It's always fascinating being able to explore, in our virtual world, places away from our own. So, we find folks here, your truly included, firing up our virtual (jet or prop) transport of choice, and often roaming the foreign lands...🙂...all without having to step outside the front door. Today, however, I stay near the familiar...without crossing any international borders...Oh well...except for just a tiny bit, see below. Now, first fact is that the U.S. Midwest region is essentially flatlands. So, after (recently) scaling...🙂...the summits of the tallest of mountain peaks...whether it's Tintin's "Gosainthān" in Asia, or the "Galdhøpiggen" in Norway, or the "Zugspitze" in Germany...here, today, I see no mountains...🙂...to be seen within my line of sight...e.g., KORD (Chicago) airport (the starting point of my flight) is already at an elevation of ~700 ft and the highest point within the state of Illinois is about 1200 ft. 

Though no "big" mountains here, there are 5 "big" lakes in this Upper Midwest and across the U.S. - Canada border. So, this region is fascinating to explore, whether on a MAP, or in the SIM, or in RW (wonderful for vacationing too). These (interior) 5 Great Lakes form world's largest freshwater ecosystem (and also one of the largest Ship Graveyards), with Lake Superior being the largest freshwater Lake in the world. However, two others of these 5 Great Lakes (Lake Michigan and Lake Huron) are really one single Lake, connected by the Straits of Mackinac, making "Lake Michigan-Huron" larger than even Lake Superior.

The interesting thing about my trip, easily seen on the MAP, is that there are really 2 distinct (equidistant) roadways to go from Chicago to Sault Ste. Marie, either up north on the west side of Lake Michigan or up north on the east side of the same Lake, so, one has to be mindful when one gets on the local I-94 Freeway (East or West?). Of course, if one flies, the route will cut across the Lake. Sault Ste. Marie are actually twin cities (of same French name), one is on the U.S. side (KCIU airport) and another on the Canadian side (CYAM airport), 20 miles apart, across the St. Marys River. 

In RW, I've travelled twice to Sault Ste. Marie, both trips on the eastern route up the shorelines of the most beautiful Michigan Peninsula. I recall well the pristine blue waters of the Lake (rarely out of sight), a lakeside stop at a lighthouse (standing as a lonely sentinel, with a narrow staircase leading up to a panoramic Lake view; there are 102 lighthouses on Lake Michigan), and a visit to a roadside (mom-and-pop) diner offering some of the freshest catch of fish (it was the most delicious whitefish I've ever had...🙂...). One of these 2 trips included crossing the border (over the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, shown, below, in my shot #s 14-16) to the Canadian twin town of Sault Ste. Marie, a quaint (historic) French settlement.

So, here we go, as I fly (this time) tracking a route I never got to drive, along the western shoreline of Lake Michigan (shot #s 3-7), from KORD to KCIU (the airport for the town of U.S. Sault Ste. Marie), with overfly of Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, and Straits of Mackinac (shot #s 8-11). Then, as a short subsequent flight, (KCIU->CYAM), I've flown across the St. Marys River to the Canadian side of Sault Ste. Marie (shot #s 17-20), just as I'd actually driven years ago over this route and this bridge...these pictures of these pretty places indeed look familiar and nostalgic now...

Hope you enjoy these images. Thanks for viewing.

Very nice shots! 😉 

What a fine set, just beautys..

cheers 😉

nice show!

Folks: Thanks for the comments...🙂...!

Nice looking scenery around that area. 

 

4 hours ago, Barnes said:

Nice looking scenery around that area. 

Indeed, it is. Thanks for the comment, David...!