From Texas, to Michigan, to Minnesota, back to Michigan, and home to Texas

This is the story of my life these days. We made it to Detroit Thursday, drove to the Upper Peninsula (a.k.a. the UP) and are now driving to Minnesota (eh) tomorrow. Yes, it's a butt buster. And, I have no further comments. We'll just leave it at that.

Anyhow, here's a summary of the UP (Sault Saint Marie) so far.

• The Soo Locks are pretty cool. I've never seen anything so fascinating (ok, maybe I have, but at the time I saw it, it was the most fascinating thing to date). These big, hugs ships and barges, some up to 1,000 feet, enter the locks from either the river or Lake Superior, and the force of gravity lowers them or raises them so that they can be on their merry way. And it all takes about 15 minutes. It really is amazing. There are no pumps involved. The water level raises and lowers after the "doors" in the locks are closed. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's cool.
• The weather is absolutely fabulous. Highs in the 70s (and sunny... not a cloud in the sky!), lows in the 50s (ok, that part I could do without).
• Lake Superior... how gorgeous is this lake? I wish I could download the photos I took today to show you. The water is three different shades of blue for as far as you can see. The water is cold, um, I mean, freezing, but the lake is still beautiful. We went out and just sat on the beach (yes, they do have sand... not rocks like Galveston), and I got a little sunburn on the face!

That's it. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here. As we all know... "I don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan..." (your response is...?)