A Handful of Heavies

So I first stopped at a warehouse near the approach lights. 

 Unfortunately, the planes weren't being terribly cooperative.  I think they were landing depending on which runways were clear.  This was a 767 arriving from Paris.

 It was followed by a 777 arriving from Munich.

 I was trying some different angles.

 I kind of like this shot except for the pole in it.

 It was followed by an American Airlines 787 arriving from London.

 Beacon shot.

 One more shot.  I kind of like this one.

 It was followed by a Kalitta 747.

 This plane was supposed to head to Atlanta from Shannon, Ireland but it was diverted due to weather.

 I had to clean up this shot a little bit.

 Then I was under the approach lights.  I kind of like the long out shots.

 But I'm not really a fan of the belly shot.

 Nor am  I really a fan of the stern shot but I like this shot quite a bit.

 I had to wait for one more plane.

 It was the Royal Jordanian 787 arriving from Amman.

 Beacon shot.

Again, too much belly for my taste.

I would have liked to stay longer but I needed to get ahead of the weather.  Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen but it didn't get really bad until I got back to Michigan after taking the turnpike through Indiana and Ohio.

Catching a Train

After stopping in Milwaukee, it was time to head home.  I wanted to make a stop at O'Hare airport but the weather wasn't being particularly cooperative.  I figured that if I didn't stop at the airport, I would probably kick myself.  The planes were coming from the west which meant I was on the west side of the airport.

 There is a set of tracks that run along the west side of the airport.  They are fairly busy.  As I was waiting for my first plane, I caught this guy.

 I kind of like this Union Pacific scheme.

 Another angle of the train.  You can see the O'Hare Tower in the background.

One more shot.

A Brief Stop in Milwaukee

After catching the Cort, I noticed a lighthouse.  So I decided to head that way after grabbing some coffee and a sandwich at a place called Colectivo Coffee.  Both were pretty good and I got some coffee to make at home. 

 The lighthouse is at the point where the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnick Rivers converge before heading into Lake Michigan. This lighthouse was built in 1905.

 The Milwaukee Breakwater light was built in 1927.  The breakwater itself was built in 1925

 Another view of the Pier Light.

 And the breakwater.

 I'm not sure what buildings these are, but I thought they were kind of cool.

Same with this building.  I think I will visit Milwaukee again because it looks like there is quite a bit to see there.

Catching the Stewart J. Cort in Layup

Milwaukee was about 45 miles to the north east of Lake Geneva but not terribly out of the way for the trip back home.  I knew that the Cort was laid up there, so I wanted to catch her.

It was pretty cool to see her since I don't get to see her that much.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get different angles of her.

A Brief Stop in Lake Geneva

My cousin was getting married this weekend and he was having the wedding in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  I'd never been there before, so it made for an experience.  It was a pretty cool looking town and I think I'd like to explore it a little more sometime.

 Apparently they had a snow sculpture contest a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, we had a couple warming days and there wasn't much to see of the them.  They also had an ice castle that you could walk around in.  It also looked like it would have been cooler a couple of weeks ago.

 Lake Geneva was named after a town in New York because an early settler named John Brink thought it looked similar.  It was named Lake Geneva to avoid confusion with Geneva, Illinois.   In 1954, it was one of three finalists for the US Air Force Academy.  Hugh Hefner built a resort here.  The town itself serves as a resort town for Chicago and Milwaukee.

 One of the reasons I wanted to stop in town was because Gary Gygax was from here.  He was one of the founders of Dungeons and Dragons.  Supposedly there is a memorial to him but I think it was buried in the snow.

It was a pretty nice looking town.

And Catching the Eastbound Wolverine

I was going to head somewhere today but it looked like we were going to get some snow.  From the sounds of it, it would be just enough to make things interesting.  Since I didn't want to drive back in that, I decided to stay home.  However, I couldn't pass up taking pictures of anything, so I decided on the Wolverine.

 I didn't get moving in time to catch the westbound Wolverine.  Then I thought I would try to catching this one in Chelsea since its been a while.  That didn't work out either.

 So I figured I would just go to my normal spot.

 Sadly, I can't get much for background here.

 But it was still cool to see the train.

I was actually hoping to get the freighthouse in the background but the angles weren't in my favor.

Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan - Basketball

I was kind of on the fence about going to the basketball game yesterday.  The lackluster effort last weekend put kind of a bad taste in my mouth.  I did listen to the first half of the game so I decided to head for the second half.

I was able to make it in time to catch most of the second half.  Eastern ended up winning 57-49.