Vicky and Nancy's Great Lakes Camping Adventure!!!!

Today my dear friend Vicky and I are crossing an adventure off  our "bucket lists".  We are going to visit each of the five Great Lakes in 8-10 days.  From Minneapolis to Wisconsin's beautiful Lake Superior coast into the Michigan's Upper Peninsula just for starters.  You can be our virtual travelers if you'd like and follow along.  Don't forget your bug spray!!!!

Well, we made it to Wisconsin................................

but were in a little to much of a hurry.

Yup....that's the police.

Why is she smiling you ask??????

She only got a warning.

Finally, Michigan!

but.......

it's raining  (insert sad face).

Behold.....

 Lake Michigan, one lake down!!!

Wow!!! The bridge.

(The Mackinac Bridge is a 5 mile suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Upper and Lower peninsulas of Michigan.  It is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world.   The bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957 )

         Our Camp ground on the shores of Lake Huron.

                                 Our camp site.

Lake Huron

                             Second Lake down!!

On Saturday we took a ferry to Mackinac Island.  There are no cars allowed on the island so you have to travel like this......

or this...................

The views are amazing.

The Grand Hotel

Unfortunately we couldn't go inside without a skirt (again insert sad face).  If you happen to be dressed appropriately you have to pay $10 to go inside.

                

                                                    The Old Fort and it's staff.

The Fudge. 

 There are 17 fudge and candy shops on the island.  Yum!!!

We drove to our camp site after putting the address in the GPS and this is where we ended up.

We had put in the wrong number.  Fortunately the correct address was just across the street.

The campground was very clean and adequate, claiming to be the closest one to the falls but it was in a very industrial area and noisy.  Niagara Falls has been very economically depressed for the last 25 years and it shows. 

The first afternoon we drove ourselves to Goat Island (a Niagara Falls State Park) and viewed the American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls from the platforms. 

The buildings on the upper right are the Canadian Niagara Falls which includes the Horseshoe Falls.  American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls are Niagara Falls New York.  I hope I didn't confuse you cause I was.  You can take a tour from either side, they both do the boat tour.

The next day we took a tour and actually went down to the falls, first through a series of platforms called 'Cave of the Winds' beneath the American Falls (and we actually went up to the highest platform called the 'Hurricane'), you'll see us in the yellow slickers and yes we still got wet.  (Note our souvenir sandals.)

Then we went on a boat ride where everyone wore a blue slicker and were driven to the base of the Horseshoe Falls.  (Note, you can do all this without a tour and a lot cheaper just buying a pass for it at the park itself.)

During the afternoon we completed our goal of getting our feet in Lake Erie, which was warm, and Lake Ontario, which was very cold, and both beaches were pebbles and rocks, not sand.

Lake Erie  (three lakes down)

Lake Ontario  (four lakes down)

Tonight we are going to the Canadian Niagara Falls to have dinner at the Skylon, a rotating restaurant in the sky.

Last night we crossed into Niagara Falls, Ontario and went to dinner in the restaurant in the sky called Skylon, the elevator is on the outside!!. The dining room rotates completely around every hour.

After dark and we were finished eating, we went up to the observatory for this incredible view of the falls.

In the morning we packed up and headed up north to Canada.  Most of today was driving to the area of Sudbury on the north side of Lake Huron.  We found Carol's Campground on Lake Richard  and settled in for the night.  The weather today and tonight has been gorgeous!!

Lake Richard

The drive in this area of Canada is stunning and pictures could not do it justice.

We left Sudbury but before we did, the locals told us the thing to see in the area was the Nickel Mine.  This educational and interactive site is called Dynamic Earth.  The entrance has a giant Canadian Nickel that was made in the 50's.

The interactive areas are mostly geared for children but are fun for  all ages.   Then we were taken down into a mine and shown how mining has changed thru time.

But of course we had hard hats........

Old wooden ore shoots.

           

Yup...the toilet.

The cage used to pull up trapped miners.  They used one like this recently in Chili.

We spent the fourth in Sault St Marie Ontario and to our surprise they were celebrating the US fourth of July.  The boardwalk was sent up with food venders and a music concert until dark then many people showed up with their lawn chairs and set up on the boardwalk itself to watch the fireworks being set off by Sault St Marie Michigan just across the St Mary River.  Some said it was even better than the Canadian fireworks on Canada day  July 1.  Needless to say we felt proud to be an American.

We left Sault St Marie and headed for the extreme northern shore of Lake Superior, Ontario.  The many pictures I took just can't do this seemingly pristine area justice so below are just a few.  Much of the shoreline is not developed and it seems the living areas are very sparse.

Lots of Moose signs, just saw a dead one on the side of the road.

Behold!!!!Lake Superior!!!

Fifth Lake down!!!!!

This was called "Old Women Bay", can you see the old women's face?

This is called Aguasabon River Gorge.  We are quite high but you can't tell in the picture.  

We stopped in a little town called Rossport, right on the Lake, for a chocolate sunday at the Serendipity.  It was highly recommended by a traveler we met.  I would highly recommend it too.

We made the trip from Sault St Marie, Ontario to Thunder Bay, Ontario in one day.  Very long drive but it was a beautiful day and we saw many travelers including those on motorcycle and pedal bikes.  

Top Ten Canadian list.

10.  Our money currently is worth a little more than theirs.

9.  The speed limits are in kilometers per hour NOT miles per hour!

8.  There is just as much road construction in Ontario as in Minnesota!!!!

7.  They don't have High Fructose Corn Syrup. (my little dig on America). later found out this is not true, they do have HFCS but they call it something different.  So sad.

6.  The road side distance signs are also in kilometers NOT miles.  (1Km is equivalent to 0.6214 miles.)

5. They have a "Prime Minister" instead of a President. Their current one is Stephen Harper

4.  All of Ontario is on Eastern Standard Time or they don't observe daylight saving time.  

3. Canadians we saw were not happy with their socialized medicine and their tax freedom day is June 10, ours is April 18 this year.

2.  The MOSQUITOES ARE REALLY BIGGER IN CANADA!!

1.  The Canadians really do end every 4th or 5th sentence with the very fast question "eh?"

Love Ya Canada!!!!!