Chicago swells with traffic for air show

It was an extra busy day on the Chicago River Saturday when we were passing through to catch a flight back to Texas.  We were sitting eating by the river side, wondering if it was always this busy.  A person sitting near us told us it was the Air and Water Show was going on.  (That explained why so many people on the train had fold up seats and ice coolers).

We tried to make it out to the Navy Pier to watch the show and were almost at the gates, when we realized we had left our suitcase back where we ate lunch.  Oh, well.

Lazy, glazy

Oh, those lazy, glazy lakes of summer. The Boomtown Lake in Vidor, Texas, is right on the I-10 which makes it a draw for campers. The lake is a former borrow-pit -- the dirt is "borrow" for construction projects. In this case, I'm guessing that the dirt ended up being used to raise the I-10 when it was first built.

That boat laying there looks awful temping. I didn't notice it when I shot this picture a couple years ago, that there was chair on the deck on the right. I'm pretty sure it has my name on it.

--steve buser

Tools of the trade

Every trade has its own unique tool box. Lawyers have their writs and suits. Journalism have their style books and note books. Dentists have their drills and filling tools. This toolbox of ropes is from a shrimp boat down in Sabine Pass back in 2004. There is a whole fleet of shrimp boats which sail from there -- ice houses, docks, repair yards, all support that effort. I haven't been down there this year, but I suspect that things are mostly back from Hurricane Rita (and the smaller hurricane this year), but there are probably lingering scars.

Sabine Pass is a about 25 miles south of Beaumont Texas. It is the where the Sabine and Neches Rivers (they're one river at that point) empty into the Gulf. The waterway there is a busy place with repair yards for offshore oil rigs and two new LNG terminals under construction. The river there also brings in ships to the refineries and petrochemical plants in the area and the area's three ports.

Where is this? -- Here

--steve buser

Cozumel calls.

A skiff off of Cozumel's coast sure did bekon me when were down there last year on a cruise that stopped at the four locations on the Yucatan Peninsula. The azure blue water just pulled the cares right out of you.

I think the boat has my name on it.

Where is this? Here.

On the seas again (I just can wait to get on the seas again)

Okay, the day in Cozumel is over. Don't feel sorry though, it's back to the ship for a good meal and fun time as our Norwegian Lines ship sails further south through the night to the bottom of the Yucatan Peninsula to Quatemala.

This is from a trip we took last year about this time. It's only when you are on the dock that you get a true feeling for how big these ships are.

So what did we do during that day? We rented motor scooters and drove around the outside of the island to the other side -- the scenery was pure eye-candy.

Where is this? Here

Anchors aweigh..

--steve buser

Into the misty

I had to play with the photo of this boat quite a bit, because it was a lot foggier than this photo suggest. The scene is the harbor of Victoria Island, just off the coast of Seattle. It's a fun ride out their by ferry and the town and the island is quite quaint. Unfortunately, we got there right at the end of the good season for seeing things.

Where is this? Here