Anne drove to Kitty Ver Kuilen's (cousin) home near Madison, WI, and then we carpooled together in Kitty's car from there to Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan.
Anne drove to Kitty Ver Kuilen's (cousin) home near Madison, WI, and then we
carpooled together in Kitty's car from there to Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula
in Michigan.
We got there in time to meet up with Margie Hlava and Rick Hubble for dinner. We
all chose to try the local specialty of whitefish at The Library restaurant.
The bridge connecting Houghton and Hancock, sister towns on the banks of the
Keweenaw Waterway that provides passage across the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Breakfast at the hotel.
Other cousins have arrived: Matt Hubbell, Dr. Pete Hanson, Rich Hubbell, Kitty,
John A. Hubbell, Donald Hubbell, Margie, and Laura (Matt's girlfriend).
Later, we had a tour of the archives at Michigan Tech.
Walking back to the hotel from Michgan Tech, I spotted a lot of lovely wildflowers,
including these.
Also noted on the walk back...
View from the hotel. On this side of the waterway is the Isle Royale HQ,
and the other side in a smelting plant for the old copper mine.
Dinner was at The Library; this time a larger group was present.
The by-laws committee worked very late that night to hammer together a
workable version for the newly-merged society (formerly THFHS and HML).
Kitty, Dr. Pete, Dorcas, and Roger.
The Board meeting in action: John A., Kitty, Dorcas, Rick, Harvey, Stephen,
Roger, Margie, Matt, Cliff & Nancy Moses, Donald, Dr. Pete, Laura, Rich, Karen
Margie was having some trouble speaking, since she was fighting a bout of
bronchitis. But Roger picked up the lead anytime he was needed, and the meeting
ran pretty smoothly.
A print of Hubbell Hall, iconic building for Michigan Tech even though it was razed
in the 1970's. This is the artist who took the old B&W photos and created
the beautiful colored version here. Jay Hubbell started the university by his
gift of land in the 1800's. Hubbell Hall still appears on alumni signet rings.
View of the park service ferry that runs to Isle Royale. We learned that this is the
largest piece of equipment the national park service owns. It has to be able to
cross a large chunk of Lake Superior to get to the islands, and the trip takes
6 hours.
Saturday night we occupied our meeting room and waited for the fireworks.
This weekend was also Bridgefest, so the fireworks were part of that event.
You can already see the clouds for the storm that would create havoc by morning.
Flash flooding tore up numerous streets and ruined homes. The area was declared
a disaster area by the state governor. We were lucky that the hotel escaped
lightly. It made getting around a bit tricky, though. Click
here and here
for pictures of the damage.
lunch at Jimmy John's across the street from the hotel.
We wanted to drive around a bit as part of our scouting for next year's reunion.
So we started by crossing the bridge and going up the hill toward the copper mine.
scenic overlook of the towns and waterway.
The hoist for the historic copper mine. We plan to tour this site next year.
large copper nugget
the town of Calumet. We'd wanted to drive to Hubbell, but it was evacuated and
access was restricted, due to the flood damage.
fun gift shop in Calumet
Enjoying thimbleberry margharitas: Karen, Laura, Rick, Harvey, Kitty, Rich
Calumet Township Waterworks Park
a chance to look for agates from Lake Superior.
I guess regular wood bonfires on the beach are okay.
Rick taught us the card game Boom.
Tuesday night Margie, Kitty, and I decided to try to drive into the town
of Hubbell, if the roads were open now. We made it, and found the same
restaurant Donald Hubbell and his clan had enjoyed the week before.
we were amused by the copper washer on display there.
They served locally-themed beers.
It was pretty empty; not surprising, given the flooding problems.
Back to Houghton and a lovely sunset over the bridge.
Margie had been growing increasingly concerned about her hearing. Dr. Pete had
proscribed a heavy-duty antibiotic to combat the bronchitis, but her ears
continued to function very poorly. So before hitting the road to Madison,
Kitty tracked down an urgent care facility.
Margie was diagnosed with
double ear infections and given yet another prescription to deal with that.
What a relief, though, to have something treatable instead of permanent
hearing loss!
lupines! Kitty kindly pulled over to let me get a good picture.
I drove home Thursday, and Margie flew back to Albuquerque.