24 August 2013 - Canada travel

When you look at a map, you can see that the sizes of Canada and the USA are somewhat similar.  The contrast is in the population, with Canada having about 1/10 the number of people as we do.  That was evident as we drove for about 4 hours today.  We are staying in Sudbury, a city with a population of about 160,000 and the only place we encountered after leaving Sault Ste.Marie that had more than 6000 inhabitants.  Because of this the the country is magnificent, beautiful and uncrowded. Roads are smaller and traffic much reduced compared to the States.

This morning, before driving on, we decided to investigate the Soo Locks.  When the trappers came here, they found a difficult rapids on the river between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, with the water dropping 21 feet over a short distance.  The French fur traders decided to build a system of canal and locks to bypass the problem. The initial lock was only 9 feet wide and not very long, but a series of them made transportation with canoes and small boats possible. Later a private enterprise built better locks and finally the Corp of Engineers took it over.  We visited the locks today and watched them work.  We went to the lock on the Canadian side, made for smaller ships and boats.  The really big locks are on the American side and handle huge carriers and ships.  It was fun to watch a ship make the transit.

This tour boat has entered the lock from the Lake Superior side.  In the background you can see the orange/red lock gates closed. Water is allowed to fill the lock from Superior by gravity and a valve.  Once the gates are closed, the water is allowed to flow out to the lower Lake Huron, also by gravity and the boat is lowered to the proper level to leave the lock.  Power is only needed to open and close the gates and the large butterfly valves, no pumping is necessary.

Then the gates are opened downstream and the boat heads into Lake Huron.  It is a cool sight to see.











We could also get a good view of the international bridge which we crossed yesterday from Michigan into Canada.  It is often backed up with cars waiting to pass through customs.  We had no problem with customs because we carried no contraband, except a Book of Mormon (which we did not declare).

After our lovely lock learning lesson we left, leading east.  The countryside is lush and covered with thick forests with some leaves already beginning to make the fall color transition.  In places, with much effort,, I am sure, fields have been cleared and farmed.  The speed limit did not exceed about 58 mph until we reached a true freeway, a few miles from Sudbury.  Then it rose to a magnificent 70 mph.  We did not take any pictures after the locks but will see what tomorrow brings.  We plan to attend church and then push on to Ottowa.  This country is beautiful and we love the laid back pace of life here.