Football - Michigan v/s MSU

On Friday a friend of mine living in Ann Arbor emailed me that she had managed to get tickets to the Michigan (Wolverines) v/s Michigan State (Spartans) NCAA football game on Saturday. This game was to be played at the Michigan stadium.

Saturday morning, I found myself driving the 280 miles to Ann Arbor on I-94 ... It was a warm afternoon - perfect sunny weather to watch a football game. Here are some pictures from the game ...

For someone like me, totally new to the concept of "American" football - I had a crash course on the rules of the game before I watched it. I was skeptical about following the game, much less enjoying it, but to my surprise, I had an awesome time. The atmosphere around the stadium was charged. A crowd of 111,158 had turned up to watch this game - the stadium was Maize, with the poor Spartans quite sparse in the crowd.

At half time, the cheerleaders and the team bands had some great sequences that entertained the crowd, while the players took a much needed breather.
Check the cheerleaders jumping ... I am thrilled that I've managed to capture the spilt second jump on my camera!

As expected Michigan (blue & maize - no it's not called yellow, it's maize as I learnt during my crash course on football!) kicked MSU (white & green) during the game - almost out of the stadium. :)
The final scoreline ... 31-13.

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

A few days ago - I visited Lake Geneva in Wisconsin with a friend who was visiting Chicago. It was a typical overcast but not overly cold fall day. As we neared the lake, here is the sight that we saw ...

A deserted lakeshore, and all the sailboats docked for the day. A thunderstorm was predicted for the evening, and everyone was packing up for the night. Except for people like us, who were strolling by the lakeshore that evening!

It was fun dodging the rain, picking up sandwiches from the nearby Potbelly's for dinner and ducking for cover before the storm really rolled in. Here is a pet parakeet that was enjoying a visit to Potbelly's as well!

Driving in that thunderstorm was a crazy experience, and I was glad that I had just changed the wiperblades on my car a few hours before we embarked on this crazy hare brained drive!

Nevertheless, the scenery was worth it all ...

Fall Colors at Starved Rock

Last weekend, I decided to head out to get some pictures of the fall foliage. I went to the nearby Forest Preserve with a good book, some water and a jacket (just in case!) to enjoy the morning sunshine. After spending some time there - I decided that I needed to head out to my favorite State Park in Illinois - Starved Rock.

This is a 200 mile roundtrip drive, but I decided to venture out in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day and after the spell of pathetic gloomy weather that we had in Chicago - it was difficult to sit indoors for long!
En route the clouds made some interesting patterns, so had to pull over for some pictures. :)
Once I got to Starved Rock, it looked like I was too early for the fall colors.... Most of the trees were still green, but a few that had changed color, made the drive totally worthwhile!






Notice the few trees that have turned yellow and red - don't they look beautiful?

The picture posted here on the right - is not a tree adorned with red flowers, but that of a tree with a creeper that has changed color! There were a few such trees, and it quite made the usually green hued forest burst with color. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, the crisp air - walking through the woods - getting some much needed exercise while enjoying the change of scenery. Imagine such glorious weather all year round, and you kinda realize why people flock to parts of California!

If anyone knows of places for good fall colors around Chicago, please - leave a comment with the details!