Sights Around Brighton

We're awfully used to seeing hot air balloons around here. In fact, they're quite commonplace.  We have an abundance of wildlife and because Brighton is at the crossroads of two major highways (I-96 and US-23) you never know what (or who) may happen into town.

At Monday's 4th of July Parade, we had a couple of A-10's flyover during the parade, a bi-plane streaming smoke, and a small group of private planes flying in formation, too.  Here's one of the entries into the Brighton Optimist Club's Bike Decorating Contest - a plane of a different sort.  This pedal powered airplane is almost an annual entry into the contest and is always a crowd pleaser.  I'm not sure of the manufacturer's name, but I did see a similar one on an episode of Antique Roadshow a year or two back, and it was worth a significant amount of money in it's original paint. This one has obviously been repainted.

The Chessie System tracks also run through the area.  I grew up in the Delray neighborhood in SW Detroit and you could not get in or out of that area without crossing railroad tracks-at least until I-75 was built.  I thought I'd seen every kind of locomotive and train car there was until yesterday. I was taking Fourth Street and there was a fuel oil truck with a stopped train. Not sure if they were refueling a piece of equipment on this car or if this car powered the entire train, but I had never seen one before. It's called a 'rail pick up' unit.  Very interesting.

Plenty of reasons to keep a camera with you. Don't leave home without one!