Alaska 2006: Denali National Park

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Back in 2006, we took a vacation to Alaska. We went the whole nine yards, starting off in Fairbanks, overnighting in Denali National Park, and then cruising on a small ship our of Juneau for a week. While this was in the age of digital cameras, I had very good Nikon film camera equipment (Nikon FM2 with a motor drive, 35mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 Nikkor lenses) and so I took pictures on film. 13, 36-exposure rolls of them.

These pictures sat in a box in our house in Lake Riverside from that summer until last December. I had been given a high quality film scanner for Christmas and was intent on finally getting to edit and share the pictures I took over 14 years ago.

When I had the film processed, I had Samy’s scan the negatives in fairly low resolution. I loaded these lower resolution pictures into Lightroom and began to select candidates for scanning. Having selected 115 of the roughly 450 pictures, I set about scanning and editing the photos. This post is the first batch.

As I mentioned above, we started the trip in Fairbanks. After a nice visit with my brother-in-law, we started the official part of the tour. There was a river boat ride, a visit with some real sled dogs and their trainer/owner, and panning for gold. I haven’t gotten to those photos yet, and there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about them since I am omitting photos of the family per my usual policy.

From Fairbanks, we took the Alaska Train south to Denali National Park. It is a pretty four-hour ride with ongoing commentary from a tour guide. Here is a view out of the train window as we round a curve. Click on any picture to see a full-sized version.

The Alaska train takes us from Fairbanks to Denali Park

Upon arrival at Cantwell at the entrance to the park, we boarded a bus for an six hour or so drive across the park to Kantishna Roadhouse on the far west side of the park. Kantishna Roadhouse is a rustic lodge catering to tourists like us. But the real thrill was the drive across the park. It was overcast and drizzling when we set out, but the views were great.

A braided river flows through Denali Park with mountains in the distance
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Adventures with Water Equipment

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We’ve had quite a spring, summer and fall with our water system at the desert house. It all started when I was looking at the back yard with our security camera and noted that the grass seemed to be turning brown. There are occasional issues with the irrigation valves, so I made plans to drive out on Friday to see about fixing it. When I got to the house, I went to wash my hands and noticed that there was no water pressure. Time to investigate.

When I got to the pump house, I noticed that there was a strange humming coming from the booster pump. It was warm, humming, and not pumping. I powered on and off, no change. I called our friendly plumber. We deduced that the pump had seized up for some reason and needed to be replaced. I locked everything up and headed home.

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Fresh Seafood

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We happened to be in Anacortes, Washington recently. At my brother-in-law’s suggestion, we decided to sample the best of the local seafood. This, of course, meant a trip up to Samish to Taylor Shellfish Farms on Samish Bay. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Anacortes to the turnoff on Chuckanut Drive to go down by the bay to their shellfish store and eatery.

The store and seating area at Taylor Seafood in Samish, Washington

The oyster beds are out in Samish Bay.

A faux lighthouse is near the outdoor seating area

This panorama shows the whole view from Edison and Samish Island on the left, the San Juans in the center, and Lummi Island on the right. Click on the picture to open a full-sized version.

A panorama looking west across Samish Bay
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After the Storm: Marquette, March 2020

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This is the third and final post of my experience and pictures with a nice winter storm in the first week of March this year. The day before the storm was March 4th, the storm was March 5th, and it had cleared out by March 6th. It was a wild, windy, and snowy night while the storm came through.

I was glad that took precautions with my windshield wipers so they didn’t get frozen to windshield. I had rented the car from Hertz in Chicago and they had it stocked with an ice scraper/ brush. Those of you from places that don’t have snow, this link will show you what an such an instrument looks like. As a side note, my last minute flight arrangements would have taken me two days longer and cost $1,500 more if I had flown directly to Marquette from Los Angeles.

It was a good thing that I remembered to put the wipers up!

After completing my errands for the day, I set out to the places I’d visited before and during the storm. The Sun was beautiful coming through the trees at the Noquemanon North Trails Trailhead on the Big Bay Road (County Road 550).

The Sun shines through the trees by Tourist Park Lake

The pines were covered in snow with icicles dangling down.

