Sault Ste. Marie - Day 3

Today's train trip departed from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, so we had to "cross the border".  Although mapquest said the 5 mile trip would take 15 minutes, we were advised to allow 45 minutes to get through customs.  We could pick up our tickets at 7:00 (train boarded @ 7:30 and left @ 8:00), so we left this morning just before 6am.  We got to the train station @ 6:15. But we were soon accompanied by others who had received the same advice.

The weather forecast for today was for isolated thunderstorms, so we packed our rainsuits to take on the train with us in case it was raining when we got back (we could suit-up before getting on the bikes). We carried our helmets with us, too.  Locking them onto the bikes didn't seem like a bright idea if they were going to be filled with rain water when we returned.  As we were waiting for the train we were approached by a woman who was also taking the train trip.  She asked if we wanted to leave our helmets in the trunk of their car.  She said she couldn't imagine us having to keep our helmets with us on the train.  So a HUGE THANK YOU to Teia (please forgive me if I misspelled your name) and Gary who allowed us to store our helmets in their car.  We saw them at the beginning of the trip and when we returned to the parking lot.  They were today's heroes.  It is meeting people like this that make these trips so memorable.

We rode the train for about 4 hours to get to the Agawa Canyon - through breathtaking forests, past beautiful lakes and waterfalls.  There was a camera mounted on the front of the train and several screens in each car, so we could see what was coming before we got there. This is how a few passengers in our car (Vaughn being one of them) saw a small black creature dart away from the train tracks, across the marsh and into the woods.  By the time our train car reached this spot, we saw a small bear disappearing into the woods.  He was too quick for a picture, but we really and truly saw a bear today.  That was so COOL!

The canyon held trails that wound up and down through forests of mosquitoes, ferns and trees to three different waterfalls.  We made it to one, but the heat got the better of us, read that as Vaughn.  He sought the air conditioning of the train and I continued traipsing around for pictures.   A nice trip, but too much time on the train and we were ready to get back on the road.

We were concerned about the ride back into the U.S. because yesterday we saw the traffic BACKED UP getting into our country.  Getting into Canada - no problem.  Getting into the U.S. - be prepared to wait.  We made it across the bridge (once I finally navigated us back to the bridge...)  But the border control guy was something else - he had my passport, but wanted to know what my name was, where I lived, what I did in Virginia, what my license plate number was, and could I take off my sunglasses....  We here tell that crossing over here is NOTHING compared to crossing at Niagara Falls -- well, I guess we'll find out in a few days.

Tomorrow we cross back into Canada to continue our travels to Sudbury.  Maybe this time we'll see a moose!