PO Box 704
Jackson, MI 49204
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Washington DC VisitIn December, I traveled to Washington DC for a couple of days. Primarily to visit the museums on the Mall and the Udvar Hazy aerospace museum at Dulles Airport. At the museums, I took several hundred photos of space exploration hardware. Many of these can now be viewed on my space history website - Historic Spacecraft. I also shot photos of the monuments and sites around D.C.. Some of the photos can be viewed here. This was my first long-distance ride on Amtrak. (In the past, I've always traveled via commercial airliner or by driving). I rode the Wolverine from Jackson to Chicago. Then, after a 2 hour layover in Chicago, I boarded the Capital Limited for the 18 hour ride to Washington DC. I found the ride to be very comfortable and quite. The crew was courteous and helpful. Being six foot tall, I’m often unable to get comfortable in a cramped airline seat. (And I’m too cheap to upgrade to 1st class.) On the train, I had all the room I needed. Even when riding in coach. The many hours on the train went by fast. Not having to drive meant I could relax and work on some of my writing projects. I actually accomplished a lot on the train. I didn’t try the dining car on this trip, but I did make use of the Café car on several occasions. The Café car offers cheeseburgers, pizza, soft drinks, and other fast food items. I found Amtrak to be a good alternative to air travel. The major downside, and it’s a biggie, is the travel time. A person can fly to DC in only a few hours. Even driving that distance can be accomplished in less time than taking the train. All in all, this was a great trip. And, if you can afford the time, I can recommend Amtrak as a method of travel. Posted March 4, 2009 |
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New Racing Site Now OnlineMy friend Kevin recently started Chase-This.net, a website devoted to racing. Thus far he has added printable schedules for various racing leagues, including Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Truck, ARCA, NHRA, IRL, and F1. The schedules can be viewed on the website. He also has versions of the schedules formatted for printing. A racing links page, as well as a photo gallery from past events is offered on the site.Posted February 28, 2009 |
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Visit to EAA Airventure 2008In July, I taveled to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and visited the EAA Airventure 2008 event. Here are several of the photos I took.Posted August 9, 2008 |
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Photos of Space Exploration HardwareI have now added a link to HistoricSpacecraft.com . Historic Spacecraft is a project I’ve been working on for several years. At its core is a collection of several hundred space exploration hardware photos I've taken over the years. Included are photosets of historic space capsules, spacesuits, rockets, and launch facilities. I plan on adding many more photos in the future.Additional content of interest to space buffs includes a list of upcoming missions to the International Space Station, a list of upcoming robotic space exploration missions, a list of space related quotes, an extensive list of acronyms, and a timeline giving the year of launch for hundreds of space missions. Posted July 28, 2008 |
 
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Visit to the Michigan Steam Engine and Threashers Club Annual ReunionOn July 25th, I visited the Michigan Steam Engine and Threshers Club Annual Reunion. This event is held each July near Mason, Michigan. The event draws over 200 antique tractors and includes plowing demonstrations, threshing demonstrations, tractor pulling, a flea market and much more.Visit the Photo Gallery to see more photos. Posted July 26, 2008 |
LSM-275 Webpage UpdatesI have recently been contacted by two LSM-275 crewmembers, Bobbie Gene Smith and Ronald B Garrigan. Mr. Smith has provided some additional photos and Mr. Garrigan has provided a short written history of his time on the ship. Expect more photos and information to be added in the coming months.Visit the LSM-275 webpage to see the updates. Posted July 18, 2008 |
 
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Mineral Hunting TripIn June, a friend and I went on a rock and mineral hunting trip in the Upper Peninsula. We visited the Caledonia Mine near Mass city, Michigan. Visitors can purchase a two yard ‘pile’ of ore for $50. We had around four hours to dig through the piles. Minerals such as copper, calcite, epidote, feldspar and datolite can be found. Anything you find in the pile is yours to keep. As you can see from the photos, I found some nice pieces of native copper.We also visited the Quincy Mine in Hancock, Michigan. The tour included both an underground portion and a tour of the hoist house. The massive, reinforced concrete, hoist house enclosed the worlds largest steam hoist. This was actually a good time. I might visit them again in the future. Visit the Photo Gallery to see more photos. Posted July 17, 2008 |