Icicles hang on a pine tree branch

It was then over to Presque Isle Park and the Upper Harbor break wall. I was unable to photograph this during the storm because it was, well, too stormy. The waves crashing against the ice-covered break wall were beautiful.

Waves crash against the ice-covered Upper Harbor break wall
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The Storm: Marquette, March 2020

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This is the second of three installments with pictures from a major winter storm in Marquette in the first week of March, 2020. My prior post’s pictures were taken the day before the storm arrived. The next day, March 5th, it started snowing in late morning and by mid-afternoon was coming down very hard. Of course this was the day I was having my Mother’s belongings moved out of her apartment at Mill Creek. That’s Murphy’s Law for you.

After completing the move, I drove out to Noquemanon North Trails Trailhead on the Big Bay Road (County Road 550). It was about 5pm and the snow was coming down very hard. I’ve tried to capture it but it is really something you need to see in person. Click on any picture to get a full sized version.

Very heavy snowfall

The snow was coming down in big flakes and accumulating quickly.

The snow was coming down hard

The trees were getting quickly covered in snow.

A pine tree branch is wrapped in snow
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Before the Storm: Marquette, March 2020

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This isn’t about the pandemic, although it was well under way when I took my trip to Marquette in early March. It is the first of three planned posts about my time in Marquette, specifically sites around the city before, during, and after a blizzard that came through on March 5th of this year. Click on any picture to bring up a full-sized version.

I’ll begin with a shot of the iconic Marquette Coast Guard lighthouse. Build in 1866 and still active today, it is a symbol of Marquette.

The iconic lighthouse at the Marquette Coast Guard Station

I was down at McCarty’s Cove which, in more clement weather, is a popular swimming and beach spot. Not too good for swimming when covered in ice.

A life guard tower seems out of place amongst all this ice

Two birds flew by the waxing crescent Moon.

Two seagulls fly by a waxing gibbous Moon
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In Lock Down: An Escape

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We went out to The Other House in mid-May and the weather was wonderful. Here are some photos from a nice afternoon time on our time there. This panorama is looking down the driveway to the southeast. Click on an image to see the full-sized image.

Looking southeast down the driveway

The light was ever-changing as the clouds moved by.

Our eucalyptus, cypress, and arbor vitae

The rock rose was in bloom.

A rock rose by the observatory

This panorama takes in most of the property, looking down at the house from the observatory.

The squirrels have built quite a home for themselves.

The entrance to yet another massive squirrel hole

The tree and rocks on Bunny Hill is a favorite subject of mine.

Looking southeast from Bunny Hill

A red bug makes its way across the driveway.

A bug makes its way across the driveway

Finally, the orchard enjoyed the nice rain we had in April.

Our little orchard

A Winter Hike in the North Woods

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I took a trip to Upper Michigan at the beginning of March and, with the assistance and company of my high school friend Jim, we visited my late parents’ rural home at Conway Lake. Conway Lake is about eight miles from Big Bay, Michigan, and about 35 miles northwest of Marquette, Michigan. The house has always been knows as Camp. For me, this is a proper noun as it is the proper name of a place.

Camp is located on property acquired by my stepfather’s father in the late 1920s (or early 1930s, I am not sure). The land had been recently clear cut so what exists today is a well-kept second-growth maple forest. The land is surrounded by the Huron Mountain Club, an exclusive club formed in the 1890s and that included members like Henry Ford. This makes it even more remote than it already is.

Jim and I headed off in mid-afternoon from Marquette, heading up County Road 550 to Big Bay. Jim lent me a pair of modern-style snowshoes which are really amazing — lightweight and easy to walk in. When we got up to the Conway Lake east road, we were very pleased to see that it had been plowed. From the Huron Mountain Club Road to Camp is about 1.5 miles. That would be hard even in modern snowshoes. It turned out that my parents’ neighbors had plowed the road all the way to their camp so we were able to park the car not far from the driveway to Camp.

The turn-off to The Point from the east Conway Lake road

One image processing note: The dehaze function in Lightroom does a great job eliminating the complete washout of snow, allowing you to see the needles and sticks in the snow.

