I'm guessing this typical old home is somewhere on the western end of the U.P., since it comes from Z-Man's gallery. Sure looks like it was a peaceful place to live, with plenty of surrounding trees for a windbreak and shade too. This type of homestead always gets me to wondering about the original occupants and the circumstances behind the slow demise of the dwelling. You can see that someone cared enough to either prop up the door or perhaps that pole is being used to keep the door closed. Can't you just visualize the real estate ad for this one? 'A quaint, fixer-upper, nestled along a wooded border, with a lovely attached porch.' Makes you just want to snatch it right up, doesn't it?

Come to think of it, your chance to snatch up a free pasty at the July 4th Pasty Fest 2004 is only 16 days away. Don't miss out on the Pasty Olympics!

Speaking of "Fests", welcome to everybody in the Keweenaw for this weekend's BRIDGEFEST 2004. Have you seen the fabulous Time-Lapse Slideshow of the Lift Bridge? Experience all four seasons in a single day ;o>

Hay Ya'll

Morning from Ferndale

almost looks like an old farm house from when we use to go and pick sugar plums and crabapples at my great-grandma/pa spehar farm

Less than 2 weeks before the 4th of July road trip. Man oh man I can't wait.

We ate good yesterday,let's work it off today. What'd ya say? That shed could use some right handed and left handed nails,maybe a lil' paint? Nice fixer UP'er.

looks like my price range

The craftsmanship of these old buildings fascinate me. Everything hand fitted to fit just so. They certainly were made to last.

Cool photo! This looks like an old place I remember along the mud lake road to Little Traverse...only it looked like this 30 years ago. By now I imagine it is in a heap! On my way to the U.P. at 2 today! Can't wait....only wish it was all the way to the CC...but Curtis will do for this weekend. Have a good one all!

The bridge slide show is a real treat -- take a few minutes today and enjoy this. Thank you, Mary.

Good Morning from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Looks like a homestead on the way to Eagle River.

I think it is sooo sad to see such abondoned structures. As a little, little girl, there were these beautiful hand-crafted 1800's log homes in the woods that I remember picking flowers around with my mom. Actually, the flowers were domesticated but went wild from the occupants. The log homes had roofs and doors that worked. I remember they looked like you could just move right in. (If memory serves, there was still a table and a few chairs inside.)

As I got older and went back every year, something else deteriorated on them... the doors wouldn't open...the roof started to leak...there was no roof... Once the roof went, in about 2 years the whole place collapsed. This would have been in my early teens.

To this day, I am still sad not to see those 2 twin log homes standing. But, some of the "wild" flowers are still around and I go back every year to pick just a few in hopes more will come up next year....

Morning from the Left Coast,
What an awesome slide show on the lift bridge.

Could this be in Victoria, near Rockland? There you can visit a lot of old cabins and see how difficult life was way back when!

Top of the AM from down south (Michigan that is).

Ahhh -- I can smell the smoke that is curling from the chimney. Breathe deep. Yep -- I can smell those pasties in the oven and I think also a rasberry pie has bubbled over and the juice is burning on the bottom of the old wood burning stove.

Thanks for the memories Z-man!

Love the slide show of the bridge but I am disappointed that out of 70 shots not one shows the bridge lifted.

morning all. love the slide show.

We love this photo, and also takes pictures of old, weathered homesteads. Speaking of wildflowers, there are so many out now. After moving from a place where, if you want a green lawn, you must pay for the grass, pay for the water to keep it green. If you want color in your yard, you musst go to the nursery and pay for the plant, and pay for the water to keep them colorful. Up here, we have these things all by a gift of nature. Our yard is bordered by a carpet of those delicate blue wildflowers all around, our apple blossoms, and lilacs are in full bloom. Now the buttercups are out. The nice rains keep it all alive with color. Someone mentioned the lily-of-the-valleys are coming out. I hope I can find some of those!

On another note. We've heard from a few people up here that the DNR introduced the fisher to erradicate the porcupine, and it is thought to have been successful. Newsflash - our dog had a noseful of quills this morning. What's interesting is that he's tied up at night, on a short rope right next to our doorstep. We heard him bark during the night, that must've been when "porkie" made his visit. We thought they were shy, not coming close to people or animals. So we now know there is one porcupine still out there.

Good day from the beautiful UP, with sunshine and blue skies today.

P.S. Our guess for the location of this photo is near Bruce Crossing.

