After packing up and getting breakfast at the hotel, we head out to Sault St Marie and the famous Soo Locks. We head under the international bridge and see absoultely no traffic on it other than a lone semi. Last time I remember being here there were all sorts of cars everywhere. I guess that's what closed borders do to you. Regardless, we pull into town and to the park that abuts the locks and realize that it's fifteen minutes before the parks open up to get a closer look at the locks other than the views we had on the way in. It's generally decided that without a ship to really look at, it's kind of boring and not a photogenic location so we don't wait around and start the drive back on the old path of Rte 2. A lot of pretty views of farm land and runs of the road being enclosed by primarily pine forest and the road itself being framed with these yellow and white flowers. It's gorgeous.
We arrive just outside of St Ignace to Castle Rock. The primary reason to be here is that they have another pair of Paul Bunyan and Babe statues but they also have a trail that you can walk up to the top of said Castle Rock. We decide to do the walk since it's "only 171 steps". When we get outside we see that this isn't that they counted the steps like they had a FitBit or something, it's literal stairs up the side of the rock. I've never felt so tricked into working out. At the top though there is a really nice view that almost makes the deceit worth while.
The next stop today is at the Mystery Spot which we have seen advertized for a good part of yesterday as well as all morning. There's a back story that a pair of surveyors were here and found that their equipment didn't function correctly within this area and that they felt nauseous while there. They have all of these parlor tricks setup in the little area where water flows uphill and such. Fun to see and the guide for the tour played it up so the kids had a good time. There was a maze across the street as well that we did as a family. Gideon started in the lead and Abigail followed up the tail so it worked out well when one of them got to a dead end, the other would take over. It's actually a pretty good maze in that the dead ends aren't obvious right away so we do get caught a good amount. About three quarters of the way through though there is a small group of girls running through the maze which gives Gideon who was at the lead at that point some hints. Regardless we make it out and have a good time doing the maze.
Away we go driving again and pick up lunch at Moofinfries. The burger and fries I had were pretty good and Court and Abby really enjoyed their grilled cheese. We also decided that we should make sure to get pasty before we leave since they are offered literally everywhere and are apparently an Upper Peninsula thing. We opt for with gravy because why the heck not. It's essentially a pastry with ground beef, potato, rutabega and carrot which when taking the first part of the bite seemed okay but after having chewed on it a couple of times I grew to like more and more. I very much enjoyed it.
We pull into the hotel for the evening not too long afterwards because Court had a meeting to attend and while she did that, the kids and I went to The Big Spring to visit with my sister who was in the area on a road trip of her own. In classic fashion for this road trip however, it's raining pretty good by the time we arrive. I find my sister heading out of the little shop there with ponchos for her kids and husband. The park is pretty nice actually and get to head out onto the spring in this little pontoon raft thing to see the spring itself which was really neat. The kids all get a chance to play and tire eachother out and by the time we leave Abigail is ready to sleep. So, instead of heading out for some food, we get some pizza and bring it in. Stay in for the evening for some recovery with some big driving ahead of us tomorrow again.