Going to The Soo

We left North Bay by 8:10am, not in a rush as the drive today is only about 6 hours.  We were in Sudbury by 9:45 where we got refueled and did the potty break thing.

We stopped for lunch 12:04 at the side of the Hwy at a pull out near Blind River.  Most days we eat salads with toppings (such as hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, cucs, raisins, etc.), some sort of veggie for dipping, and humus with rye crisps.  We also have our fermented veggies I made before we left, and will make another batch while we spend 2 days in Thunder Bay.  Oh, Natasha, the veggies turned out really nice with the sprinkling of whole peppercorn I threw in!  Nice hint of pepper.  Try it.)


Pretty much a non-eventful day driving to The Soo.  The four youngest children each get a Canada sticker each time we cross a provincial border.  They seem a bit perturbed that they aren't getting one each day now.  Maybe it will stick in their minds that Ontario is a big province to drive across!

Just so you know, Sault (Sault Ste Maria) means Falls, as in waterfalls.  The Soo sits strategically where Lake Huron & Lake Superior meet.  "The rapids of the St Mary's River were traditionally fished by the Ojibwe, and later presented an obstacle to the fur traders; now, close to the downtown area, a series of canals and locks enables huge freighters to navigate the last 'steps' of the St Lawrence Seaway system that stretches westward from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Superior." (from Lonely Planet's 'Canada')

Couldn't walk past this with the wind blowing so strong without getting wet!

Flags flying outside of the Civic Centre.

Toveli noticed this tree visited by Mr and/or Mrs Beaver.

A local moose.

And some wooden fish.

The building named after Dr. Roberta Bondar.

The walking was very, very slow as Laars loves to touch everything.  He particularly likes to pick flowers.  Here he's chosen a pine tree to checkout.

Anders was hiding from me and was going to scare me, but I think he was more surprised by mama with the camera than I was to find him there.

Mitchell totally loves gears.  He spends hours creating with K'nex.  Here he's delighted to find gears so big.  Gears that would open up these 'gates'.....

There were stairs and a ramp going up to the next level where we could overlook the locks.  Most of the children had more fun here than the rest of the whole boardwalk and the walk along the locks!!  So typical.

Rauchelle gave "Rail Sliding" lessons.

Dad gave instructions on how the locks worked.

We crossed over top of the locks (they are only open during summer season for recreational boats.  The ships use the USA locks.)  Then we walked most of St Mary's Island (one of two).

Lots of signs of Beavers.

The tallest bridge in the picture on the right, is the bridge that connects Sault Ste Marie, Ontario with Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.

We spotted Mrs Mallard and a bunch of her ducklings down in the lock when we were walking over top, rushing back to the hotel to beat the raincloud.  We were successful, in spite of taking time to enjoy the duck family.