Thank you for the bridge slide show. As kids we would watch boats going under the bridge from the second floor of my grandma's house on Houghton Ave. Years earlier after they had built that bridge, a local reporter asked my father, an engineer(MTU'39)how to get the old bridge down without damaging the new one, my Dad said, "give my son Robbie a screwdriver, and tell him not to touch it"(The old bridge):). As a kid, "going to Houghton" was about the best thing that could happen to a guy. 50 years later, it still is.

G'morning from Texas... Nice pic!

Great slide-show of the bridge!

One ponders what prompted the emigration of former inhabitants of said commorancy. Kudos on the fine shot.

Wheatman

Wow, the bridge slide show is awesome. Personally I like the bridge when it is framed in the "green". Nighttime view is a close second.

Lori Koski Mihelich....Kenosha is my hometown....graduated from St Thomas Aquinas then moved to Lake Linden when my dad retired from KPD. We had our cottage at Silver Lake...sold it and dad bought the place at Bootack..... I learned to love the UP.... but K-Town will always be my hometown and I love it as well. I often feel like a salmon, swimming upstream....maybe someday I will return. In March I took the train to Chicago from Kenosha....$5...for the whole weekend both ways and you could go as many times as you wanted for that one $5.......part of the Metra system. Such a Deal!!.....Are you related to Lodi Mihelich?

Have you noticed the GHOST in the upstairs window!

Wow, Z-Man. This is my kinda photo. I just imagine the life the residents lead so many years ago! I can't help stopping to take pictures of old buildings like these. I took snaps years ago of an abandoned farmhouse near Phoenix and I wonder if it's still there. All I know is it was near a road that turned left to some small village (Eagle Harbor?) The house was on the left side of highway going up 41. The house still looked pretty sturdy. As I'm not going to be able to get up the this year as hoped, maybe someone can tell me if it's still standing. Maybe someone might even know something about it's history. Sure wish I could send the snapshots I have. I use them for a painting I did and plan more. But I don't have equipment to send them. Keep up the good pics!

The way the picture has been taken and the position of house in the picture, it could be a painting. Love it!

Nice picture of a Salvador Dali designed vacation home!
The stick proped near the door holds the entire structure up.

The slide show is awesome, especially # 14 in the fog.

Mary, love that bridge!Thanks. It is one of my favorite scenes.

Those old homesteads facinate me.I would love to be able to stop and look around them.

How do you log on to the bridge slide show? I'd love to see it.

We don't want to make you scroll all the way back to the top, so here's a repeat of the link listed above: Lift Bridge Time-Lapse Slideshow

The slide show of the bridge is amazing, but I agree with Karen above. I was hoping to see a shot with the middle up higher. Maybe the overall effect would be ruined if all the shots weren't in the same position? Doesn't matter....I still enjoyed it immensely, especially the ones in the fog! (and the sunshine, and the snow, and....!) We're heading to the CC in less than a month, but too late for the fourth and free pasties. I can hardly wait. The previous days' discussions about the North Beach diet have had my mouth watering for days! Texas is just too far for my liking!

Someone mentioned Lilly of the Valley. Well, my neighbor out
here in Jacobsville happens to have a wonderful patch of them.
Also lots of Forget Me Nots are around here. Thought I'd share
some. I took these pictures yesterday afternoon.

Slide show is awesome. How different one scene can be at any given day or moment.

Can't wait until our vacation in August. Looking forward to having pastys and sitting on the beach at my grandma's looking out at Lake Superior.

Slide show was great I use the bridge cam for my wallpaper and change often, can't wait to get up there on july 3 just in time for all the fun hope the bugs are gone too.

The Urban Escapees: Luckily, your dog only got a snout full of quils.

We have a friend, who years ago left his dog outside while he went on an errand to town. He returned in under 3 hours. He came home to find his dog's broken off leash and some of his dog's fur in the blood stained snow. That was all that was left. Coyotes got the dog.

There have been sightings of mountion lion (cougar) up north in the Keweenaw. In addition to cougar, there are coyotes, wolves, bobcats, and bears. I would advise you not to let your dog tied up at night. I guess bobcats love to snack on house cats for treat too!

Food for thought....literally!

I wanna come home!

Can't be in Houghton/Keweenaw....nobody has proposed knocking it down yet (JUST KIDDING!)

Places like this bring back many memories...My favorite structures were on the Phoenix Farms road, South of the Phoenix store...

