Reports from the road

When I last wrote, I was in the middle of my crazier-than-hell part of the sports year.

Nothing has changed since then.

First, the latest. I (plus my wife and son) went to Marquette today for the Division 8 state football semifinal game, played in the Superior Dome ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/FPgrid07-dome-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

I could write a lot about it, but I'll be doing that tomorrow, anyway. The bottom line is that our team won 22-7 and will be playing in the state championship game for the fourth consecutive year ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/FPgrid07-team-11-07.jpg[/IMG]
They are 0-3 in those games. Can they pull it off this year? We'll find out next Friday morning, when they play at Ford Field in downtown Detroit.

Yes, it's going to be my fourth consecutive Thanksgiving Day away from home. I resigned myself to this fact some time ago; the team is very, very good. Are they the best Division 8 team in the state this year? Time will tell.

I called my older son (who lives in the north suburban area) after the game, alerting him that he's going to get company. At this point, it appears David will be coming along with me. My wife isn't sure yet. I think she wants to, but work pending at the call center may prevent it. We'll see.

I need to know Monday because I have to reserve motel rooms. Do I need to reserve one room or two? It depends on what my wife finally decides. Reason: To put it plainly, my wife snores. It doesn't bother me--I've slept with her for 36+ years, so I'm used to it--but it does bother David.

At any rate, we won't be able to hit the road until Wednesday morning; my son works until about 9 p.m. Tuesday. I had hoped we could get 200 miles down the road on Tuesday. It ain't gonna happen.

Thanksgiving Day will be spent at my older son's apartment, watching football (the Packers and Lions will be battling), visiting and watching movies. Thanksgiving dinner may consist of frozen pizzas, since nearly every stateside restaurant is closed.

Friday is the game (9 a.m. local time; 10 Eastern). After it ends and I get some quick interviews, we all jump back in the car and start the 500+-mile trip home.

****
That wraps up the football news. Now, a recap on the Tuesday trip to St. Ignace for the girls volleyball quarterfinals. Our girls won that match and went to the state semifinals in Battle Creek--where they lost 3-2. They had a great year.

But this isn't about the match. This is about our trip and the photos I got. So let me set up my slide projector and the screen. OK? Dim the lights.

First, remember when I wrote recently about my missing ice scraper? So I bought a new one. On the morning of the trip, guess what I saw peeking out at me, from under the driver's seat ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Scrapers-11-07.jpg[/IMG]
Murphy's Law, proven once again.

The weather was coolish and gray. Fairly standard November weather. It was the day before Michigan's firearms deer season started. Many of the gas stations up here sell big bags of apples, potatoes and carrots that hunters put out as bait ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Deerfeed-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

What amazed me most of all was the size of some of the carrots. They were sold in 30-pound bags, and they had some monsters inside. How can I give you an idea of the size? I put my camera bag on the carrot bags ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Carrotbag-11-07.jpg[/IMG]
One of those could feed Bugs Bunny for a week.

As daylight started fading, we saw some wave action along the north shore of Lake Michigan ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg-Wavesdusk-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

And as we neared St. Ignace, the site of the match, we finally saw the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's peninsulas ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Bridgedusk-11-07.jpg[/IMG]
More on the bridge later.

We reserved our motel room and then went to the match. The girls played hard ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-FPdive-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Dblbump-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

And were they ever happy after getting the winning point, earning them a trip downstate!
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Happygirls-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

My wife and I celebrated by going out for a pizza. Then we went to take a look at the bridge, and I tried photos at night--without a tripod!
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Bridgenight-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

At the motel, we were amazed when we saw the sunrise and sunset times. Didn't make much sense to us ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-TWCsunset-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

We were tired and full of pizza, so we slept well. The wind picked up a lot during the night. We went back to "Bridge View Park" to take more photos in the morning, and the strong wind had the waters dancing ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Bridgewaves-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

When we looked more closely at the bridge, we saw big waves crashing around the abutments. Look at the water splashing here ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Bridgesplash-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

We headed back west, but the wave action along the beach was distracting. Big wave action, considering it's on inland lakes ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-WavesDay-11-07.jpg[/IMG]

Someday (in summer, of course), I'd like to get out in this kind of wave action and feel the hydraulic power all around me. The water is warm enough in late summer--it may even be over 60 degrees F! But since we live so far away (this is still about 200 miles away from our home, remember), it would have to be planned out over a weekend.

One last picture from our trip. Just a sign that says--if you read it a certain way--new and bizarre pasty recipes have been unleashed upon an unwary world ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/StIg07-Pasties-11-07.jpg[/IMG]