Red Wing Hockey Game Surrprise

When I was down state this past weekend, my son and daughter-in-law (Jonathan and Jessica) surprised me with a ticket to a Red Wings hockey game. I have not been to a Red Wings game for decades -- I think since I was in high school! The game honored Oakland University alumni, so we got the tickets at half off. 

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we realized it had snowed over night. I was accused of bringing the snow south with me.

Jonathan knows where to park for free requiring only two blocks of walking to Little Caesars arena.

Walking around the arena to our seats.....

Our seats were in the second to the top row at the top of the arena.

Before the start of the game......

I stayed in my seat while Jonathan, Jess, and Keenen went to get our Oakland University/Red Wing hats. When they walked up to the table to get the hats, a guy addressed them and stated that he had been waiting for a couple with Oakland University shirts and a child to walk up to the table. He then turned to Keenen and asked him if he wanted to ride on the Zamboni when it resurfaced the ice before the game. He will remember this the rest of his life!

Jonathan documenting the experience.

They were also given three pucks -- Jonathan gave me one.

Red  Wing goal....

The Lightning tied it up at the end of the third period and, unfortunately, won in overtime.

Mackinac Bridge Closing Experience

For the fourth time in my life I was not able to drive across  the Mackinac Bridge. This was the second time the bridge was closed when I was headed south; two other times it happened when I was returning to the U.P. I left Grand Marais last Thursday at 9:30 am. The Bridge Authority closed the bridge around 10:00 am due to ice falling off the towers and cables. The ice chunks that fall can be large enough to break car windshields. I arrived in Saint Ignace around 11:30 am and waited with hundreds of others to see if the bridge would reopen. Around 4:30, I was concerned that the town would sell out all motel rooms, so I secured a room. Apparently, when temperatures dropped causing the ice to refreeze, they reopened the bridge late that night.

I woke up at 6:00 am on Friday morning, quickly ate breakfast, and headed over the bridge as soon as I could. Good thing because soon thereafter they closed the bridge again when warmer temperatures caused the ice melt to continue.

The night before I left we had freezing rain, which coated all the trees. Thankfully, the roads were in great shape.

When I first arrived, I parked down by the MDOT bridge view area, which was closed for the season. I parked in front of the barrier chain. Every once in a while I could see the bridge authority trucks checking for new ice falls on the bridge's roadway.

After a few hours I decided to get in line with all the other cars.

Here is the view out of my motel window. The dark colored truck and the red truck were still in line.

Late Winter Ice and Snow Photos

Today I will post miscellaneous pictures I have taken over the last week. Although the snow pack has reduced, winter is still here.

When the snow slid off my roof at 1:00 in the morning -- the dramatic sound woke me up!

The snow slide almost made it to my LP pig!

Snowshoeing the path on my property....

One day we drove into the school forest, turned left after the bridge, and made it all the way to the shoreline.

Ice volcano with blue ice beyond....