Another pleasant Pasty Cam diversion after a day of unpleasant surprises. They raised the toll on the Mackinac Bridge, Sammy Sosa put cork in his bat, and Martha Stewart got busted for lyin' to the Feds. Wah! Who can you trust?
Good night... and good morning from da U.P. trip notes

What a beautiful taste of spring. Thank you! Hope to see you all soon. Bee

its rained for 2 weeks here

It was dry here for five weeks, until today - 2 inches

WHAT A PHOTO! It is beautiful! THIS ONE IS MY WOW!

Now that Toivo is home... I'll be on the lookout for my License Plate T-Shirt! (Grin).

Toivo,

How much is the "car" Troll-land to Yooper-land toll now? I'll need to know for my next trip home!

I love all the shades of green in this picture. I call them spring greens. Bet it's good to be back home Toivo. Welcome Home.

Woke up to a "Copper Country morning" here in middle Tennessee this morning. About 48 degrees, foggy and damp, now the sun is slowly showing itself through the mist... Very nice!

The Liliacs are blooming here in the Copper Country....Everything is blooming. My mother just left to go back to Florida (we had a family wedding) she was thrilled to see all the trees in full bloom while she was here. Ah the spring in the UP.

WELCOME home Toivo...so glad you made it back!

Welcome home Toivo! It sounds like it was quite an adventure!
Just for your information...I believe there IS a Tim Horton's in Saline Michigan. No, I don't think they carry pasties; but there is a Pasty shop in Saline. Infact, it was started by the same folks that now own "The Hut" up your way...

The tolls went up by a $1.00 Each. Cars are now $2.50. I can go back home, but now it costs more.

Beautiful picture-Could we get a picture of some lilacs in bloom. Allways liked the pleasant odor and beauty of the lillac. Remeber finding them around old homesteads. They don't grow very well here in the south so haven't seen any in sometime.

What a phenomenal picture! I became a huge fan of the UP after my daughter enrolled at MTU and visit your site usually everyday. I am hoping some of your regular visitors can help me with some historical information. My daughter has a friend who is interested in purchasing the old Ruppe house across from the Uphill 41 in Hancock. He is interested in the history of the house and would love to see some older pictures of the house as it looked in the past, and any history of the Ruppe family. He visited the historical museum but on the day he was there no one seemed to know much about the house. Is there a good source for that type of information in Hancock or would you have any of your "shoebox memories" that might feature the house? Any comments or other feedback would be very welcome. Thanks!

Aah the renowned "two track" roads of the UP. As the flora endeavors to imbue the voids, the sporadic traffic manages to sustain the vestige of a road. Kudos on the fine shot, it is evocative of scenery in the UP indeed.

Wheatman

Ahhhhhhhhh, Upper Michigan greenery.......That's
what I'm talkin' about.......the birch
trees.......ahhhhhhhhh. If I smoked I'd have a
cigarette. (did I actually say that? Sorry,
Charlie). Welcome home, Toivo.

Toivo,
Twice on your travels I have come near to crossing your path. The day you were traveling from Mt Rushmore in South Dakota to Iowa, I was heading from Iowa to Mount Rushmore. Tomorrow, I will be heading through Wisconsin to Houghton. I'd wave if I saw you but don't know who I'm looking for!

To Eyes wide shut: Wave at everyone to make sure you wave at Toivo. Everyone else will think that either you are a very friendly person or demented. Some may even wonder who you are that you know them! Use all you fingers when you wave so as not to offend. Spread cheer whenever possible.

Wonderful picture! Beautiful greens, birches.

We don't have lilacs blooming here in CA. The other week someone was selling them...$16.00 per bunch. Wow. I miss the Spring flowers, thawing ground, great smell of Spring.

I LOVE the birch trees!!! Miss seeing them.
They simply add "color" to the woods that we
don't have in our area.
As for lilacs, does anyone recall the lilac
festival in Lombard, Ill.? A great smell
sensation for sure.

Yes, please, could some photographic talent find the time to send in a photo of the lilacs!! I keep hoping for one on this site every spring. Now if only we had smelly-cam....
Btw, beautiful shot above! What a great day for a long walk - to smell the lilacs, of course!

I wonder what it would be like if all of us got together and just wandered down this road.... But I guess that's what we're doing, after all.

To Dave the River Slave,
I grew up in Villa Park and marched in many Lombard Lilac Festival parades. Many years ago, Lombard had lilac colored squad cars and fire hydrants (how did they get away with that?). They went over board with the lilac color, but the town was quite aromatic during this time of year!

Now there's a picture guaranteed not to cause any antagonizing controversy. Just a wonderful U.P. 'woods' scene that's puts me in full memory of my childhood wanderings around the Calumet Waterworks. Can't wait til August when I return for vacation. Heaven on Earth.

Say it ain't so Sammy!

Looks like another beautiful day in the Keweenaw on all of the cams.
Are there any lilacs in the Stillwaters Gardens? :)

DWEGNER, MN

--You have already paid to use one of the best resources possible to research the kind of history you are looking for. The MTU Archives Dept in the library has very extensive docs, images, and even a research service. You might find it useful.
http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/mtuarchives.htm

I have lilacs here in Ohio...love them. But, the smell I miss in the U.P. is the arbutus...anyone smell them?? Extremely hard to find, if there are any left in the forests, but one of the most beautiful scents in the world!!

