Foggy Day Wolverine

It was foggy today.  There was quite a bit of moisture in the air and the weather has been warm lately.  I was going to go plane watching.  When I arrived at Metro Airport, I could hear the planes flying over but I couldn't see them.  I realized that I might be able to get a picture of the Wolverine.

 So I headed back to Ypsilanti and made it back in time to catch the east bound Wolverine.  It was delayed by about a half hour.

 I kind of like this shot as it emerges from the fog.  I just wish the lights weren't so bright.

 Then I saw this picture.  I kind of wish it were a steam engine though.  I think that would look cool.

 And it passes the depot.

And continues on its way to Dearborn and points beyond.

A Brief Stop in Frankenmuth

I didn't make to Fish Point before it got dark, so I couldn't see the snowy owls I was hoping to catch.  My mom wanted to see some Christmas lights, so we headed down to Frankenmuth.

 I decided to stop to get pictures of the covered bridge.

 Across the river, there was this "Peace on Earth" sign.  I loved the way it was lit against the dark.

 Another angle of the bridge.

 Probably my favorite angle of the bridge.

 We headed through the parking lot of Bronner's.  They have some light displays there that rival some of the city light displays.  In fact, I think those cities may get their lights from Bronner's.

 A manger set up.  I thought this was pretty cool.

 Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

Another angel.  I tried to get an angle where I could get some of the lights.

The Ojibway Comes Off Lake Huron

The next ship is the one that I wanted to catch.

 The ship in question was the Ojibway.  She was born in Bay City as the Charles F. Hutchinson.

 She is what is known as a "straight decker".    That means she is not equipped with self unloading equipment.

 It also means that she is exclusively used in the grain trades.  So she is only used later in the season, typically.

 While it looks like she may hit the boat, no worries.  If there were worries, I would have heard five short blasts of her horn.  That is boat for, "get out of the way".

 A bow shot as she makes the turn for the channel.

 And she turns for the channel.  I am thinking that I am liking this angle more and more.

 Anyway, she was going to deliver grain to the grain elevator in Windsor.  From here, it is also about six hours to that point.

 The second bow shot.

 Since she is exclusively in the grain trade, I don't get to see her that often, so I was excited to see her.

 Framed by the Blue Water Bridge.

 She continues her trek down the river.

 A stern shot.

I love this picture with the Canadian flag flapping in the breeze.

After this picture, I headed up to Fish Point.

The L&R Passes Sarnia

As I was going back to the Blue Water Bridge to catch the next ship, I saw this one passing. 

 It is the fish tug L&R.  I think it is owned by the Purvis Fisheries in Sarnia.  I usually see it docked, so I was happy to see it coming back.

 This style of fish tug is unique to the Great Lakes I think.  I also think it is used in gill net fishing.

 But I also think that gill net fishing may be illegal but again I'm not sure.

 She gets a little closer to her dock.

Near her dock is a fish store.  I think you can get fish they catch.  I think they also have a little restaurant.

The Kaye E. Barker Passes the Maritime Center

I looked at Marine Traffic yesterday and I saw that there would be two ships that would be passing Port Huron.  I was interested in catching both ships.

 The first of the two ships was the lovely Kaye E. Barker.  I think she was coming down from Marquette with a load of taconite.

 She was heading down to the steel mill in Dearborn which means that she'll be on the Rouge River.

 As I type this, she is waiting just north of Port Huron.  Evidently there are high winds and that is making the Lakes dangerous.

 The almost profile shot.  I love the profile of the classic lakers.

 She passes by.

And continues on her way.  From this point, it is about 6 hours to her destination.

Pictures from the QuickLane Bowl

So I went to the game.

 Another shot of the mounted police outside of the stadium.  I thought they looked pretty cool.

 The Eastern Michigan band before the game.  They looked pretty good as they played.

 The University of Pittsburgh band.  They were also pretty good.  I think there were more of them too.

 The drum major.  she had quite a bit of flexibility.

 As they were performing before the game.

 the Pittsburgh band before they marched off the field.

 This was the guy that was singing the National Anthem.

 The color guard.

 Eastern Michigan brought their eagle.  Shame they didn't have her fly around the stadium.

 Eastern Michigan had special helmets for this game.  It said "QuickLane Bowl" in the E.

 One of the signs at the game.  Pat Narduzzi is the coach of Pittsburgh.  He used to be defensive coordinator at Michigan State.

 Swoop.

 Another one of the signs at the game.

 My favorite picture from the game.  Quarterback Mike Glass III on a run.  For other pictures, go to Hustle Belt.

 The Pittsburgh band at halftime.

 One of the majorettes.

 The drum major.

 Another majorette.

 The Eastern Michigan band.

 One of the Eastern Michigan color guard.

 She was twirling the flag as well.

 One more shot of the color guard.

 Some of the band members.

 The tuba guy.

 One of the horn players.

 A shot of the tuba.

 Another of Swoop.

A shot of the Eastern Michigan fans in attendance.  I think they had an announced attendance of 34,000 and I am guess that well over half of those people were Eastern Michigan fans.  I never thought I would see this many Eastern fans in one place.  It would be really nice if they could get these folks to come to the games at Rynearson.

Anyway, Pittsburgh ended up winning 34-30 but it wasn't for a lack of Eastern Michigan trying.