The UP is SO beautiful!

M.B ,IL,WI,MI - Thanks for the suggestion. It's something we didn't even think about.

Barb in Jacobsville...A great shot of the Forget-Me-Not.The state flower of Alaska and my favorite little wild flower.They press very well and keep for a long time.Thanks for the pic!

I see the "ghost" image in the upper window.
has anybody ever seen the paulding light, I checked it out a couple of weeks ago. strange

Sure the UP is beautiful untill someone gets poked in the eye with a bear or killed by black flys.There is a thin line between beauty and danger!

Thedoomedman, Who knows, You might even be struck by lightning tomorrow.

This is how my wifes family cabin (still) looks like today back in dem der hills of TN.

Thedoomedman.... What you gonna do...stay in your sterile house ordering food in everyday so nothing happens to you??? There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of in the woods of the UP that a little common sense can't take care of. I have a better chance of getting hit by a falling airplane than I do of getting harmed by wild animals around here. The worst wild animals around here are the human kind that get on the road and drink and drive.

There is beauty in danger sometimes, if you are careful you can reap the benefits of both....

Looks like nice Lilac Bushes behind the house. Must be Spring:)

Smoky Dave..
Is that a Cades Cove cabin?

All that is missing in the cabin photos is Jed, Granny, Jethro, and Ellie May

Wheatman,

Will you be attending Pasty Fest?

If you are, I would like to meet you.

To Barb in Jacobsville, thank you for the wondrous photos. The fragrant Lily of the Valley and beautiful Forget Me Nots bring back such fond memories back home as a kid. Also loved violets and buttercups, and of course lilacs in bloom were wonderful too. You folks in the Copper Country are fortunate and blessed to be living in such a special, unspoiled place. Can you tell I'm homesick?

The doomedman, A little advice given to me by a an old sourdough in Alaska. Whenever you venture out into bear country, always try to take along a partner that you can run faster than. That way if you encounter an ornery old bruin and he decides to chase you, most likely it will get to your partner first and while the bear is dining on him or her you can continue running to summon help. Good Luck.

I just found this connection, from a friend, neat. $

Same reason you buddy (SCUBA) dive .........

There's a 50:50 chance the shark will eat your buddy.

Great picture! Reminds me of Arvo Seppa's camp. It was a log cabin, dirt floor, 55 gallon drum for both heat and cooking. His camp was not to far from the Five Finn's camp that got a big write up in the Ironwood Daily Globe. Arvo, on the other hand had to keep a low profile, because his camp was on State land. Love the old days in the U.P.

Matt, Union City: I see it in the upstair window too. I don't think it is a ghost. I think it is an alien. (Just kidding!)

UFO sightings are a big event up north. :)

If I remember correctly someone wrote yesterday about staying at a lighthouse. Well I found out that my local PBS station out of the Quad Cities, has a program on tonight (10:30 pm CST) all about staying overnight at various lighthouses. Just maybe she can find it in her area. Good luck

Really great photo of the cabin. I remember a cabin near tawas that had been abandoned for years. Looking in the window you could see the table still set and a meal half-finished (now mostly rotted away).

A coworker many years ago talked about her grannie's house back in Tennessee. It was a 'dog-trot' log cabin from pre-Civil War days, and still had a Yankee cannon ball lodged in its walls. She said the last she saw of it the woods had grown close around it and the roof had caved in. So much history swallowed up by the earth.

Another good photo for a puzzle!
Loved the bridge slides, too!

Yes RGG,it is the John Oliver Cabin in Cades Cove.The very first cabin that you come to inside the park.There are two parking areas,that one can use to make the long walk up to the cabin.My mother-in-law Geneviene Oliver was born in that cabin.She would have been around 70 this year.The cabin has been restored to the way it was in 1815.I'am so glad to live so close to this wonderfull place where the history of the people of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park have been preserved forever.This place belongs to the whole World and it's free to visit.Anything free is worth saving up for.

Just came back from the Copper Country and Isle Royale. That drive on M-28 between Shingleton and Munising, A.K.A. the Seney Stretch, is numbing! I bet that is the road in the U.P. where drivers get the most sleep. Anyone else have trouble keeping awake on that arrow-straight stretch? You don't need to use your steering wheel for well over 20 miles.

