Tuesday August 27 ... Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. to Ironwood, Michigan

Took off around 9 a.m. from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario...heading for Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.  Drove across the International Bridge between the two Sault Ste Maries. Took us about an hour to get across the US border at the other end.   Think we were in the slowest line EVER and the gal at the gate asked us tons of questions...guess two "mature" people on a motorcycle look like they need a good grilling! :)

Decided to detour a bit to St. Ignace to see the 5 mile long suspension bridge there.  When it was built in 1954 it was the longest of its kind in the world.  Today it is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. It was beautiful to behold.  We had planned to drive back and forth across it, but there was such a lovely park and viewing area before the actual crossing point that we decided to just stop there and look at it and take some pics.  There was construction on the bridge as well and traffic was moving at a snail's pace so we decided our view was plenty good enough from terra firma.

On then to Highway 28....the Lake Superior Scenic Tour.  Was surprised for some reason to see so much sandy beach here...

We were so pleased with how pretty the drive was and how MANY towns there were along the way. On the map we had consulted, it didn't look like there were many towns at all and we had rather expected lots of miles of just trees, but it seemed that every half hour (sometimes less) or so we'd pass through another settlement.  Some were small towns and villages, some looked quite properous and others not so much and there was even a city with a university (Marquette)!  And here we were concerned there might not be places to gas up!  Turns out we could have stopped and topped up the tank at will. :).  

There was a lot of variety in the drive...and that makes the time go faster.  Again we were mainly focused on making some time on the highway and didn't have too many stops planned, but I did manage to shoot a bunch more photos from the back of the bike. 

We stopped at this cute cafe for a delicious bowl of homemade turkey soup...

And at this picnic spot at Agate Falls for a light picnic supper...one of those totally unexpected places we have been blessed to come upon and thoroughly enjoy!

We saw much the same type of scenery we have seen thus far....small farms and rolling hills and lots of trees and lakes.  A very pretty route we thought...here are some of the sights we saw...

We have ended up tonight in Ironwood...had hoped to make it to Duluth but when we rolled in here just decided it was time to stop.  We were very hot and sticky as today's temps were hovering around 30' with very high humidity so we were ready for a shower and clean clothes.  We decided a laundromat would be a good way to spend a date evening, so off we walked with our dirty clothes to one located about 30 minutes away.  Once there we figured we'd earned the right to chips and a chocolate bar for a late supper/snack.  We walked back to the hotel too as we figured the chips and chocolate bar needed a walk :) and now I'm just writing this blog.  Will edit the pictures from today and include them and call it a night.

Westward ho!!!