The walking in the snow was not easy. I am not sure we would have made it to Camp where it not for the fortunate plowing that had been done. We walked the couple of hundred yards to Camp and found it in good shape.

Camp was built bit by bit starting as a one-room hunting camp that my stepfather built after he returned from WWII in the 1940s. The original room is now the kitchen. One of the best decisions he made was to put on a metal roof which will last through many winters and at the steep pitch, sloughs off the snow.

After a brief inspection of the buildings, we headed out onto the lake to look around. In early March, I would expect the ice to be about two to three feet thick. We weren’t going to fall through. We noted someone on a snowmobile tending his tip-ups for ice fishing. A tip-up is a device that lets you put a line into a hole in the ice and raises a flag when a fish takes the bait. No sitting over a hole, just be warm and use your binoculars or a quick snowmobile ride to see if you’ve had a strike. Here is a panorama looking southwest from Camp. Click on the picture for a full-sized version.

A panorama looking southwest across Conway Lake
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Jane Moore Drury, 1928-2020

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My Mother passed away on February 29th, 2020. She lived a long, full life. We will all miss her.

Jane Drury waves outside her home at Mill Creek in Marquette, Michigan.

What follows is her obituary, published in The Mining Journal and on the Fassbender, Swanson, Hanson funeral home website.

Jane Moore Drury, age 91, of Marquette and Big Bay, died peacefully on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at UP Health System – Marquette, in the loving care of her family

Jane was the only child of Edward Kenneth Moore and Helen Norris Moore. Born December 15, 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio, she also spent part of her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Mt. Healthy High School in Cincinnati and subsequently earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Ohio State University.

When settled in Washington, D.C., Jane was introduced by a mutual friend to her second husband, Alfred Charles Drury. Jane had always welcomed the idea of a large family, and with her three children, joined Al and his five children. Alfred and Jane had one son together, bringing their total to nine children. In addition, Alfred’s step-sons, Jon and Arthur Casanova, were also included in this new family union. All her nieces and nephews, grand- and great-grandchildren as well as children-in-law have benefitted from her mothering.

Jane and Alfred left Washington and relocated their family in Okinawa in 1970 when Alfred was stationed at the US Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. They returned to the US in 1972 and acquired Alfred’s childhood home at 414 East Hewitt Avenue in Marquette. For over forty years they split their time between Marquette and their camp on Conway Lake near Big Bay, interspersed with extensive travel in the US, Mexico, and Britain. They commissioned two sailing yachts and cruised the inland waterway of the eastern US, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas.

After Alfred’s death in 2013, Jane moved to the Mill Creek Senior Living Community where she lived very happily in an independent living duplex with her beloved cat, Sam. She entered the assisted living section of Mill Creek in January 2020, agreeing that it was needed and easier, but noting that it was the first time since 1950 that she did not have her own kitchen.

Jane will indeed be remembered for the hospitality of her kitchen. There was always room for one more person and there were always cookies of great craft and variety in the cookie jar. Jane loved experimenting in the kitchen and was an excellent baker and cook. Her meals brought family and friends together for many pleasant moments.

Jane was a steadfast and loyal friend who kept up with those she loved for decades. She cared deeply for her community, volunteering to read to children in the Powell Township School in Big Bay and as a member of the Community Presbyterian Church of Big Bay. She delighted in her work at the Peter White Public Library and sharing her latest discovery from Snowbound Books. Her kindness and gentleness, as well as her sharp intellect, insight, and good judgment, will be missed by one and all.

Jane is survived by her children Arthur Casanova, Kit (Chester) Schlei Buczynski, Stephanie Hazel Drury McPherson, William (Catherine) Kenneth Schlei, Hazel Letitia Drury Flaska, Andrew (Danielle) Moore Schlei, Abigail Faith Drury, and Alfred (Melanie) Cooper Drury, 18 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren. She was pre-deceased by her husbands Alfred Charles Drury and Norbert Anthony Schlei, and her children Jeanne Drury Tape, Jon Casanova, and Letitia Ann Drury.