Bob Fartas,
The Seney Stretch is from Seney to Shingleton. Not only is it straight, but there is less than normal curvature of the earth along the Stretch.
This was a fact in "Ripley's Believe it or Not" when I was in school in Munising, 30's and 40's.
One night driving alone along the Stretch, the train lights could be seen from the last curve in Seney. Watched that train light for all those miles, and it was stopped in Shingleton.

Hey Bob Fartas,
Email me I have something for you to see, in reference to your Isle Royale trip....

Urban Escapees, Our guess for the location of this photo is near Bruce Crossing.

Correct!!!

Semper fi

About 7 years ago, my daughters, my Aunt Donna, My Mom and I were a top the Big Bay Lighthouse. One of my favorite spots. I go up there every summer while I'm on vacation. There was a gentleman with a very large video camera. He told us to wave at him from a top the tower. He said he was filming for PBS. I've never seen the footage on Michigan Lighthouses. I don't watch much TV. If any of you are interested in Lighthouses, go there. It is AWESOME! On a clear day you can see the Keweenaw. You can see that from a few high places in the Big Bay area.
I am very sad that we won't be going up this year. The cabin we have rented for years is now a year long home. I will be up the end of August when I help my son move back up to NMU.
Have a wonderful weekend to all! I'll just have to find new lodging.

Hei Z-Man, how long ago was that pic taken? Is the cabin still standing? Looks like the hole in the porch roof is making the whole thing come down. What nostalgia, love it.

Hei Barb from downtown Jacobsville. I can almost smell the lilies of the valley from here. I brought some in the kitchen Monday, along with violets, daisies, and buttercups. Look very pretty on the table. My uncle Hubert used to call em Forget Me Don'ts. :>)

Ken and Mimi, If you click on Z-Man's gallery, then click on the picture in question, then click on Photo properties, You will see:

File size: 590974 bytes
File date: 2004:06:10 01:13:44
Camera make: OLYMPUS CORPORATION
Camera model: E-1
Date/Time: 2004:06:07 21:18:16
Resolution: 800 x 600
Flash used: No
Focal length: 124.0mm
Exposure time: 0.017 s (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO equiv.: 100
Exposure bias: -0.30
Metering Mode: center weight
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
Jpeg process: Progressive
:


File Upload Date: 06-10-2004 01:13:45
Item Capture Date: 06-07-2004 21:18:16

Smoky Dave,
I thought so.

There are two spots in this country that I feel spiritually "connected" to. One is the Boundary Waters in northern Mn and the second is SMNP.

My first trip to the Smokies was in 1978. It is one of ther most beautiful spots (no offense yoopers)in the world.

I always wondered what it would be like to live in Cades Cove back in the early 20th century.

To Barb of downtown Jacobsville: You are joking, right? Have I been gone so long that you actually have a downtown? In Jacobsville? There is not enough people to even have a Town. Let alone go down to it. Last time I was in Jacobsville it was to buy some strawberrys from a grower. Biggest, best strawberrys you ever tasted. Our strawberrys here in California, in my opinion, are tasteless. Course, that couldn't have anything to do with the EPA handing out Permits to experiment and genetically alter the strawberry. The process is known as Ice Nucleation. All in the name of preventing frost damage. Come on, we live in California for goodness sake.

Bthecute1, San Jose
I agree with you on the taste of the strawberrys, also the corn on the cob, and apples I find are tasteless here in Ca.
And they will poison all the fish in a pond or alpine lake to kill a few Northern Pike. Makes a whole lot of sense?????

Grew up near here in Rockland nice to see a taste of home I hopefully will be back in July. have not been there since "99" cannot wait

I went strawberry picking this morning on a rural Wisconsin farm on the north side of the Horicon Marsh. They are definitely an older variety and delicious! Anyone like a slice of fresh glazed strawberry pie or a trifle made with fresh strawberries, homemade custard, and Absolut?

Explain, please how I can be homesick for the Keewenaw when it's not my home, never has been. It's great here in Trout Lake, Mi, but I'm always ready to head back to the penninsula.

Didn't I see this one on the real estate on line listing as "a fixer upper"? ;>) Owner asking $150,000 i think.

To Victor P - Houston: No, I think the one for $150,000.00 is down the road a ways. (a really big fixer upper.) This one is in much better condition and would have to go for a lot more money. Mr. Timmonnen, who use to film the TV show "Home Improvement" and has a beautiful log cabin on Lake Superior in the Keewenaw, could film the restoration of this place.

AUP Violation - IP# 24.177.144.78

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