Canadian Train Ride

Wow, today was an awesome day. We started the day getting up at 6 Eastern time.. that is 5 a.m. our time. We were out the door and heading to Canada before 6:45 EST. We crossed the border with no difficulties and found the train depot with no problem. Our tickets were there waiting for us but we had to wait for the train to get in. The gift shop and depot were open so we just checked that out. We were able to board the train by 7:45. There were 6 or 7 coach cars, two dining cars, and an engine on both ends.

The train pulled in with a south headed engine but we left the depot with the north headed engine. The first half hour we passed through the industrial area of Sault Ste. Marie. getting some great views of the bridge, old buildings, steel refinery and a pulp mill. It wasn't long after that and we were headed into the forests of Canada. The servers kept us notified via a speaker system of what rivers we were crossing, local history, trestle heights, lake names etc. The huge vistas, pristine lakes and jutting cliffs were gorgeous.

It took nearly 4 hours to travel the 114 miles into a huge canyon. I walked to the dining car several times for beverages. It was a bit challenging to stay standing straight but there was always something to grab on to, even when opening the doors to get into the next car.

Once in the canyon, Jim and I headed to one of the 4 waterfalls to fix a geocache. We replaced the container and log book for the owner. Next we went to the viewing platform where we climbed 300 steps to a fantastic view of the canyon. Before we knew it it was time to board the train for the trip back.

All of our seats were turned around while we were wondering the canyon.

The trip back was very relaxing, many passengers fell asleep with the swaying of the car and the clacking of the track. We ended up visiting with several others sitting near by.

Once back in the station we went to the waterfront and walked along the boardwalk, finding 3 more geocaches. We could see the bridge to the U.S. and the traffic was just crawling so we just stayed in Canada a while longer. Once we saw that the traffic was no longer backed up we headed across.

The bridge toll was $2.50 U.S. fund each way. Crossing the border did not take long once it was our turn but we had to wait nearly 15 minutes for our turn to arrive.

Back in the states, hot and tired we grabbed one more geocache before getting a nice dinner at Country Kitchen.

If you are interested in seeing more about the train here is the link
http://www.agawatrain.com/?gclid=CMqfh8-FopwCFSXyDAodfzmKlg

CC