harris is located 10 miles West of Escanaba. 

The Island has an RV park and it is only $15.00 a night with water and 50 amp service (which is very important to run our appliances and our air conditioner at the same time).   Les and I are planning to park there, and just go out on day trips.  We are hoping this will help save on gas dollars.  We haven’t been brave enough to figure out our mileage when pulling the 5^th wheel but we have a scary idea (da da da dahhhhh).

16 July 2011