Saturday, February 5th, another date on the calendar we’d been anticipating for months, the Outlaw Snowmobile Ice Drags in Port Huron, or Porch Yearn, if you’re local. A Winter Weather Advisory appeared on my Blackberry as we were leaving that morning, notifying us of another 3 – 4 inches of snow on its way. We didn’t think much of it, as it had only been a few days since Snowmageddon 2011, the totally overhyped storm in which we were warned of 10 – 15 inches of snow and received about 8, which was cleared the next day.
Heading east on I-94 through the city, we soon drive into some pretty heavy snow, an indicator of the storm that would hit later in the day. We drove out of it, and by the time we arrived in downtown Port Huron, the roads were still dry. Following 69 East to Main Street, the races were held along side the St. Clair River, at Desmond Landing.
We arrived a bit late to a full parking lot, and luckily found an open spot not far from the entrance. Our first stop after making our way through the jammed beer tent to buy our armbands and find our way in, were the incredibly slippery aluminum bleachers to watch the race, which was already underway. The temps were in the high 20s, not bad at all considering the first year we attending in 2009, when it was in the teens.
The track was different this year, there were no cranes at the finish line with the banner stretched across, and limited lighting for night racing. The fence was moved back farther from the track on the west side, so I got most of my shots with my zoom lens. It wouldn’t be until later in the day that I realized I’d left my camera in the monochrome setting, so all my shots would all be in black and white. Bill’s point and shoot captured what color shots we got that day, along with some video. Needing to move around and stay warm, we got up after watching several heats and entered back into the beer tent to warm up with a beverage and watch a few songs from a local band, Static Groove.
Once out again in the cold, overcast day, we were able to watch another 30 minutes of racing before the snow that we had escaped caught up with us and began to come down pretty hard. Hoping to get closer, we crossed over behind the starting line to the other side of the track, but opted to hit the waterfront Great Lakes Maritime Center first to warm up again. Just east of the track and right on the river, the Maritime Center is a very cool museum with artifacts, maps, a flat screen tv showing scenes from an underwater camera, and up to minute reports on passing freighters. They have a concession with a broad selection, and we settled in with some chili before heading back to the race.
I took a picture through the window of the gray abyss that had once been the Canada side of the river, and overheard a boy saying, “Look Mom, there are birds out on the ice! If they fall through, it won’t be my problem!” Bill and I laughed out loud, as did this little dude’s parents, who were seated at the next table. His Dad replied, “I don’t think anyone has ever had to worry about a duck drowning.”
We watched the snow continue to fall, and the cleared outside wooden deck extending the length of the museum was soon covered with at least an inch of snow. Bundling back up, we made our way across the parking lot to a silent track, and found an empty starting line with only a few people milling around. No one we spoke to knew what was going on, until we walked back over to the parking area and were told that the race had been stopped for a little while. Obviously visibility was a factor, which would affect the safety of the racers, and Bill also suggested that the heavy snow may also interfere with the timing lights at the finish line. Unfortunately, they appeared to be done for the day. Sunday was the finals, so there would likely be some racing to be made up.
Knowing what kind of ride home awaited us, we shook the snow off our jackets and boots and climbed into Bill’s truck, fishtailing our way back to I-94. The ride home was slow and stressful, but nothing new if you’ve lived in Michigan a while. Bill navigated his F-250 across the completely snow covered freeways, and we made it back to our side of town without incident.
Hopefully the weather held out for the race to finish, and today the snow continued to fall, but nothing much accumulated, as the temps were a bit warmer. We finished out the day with a few spins around the yard, and planned our next trip.