Getting up at 5.45 am without the help of an alarm ? I don’t remember doing this in a long long time. I took some very nice pictures of the Sunrise and after placing the required amount (Sherman’s Park Fee) in an envelope, I started out. After eating some Onion Rings in the Burger King, I crossed an in-town bridge (I was very very nervous while doing this and had to ask a couple to make sure that I was still in the USA!) reached the very border of USA. I roamed around behind the River of History Museum taking several pictures of the monuments and reached a place right beneath the International Bridge - while I was taking a well-framed picture from within the car, an old, respectable lady passed along side with plenty of tension and doubt on her face. I roamed around for some more time, before pulling over at a park to see the famous Soo Locks.

Just as I got off the car, couple of spots away, a Border Patrol Officer parked his vehicle and started walking towards me - this time, I started the conversation and as I was expecting, it was a repeat of yesterday’s incidence. Another interrogation session and this one was heart-breaking. I gave the officer (Jones Jr.) all the information I could and he passed the same to some other person elsewhere. While my identity was being searched, I explained to him the complexity associated with my family name. As I heard, female voice over phone said, GOWTHAM SHANKARA, results negative and just as the officers were getting ready to take me to the station for further search, the same voice said, GOWTHAM SHANKARA, FOXTROT ONE. Unfortunately, she was searching for my name in the wrong database (illegal residents’)! Officers, after this interrogation, adviced to carry the passport at all times. I later took some pictures of a freight (Stewart J Cort) coming into the Soo Locks. I visited Valley Camp Museum but didn’t go for the Soo Locks Boat Tour as it would go through the American side and come back via the Canadian side.

I then went to TacoBell to get some food, refuelled the car and started my journey towards Tahquamenon Falls. After about an hour, I reached the White Fish Point - I saw the same freight again, passing quietly in the calm waters of the Lake Superior. Around 1.45 pm or so, I reached the Lower Tahquamenon Falls - it wasn’t very impressive. About four miles ahead was the Upper Tahquamenon Falls - this was much better. I drove through Newberry and after nearly two hour journey, I reached Grand Marais - located very close to this place are Grand Sable Falls and Dunes. Both were nice but I couldn’t get all the way down to the waters for several reasons - nearly 200 feet of it was very very steep, I was wearing inappropriate clothing and more importantly, was running out of steam and time. As I was relaxing near my car, few people thought I was a professional photographer!! Thanks to my professional looking camera, this was a pleasant thing to hear after all that happened in the morning.

I then drove for a while and reached Log Slides - if Grand Sable Dunes were breath-taking, this one was shocking, all the way, down to bottom - 500 feet of steep descent. It takes only few seconds to get to the waters but more than one hour to climb-up! I didn’t go down owing to shortage of time. As if this wasn’t sufficient, journey for the next two hours is probably the best one I have done, on a dirt road. Driving along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was an experience I wouldn’t forget all my life - Sunlight and Darkness play hide-and-seek all through a 46 mile stretch. I stopped at a couple of places before reaching Munising around 8 pm. I took a break, refuelled the car and started heading back home. I just stopped at one place, to take a picture of Sunset and reached Houghton by 10.45 pm.

Three Great Lakes and the land in between them had fed my eyes more than I had asked for! I decided to stop my vacation - not because I was tired of driving, but because I was afraid of constipation - my eyes couldn’t take any more beauty and it would take some time to digest what they had so far…