Ohhh... Another peaceful, beautiful shot. Reminds me of all the "logging roads" of my youth. My dad did some logging, so that's what I grew up calling them. Beautiful, I wanna walk right in!
Here in my Boro in Northern NJ we have the state botanical gardens. They have so many species of lilacs from all over the world that I have to go over there and count them. There's a break in the rain, think I'll do that now! I'm missin the UP at the change of EVERY season.

Lilacs are my favorite also. Can't provide the smell, but here is a link for a gallery of lilac pictures :>)

http://www.gardenersnet.com/flower/gallery/lilacpics.htm

I'm with you, JBM-Warren. I love the fall trees, of course, with their variety of colors, but even more I love the infinite shades of green, from the deep deep green of the evergreens to the bright green of the oaks to the yellow-green of the weeping willows, that herald the return of warm weather (although it's only 58 degrees here in Pinckney today).

And by the way, I was sure Toivo would be stopping by home on his way to Alaska. I'm sure it's time to do laundry again!

Here in N.Ga. it is a beautiful C.C. like day--only 70 degrees and a nice breeze. If only it would stay this way!!

JCW, My favorite is the Arbutus also. Haven't seen one since I was a kid. Sure would love to see a photo if anyone comes across one.You are right the smell was beautiful.

I love Lilacs also,we had a lot in our yard at home. They don't seem to grow well here. I tried to grow them a couple of times with no luck.

Welcome home Toivo!

Hey Debbie in Durand (Ill.), I was at an auction
around the block in May and the old boy was
selling off a huge collection of Jim Beam
bottles and one was commemorating the
1969 Lombard Lilac Festival (which I know I
attended as a little kid). No one is bidding
much — $4-$5 — when this lady starts
bidding against me. She runs it up to about
$15 and I drop out figuring she must be from
Lombard or is a family member buying up as
many old bottles as she can. I ask her about
the festival and she goes, "oh, I thought those
were grapes on the bottle." She had never
heard of Lombard much less the festival. I
offered her $20 for the bottle but she said, "I'll
just tell people they are grapes. They look like
grapes from a distance."
It's sad how dumb people can be. I just
wanted to smack her. The bottle had a nice
outline of Illinois and wording about the
festival's 50th anniversary or some such
information.
I have about 8 bushes growing along a fence
line here that I pirated from a friend's patch.
Pretty easy to transplant, I found. Lovely scent
in the spring!

Funny sad-but-true story, Dave. Sounds like one lady's junk was your treasure!

Now let's not have any complaining about the bridge fare....When I hear stories of the lines waiting for the ferrys at the straights....well...I'll gladly pay an extra buck to get to the U.P... fast!!!!
It would be torture to be sitting across the water for hours....looking at the land I want to be in. However, I guess I could stay up there longer...on my way home....LOL!
Beautiful pic...by the way!

Did go over to my state's botanical garden's and there were so many different species and types of Lilacs, I lost count. There are (all with special names) double white, single white, single pink, double pink, single purple and white, single purple, double blue, and a single blue named 'President Lincoln' from 1916. There are single lilac, and even single magenta. And many are lilacs from Spain, and France, and I think China. Lilacs were cultivated by the Colonists. So, some must've come over from England. The man who developed the gardens in the early 1900's brought in plants from all over the world. What a fragrant place!
To Fran, GA- I bet there's a species that is GA friendly. There must be!

Don't forget one of the top 100 festivals in the country Mackinac Island Lilac Festival !
http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/4278/lilacfest.html

Perhaps the only thing to rival springtime in the woods, is the autumn woods. Both are beautiful and peaceful. My personal preference is the autumn woods just as dusk comes on, when that crack of cold air rolls through the red and gold foliage and hits the depths of your lungs. Feels so fresh and clean. These wonderful pictures sure bring back times and places.Pleasant respite from the daily grind.

From marthastewart.com:
The common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), which is native to the Balkans and southeastern Europe, was imported to North America by some of the earliest Dutch and French colonists.
Also Martha, on one of her radio programs from a few years ago, stated that the first lilac plants brought to North America were carried by the French to Mackinaw Island and the bushes on the island are direct descendants of the orginals.

Lilacs have appeared numerous times on the Pasty Cam over the past 6 years. One of my favorites was from Jon Jacobson, taken on Mackinaw Island.

to jcw of ohio..yes the arbutus are alive and well. there are a couple of acres of them by our camp, south of Sagola. My husband checks on them starting the end of march and in his mind, it is not spring until the arbutus bloom. they are so delicate and thier smell is so much larger than their blossom. next year i will take a picture of them, i never thought of it until you mentioned it. i guess i took them for granted because we have so many near us.

Hey Toivo, Today(day 86)you make the statment "WAH! Who Can You Trust?" I think maybe you have been playing with all the good folks of the "PASTY PLACE." We saw no pictures of the "old beater" in any of the 50 States of our most wonderful country. I would Just like to say, "THANK YOU TOIVO," for the 3 month trip, it has been fun. Only at "Pasty.NET" have I found so much enjoyment. Thank You All!

Missin the UP from N.J.----I'll have to check out the gardening catalogs and see if any will grow here in this yukky soil. I am sure seeing all those Lilacs was beautiful to see and smell. One of the bushes I brought down here was from my mother-in- law in Delaware but it just didn't thrive. The other was from my Mom and Dad's house in Mich and it didn't do well either.

FRAN! It's past your bedtime!

I would love to be walking down that road enjoying nature. Love the birch trees.

HEY- I INVENTED SMELLAVISION IN 1949; YOU PUT THIS NICE STEAK ON TOP OF YOUR TV WITH A FAN BEHIND IT.YOU CAN DO THE SAME WITH THE LILACS & ARBUTUS. HO HO