Nighttime Mackinac Bridge

I wasn't able to catch the Dool.  She was entering the locks but I would be shooting right into the sun.  The Jackson was a ways away.  So we grabbed dinner and headed back.

 Before continuing home, I wanted to get some night shots of the Bridge again.

 I should have set up my phone though because I think there is some jittering on the Bridge.

Still not too bad though.

An Even Quicker Stop at Point Iroquois

I decided to take the road from Paradise to Sault Ste Marie.  I thought that I had a chance to get the Herbert C. Jackson and Tim Dool.

 So I stopped at Point Iroquois.  It's been a while since I've gotten pictures of this lighthouse.

Sadly, I was shooting into the sun for most the angles, so I had to settle for these two.

The Roger Blough Passes Whitefish Point

I thought that I might have an outside chance of catching the Roger Blough at Whitefish Point. 

 After taking some pictures of the lighthouse, I walked back to the beach.  As I scanned the horizon, I saw a familiar shape to the east.  It was a little hazy though.

 I think the ship was about two or three miles out and chugging along.

 She would have filled up in Duluth with taconite. 

 She was on her way to Gary.

 From this point, it is about 5 hours to the Soo Locks and from the Soo Locks it is about 36 hours to Gary.

Anyway, it was nice to see her.

Whitefish Point

Before I left, I saw that I might have a chance to catch the Roger Blough off Whitefish Point.  After visiting the falls, I headed over there.

 There was a ton of people there too.  It kind of made getting pictures of the lighthouse difficult.

 But I was able to get some.

 It has been a while since I have been here too.  They added a new memorial to the sailors that died on the Edmund Fitzgerald.  You can see a relief of the ship.  There are also 29 bells for each man that died that night.

A shot of the tower.

A Brief Stop at the Tahquamenon Falls

I didn't realize it, but it has been close to three years since I've stopped at the Falls.  I wasn't in the area the last time I was in the Upper Peninsula and before that I had a rental car which didn't have a state park sticker.  So this time I decided that I needed to stop there.

 I was amazed at the number of people who were there.  The parking lot was almost full and it looked like I might not be able to find a spot.  Luckily, someone was pulling out as I was looking to park.  So I took the trek back to the Falls, while I feel much better than I did a few months ago, I'm still not 100%.  I think these things are going to take some time.

 After working my way through all the people taking selfies and what not, I was able to get a shot of the falls.   I didn't really have time for the steps, so I just took pictures from the upper portion.

 It wasn't too bad, but it seems like they may need to do some trimming.

 It's still not a bad view though.

I didn't like my pictures from the other spots, but I did like this one.  I think the next time I go there, I will have to make the trek down the stairs.  I think that makes for the best views.

A Brief Stop at the Mackinac Bridge

Since I was going up to the upper peninsula, I decided to make a stop at the Mackinac Bridge.

 It was a cloudy but windy day.  It was actually pretty nice along the lake.

 I love the blues in the water up here.

 Pulled the camera back for a slightly different angle.

 I didn't walk the full length of the park though.

So I didn't get as many angles as I normally get.

The Michigan Road Construction Monument

At the intersection of US-10 and US-127 there is a pretty major rest stop.  This also serves as one of the many tourist information centers in Michigan. 

Anyway, it has some pretty neat sculptures dedicated to the people who help build Michigan's roads.  This one is the part of the survey team that holds up the stick.

 This is the other part of survey team.

 The person who acts as the traffic signal at a construction zone.

 Another angle of the surveyor.

 A little information about the statues.

I suspect that this person is either the supervisor or the civil engineer.  Remember to obey the markers in a construction zone and slow down when there are workers present.  I think there was recently a death when a construction worker was struck by a drunk driver.  So please be careful.

Traveling from Hell to Paradise

A couple of weeks ago, I was going to take the trek from Hell to Paradise but I got sidetracked by some boats.  On Saturday, I decided that I would make the trek and if I was able to catch any boats, it would be a bonus.

 Hell is an unincorporated town about 15 miles northwest of Ann Arbor.  That for the most part means that it is mostly a tourist trap.  It looks like there might be a couple of good restaurants there, so I might have to check them out.

 For some reason, it seems like this should be near a river.

 The directions to other heaven and hell type towns.

 The town I was interested in was north.

Paradise is in the upper peninsula and is about 338 miles away from Hell (depending on the route you take).  It is an actual town about 11 miles east of Tahquamenon Falls and 11 miles south of Whitefish point.  This bear is in front of a gas station that is open all year around.  It is actually a nice little area.

The Full Moon...I Think

I had to do laundry tonight and as I was heading home, I liked the look of the moon.  Sadly when I got home, it was too low in the sky.

I waited a bit and caught it.

The Queen Holds Court

I got out of work early yesterday because we lost power shortly after lunch.  I was kind of hoping that it would still be closed today and sure enough it was.  I was actually kind of surprised because power doesn't stay out too long around here.  Anyway, I decided to go chase the Queen today since I don't often get a chance to do that.

 I was gonna go to my normal spot but as I was approaching Middle Belt, I noticed it was backed up, so I decided to head over to my other spot.  It's a good thing because that is where the Queen decided to go.  But first up is a 717 from Kansas City.  I like this picture because the cockpit windows remind me of eyebrows.

 She still shows off her Mad Dog ness.

 And the clouds were pretty nice.

 It wasn't long before the Queen appeared.  Even though Delta and United ended their 747 service last year, foreign carriers still use her.  Although I'm not sure how much longer.

 This particular one belongs to Lufthansa and as arriving from Frankfurt.

 You can never have too many pictures of her.

 A CRJ-900 arriving from Houston.

 A 737 arriving from Los Angeles.

 I think they recently added this flight from Silao, Mexico.  It is an Embrear 190.

 I couldn't pass up pictures of a 757.

 This particular one was arriving from Seattle.

I decided to head over to the cell phone lot to catch pictures of a couple of other heavies.  First up is this one from Amsterdam.  I recognize this tail number because I caught it on back to back flights.

And I ended with the 767 arriving from Munich.