• Sunday-What'sUP May 2 - 11:11 pm

What caught my attention about this 1890's scene from the U.P. Digitization Center was the location. The folks are traveling down the road near Negaunee, which is where Edie and I left yesterday afternoon on our way out West. Not just to Ironwood - which we passed through last evening - but on in to Wisconsin, eventually ending up in Hayward, where we spent the night. Our eventual destination is Utah, with some stops along the way like Mt. Rushmore and Casper, Wyoming. It's a good time to do some visiting, before the tourist season gets too busy in the U.P.

We're on our way to see the former Pasty Girl - who used to take your orders on the phone a few years back. Becky and her family are eagerly awaiting the arrival of another bundle of joy, and Grandma and Grandpa hope to get there first, to do a little babysitting with the other one, while Mom and Dad are preoccupied with the details. Wonder if the stork will make it in time for Mother's Day?

Speaking of Mother's Day, the pasty shipment schedule is filling up fast. You might want to include the beautiful new Keweenaw Wildflower book with this year's order. Mom's everywhere like to get flowers. And Mom's from the U.P. certainly like to get pasties.

Have a good week :o)

Can you imagine the "Are we there yet?" "I gotta go to the bathroom", "I'm thirsty"...

Congrats Charlie....Hope you make it before the stork does!!

Safe trip.

Watch for deer, hey.

JT

good morning. just think how long it would have taken for a trip to marquette from any where in the u.p. by horse and buggy! i wonder if the kids fought all the way?

We did have some deer cross in front of us, JT, but the closest call we had on the highway was near Cable, Wisconsin. We could see an eagle on the side of the road up ahead, and as we drove closer, he suddenly flew across the road right in front of us, almost hitting our windshield. It looked exactly like the eagle Steve Erbisch photographed last week on the Pasty Cam, and we could have reached out of the window to touch it.

What surprises me is how young the forest looks. No big trees to be seen in the photo - 6" diameter tops, most are more like 2". Kind of gives you a perspective on things, when you look at how much better most of the forests in this country are managed now. It's rare to see single-aged stands of hardwoods in the UP anymore.

Thanks 4 sharing these historic pictures.

Cool picture. Even the horse is facing the camera.

When I was in the Ontonagon Mountaineer Drum and Bugle Corp back in the 70s I'm pretty sure we marched in a parade in Hayward, WI. Any other Mountaineers out there recall? I know we also marched in Butternut, WI, where ever that is. We marched on Woodward Avenue in Detroit and on Michigan Avenue in Lansing too. That was the big time for us. We went to Detroit and Lansing for state competition. (We came in last, but had fun anyway).

Charlie, if you've never seen Mt. Rushmore you're in for an awesome experience! Absolutely breathtaking....especially at night with the lights. Casper, WY is a nice town, we used to fly in and out of there when we lived in Rawlins, WY. Oh how I miss the prairies and Rockies! Have a safe and wonderful trip. Congratulations on the new 'bundle'..hope you and Edie get there first!:)

hey cindy!!! i was in the "madison hgts. marauders" drum and bugle corp back in the early 70's, we were state champs, but i don't remember the year.

Wilson, you guys probably beat us in the state championship. I think it would have been 73 or 74?? Those were fun times. Are there still any drum corps around? I recall the all-male corps from Iron Mountain called the White Berets were really awesome. They did a great job with an Everly Brothers song, Soul and Inspiration. And the Belles of Saint Mary all-female corps were always on top; although I don't recall where they were from. I think Negaunee had the Blue Notes. Fun memories!!

Talking about roads, the roads to our camp on Grosse Point Shores in the 1960's were horrible. When spring came cars sank. I also remember a Road commision grader sinking up to its window in fronr of our parents driveway.
Our Bus driver Art Sved was looking at the situation , when the school bus sank also. The back door was useful then. Boulders were dropped into the clay muck and they disappeared. So the roads are now black topped, a saving grace from the 60's and 70's.
Driving was always an experience before the county took over the roads. I remember my dad admonishing me not to miss the tracts of the previous driver as that would mean shoveling and pushing and using the manual transmission to your advantage.
I also remember the bitter cold days waiting for Art to pick us up in in the trusty '48 IH bus with a very lousy heater.
But for all that spring would come and the arbutus flower, the violets, the trilliums and the forest floor was was so sweet smelling. No one from the lower peninsula knows what they are missing The beauty, the solace, the people and the animals.

The roads pictured here look exactly like nowadays Sunset Trail that runs from one end of Kalkaska county to just about the other. The whole stretch nary a settlement or even a cabin to be found! Mostly all state forest. Many people aren't aware or believe there are stretches like that in the NLP.

Stewart: Do you mean Grosse Pointe Shores Wayne county?--or somewhere else? I remember roads like that in the Grosse Pointe/St.Clair Shores areas in the 40s , early 50s but certainly not by the 60s.

Russell E. Emmons (Russemmons):
"Stewart: Do you mean Grosse Pointe Shores Wayne county?--or somewhere else?"
Good question, I dunno why, but I was thinking of Grosse Pointe Shores near Senter (Dollar Bay)! {smile}

I am sure Stewart is meaning Grosse Point Shores out back of Dollar Bay, as I know who he is & Art the bus driver..

Very nice pictures of the old days.
Congratulations, Charlie, and do have a safe, wonderful trip out west!

wonderful pictures i remain walter p.