Trip to the Soo, Part 2

Resuming...

...Friday morning:

During past trips to the Soo, we had taken the train ride north to the Agawa Canyon, and as we were heading north, I saw a little tiny place called Searchmont. From what I could see from the train, it looked interesting, and I wanted to see more. I figured I had a little time to explore, so Friday morning I packed everything back into the car and headed north, into damp weather--light rain started as I left and headed north. The map showed me where to go and how to get there. And my gas gauge needle was getting pretty close to E.

As I guessed, it was really out into the dense woods. The roads were all paved and well-marked, but the forest on either side was as dense as I remembered, with occasional rocky bluffs and hills. After about 45 minutes (with a number of breaks to take pictures), I reached my destination and took more shots. The old, old train station. The everything store (diner, grocery, gas station, post office, you name it), where I filled the gas tank. The school, which was boarded up for reasons I don't know. A one-lane wooden bridge just north of town--I put my little Mazda Protege on it, got out to take a picture, and it looked like a Mack truck (so how do those bigass campers and dump trucks get through?). An old Catholic church, in not-so-good shape, with a small cemetery nearby with white crosses and no headstones, also a mystery.

And then, believe it or not, on a newer building in town with big garage doors (fire station), I saw a sign that advertised Internet access--for certain hours a day, anyone can come in and get on line--here, in this tiny place (50 to 100 people, I would guess) in the middle of the forest. I was impressed.

I can only imagine what the winters are like--I saw plug-ins along the wall of the school's parking lot. I imagine it's a way of life. Winter can get savage there, but these people handle it, just like we do with winters that seem really mean to others but that we're used to.

All this time, it was raining lightly at times. When I finally started driving back to the Soo, I hit some really heavy rain. Then I drove out of it.

... Final things in town

I made a couple more stops, got a refund for that wallet (no problem), added a few more Sprite Ices and Halls blueberries, and then it was time to get back home. I decided to leave a little early because I didn't want to be caught in a rush-hour jam-up at that bridge because of U.S. customs and their heavy-duty vigilance. So I cashed in most of the Canadian money (excepting a loony, a twonie and some pocket change) and then headed for the bridge.

The end of the line was not far after I crossed the two flags, which is closer to the Canadian shore than the U.S. It was about 45 minutes of stop and go. Just a long wait. Finally it was my turn. Asked me where I was from, how long I stayed, what I bought, where did I stay, any alcohol or tobacco, where I worked, what stuff I was bringing over. Then they let me go. Two differences from the summer of 2002: No soldiers in fatigues with rifles, and they didn't ask to look into the car's trunk. Just two customs people, doing their job.

...The rest of the trip home

It was uneventful. I stopped in Newberry, hoping to see the old state hospital, but couldn't find it and didn't want to spend that much time sidetracked. So back on the road. The main highlights the rest of the way were running into two heavy bands of rain between Munising and Marquette (both times I thought I'd have to pull over, but suddenly I drove out of it). I got home about 6:30 p.m. And spent the rest of the night catching up with the world. The rain and storms had (predictably) bypassed Iron County again--my wife said they got some rain, but not too much.

Oh, I got a couple things for David while in the Soo: (1) A Canadian edition of TV Guide, the first time I had ever seen one--I knew he'd be interested. (2) An NFL preseason yearbook. (3) An ALF DVD. He was quite pleased and surprised.

That wraps up that trip. Now, time to start getting ready for another. We leave for the other one Sunday morning, once we can get everybody organized enough to pack. I'm hoping for 8 a.m., but I've got to be realistic.