1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook - Part 21 - Yellowstone, Part 2

(for part 1, click here)

More Yellowstone

I don't know where the Johnsons stayed in Yellowstone. Maybe they drove on through in single day (which would be a shame.) They may have camped or stayed in one of the lodges or inns. Hard to tell from the scrapbook. 

Below are close-up of the postcards from the above page. I like how it looks like there's a face within the billowing steam of Old Faithful. Below the following postcard, our intrepid reporter Joan writes, "150 ft high. This is the most celebrated picture ever taken of this famous geyser, which with clock-like regularity gives its exhibitions at intervals of 60 to 80 minutes..." I believe there's another line written under this, but it's too faded to read.

Below is a postcard of Giant Geyser, of which Joan writes, "This geyser continues each display for an hour and a half. Its intervals of quiet between eruptions vary from six to fourteen days."

Below is a postcard of the Old Faithful Inn, which was constructed in 1904. I love this old building, and spent many evenings inside, writing, reading, and listening to the piano player while having a few cocktails. If you want to see a couple blog posts of pics I took inside the Inn, you can find them here   and  here.

Among the scrapbook pages of Yellowstone, Joan showed some of her drawing skills with pics of flowers. Below is a yellow waterlilly.

Below is a Cedar Juniperus Scopulorum (aka Rocky Mountain Juniper)

Last but not least is Joan's drawing of a giant daisy.

Believe it or not, there are a few more pages that Joan dedicated to their time in Yellowstone.

So on to Part 22!

1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook Part 20 - Yellowstone, part 1

(for part 1, click here)

Into Yellowstone

The Johnsons are heading home, but first they have a few more wonderful stops along the way.

I am particularly excited about this section, since I worked in Yellowstone for four summers and one winter in the first half of the 1990s. It's a place I love very much.

Anyhoo, from Reno, Nevada, Joan and her family drive their reliable LaSalle east on Hwy 40 to Wells, NV, then 93 north to Twin Falls, Idaho. From there it north on HWY 30 to Pocatello, ID, up 91, then 191 to West Yellowstone. They entered the this first of our National Parks on July 10^th, 1937 through the West entrance. Entry fee for a vehicle; $3.00.

Below is a page from an unidentified magazine with a beautiful photo of Old Faithful. The text to the left says, in part, “Famous Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park qualifies as one of the most photographed objects in the United States. Park Rangers estimate that its picture is snapped more than 2500 times a day in the June – September vacation season…Above, a determined photographer holds his breath for the instant when the geyser ‘hits the ceiling.’”

With digital cameras now the norm, and much larger crowds than in 1937, I wonder how many pics are taken these days of Old Faithful geyser.

Below, are more clippings, including a newspaper article of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt motoring through Yellowstone. (A close-up is farther down the page, if you'd like to read the short article.)

The Roosevelts visited Yellowstone on September 25th/26th, 1937, after the Johnsons were safely back home, so we can assume that Joan did much of her scrap-booking after their trip.

The below page consists of the Johnson's vehicle pass, a two postcards - one of Norris geyser basin and one of the Fountain Paint Pots - a cool decal of a bison, and a 1937 motorist's guide to the park (Don't feed the bears!). The guide is full of great historical info, such as hotel prices, guided fishing trip prices, rules, a fold-out map, and other goodies.

Bison sticker (stamp?) up close;

There are more pages in the scrapbook relating to Yellowstone, and they are included in the next part!

On to Part 21 - MORE Yellowstone!

1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook - Part 19 - Heading East - Soda Springs to Reno

(for part 1, click here)

Soda Springs to Reno

After seeing the sights of San Francisco and the Bay Area, the Johnsons start their trek back home. Heading east toward Reno, Nevada, they spend a night in Soda Springs, CA at the Rainbow Tavern, built by Herstle Jones in 1927. 

It boasts 32 “cool comfortable rooms” with “wonderful meals – wonderful scenery.” The South Yuba River meanders behind the tavern, and visitors could catch fish and have the dining room cook them up.

Fortunately for us modern day travelers, the Rainbow Tavern – later known as the Rainbow Lodge – still stands! It is located at 50080 Hampshire Rocks Road in Soda Springs, and can be visited. It can be found off the Highway 40 Scenic Bypass. Here is their web page!

One of the postcards on this page is of Donner Lake and Pass, which is close to Soda Springs.

Joan writes next to the postcard; “This lake is 35 miles west of Reno. It is 3 miles long, 1 mile wide and is one of the most picturesque alpine lakes in California. The Southern Pacific snowshade and summit of the Divide are not far from this.” It was hard to read the last line, so I’m not sure if snowshade is what she wrote – doesn’t seem to make sense here.

Donner Pass is well known for the tragedy of the Donner-Reed party (not to be confused with the Donna Reed party) - 

Donna Reed - NOT a cannibal!

- who became stuck in that area in the winter of 1846-47 and had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Luckily, the Johnsons avoided eating each other during their 1937 road trip.

Joan also pasted this article into the scrapbook;

Next stop; Reno Nevada! I'm not sure if they stayed here, I believe they just drove through, since it is not that far from Soda Springs. Also, there's not much info on this page, other than the postcards.

Top postcard is titled; Center Street Looking North, Reno Nevada

Middle postcard; Washoe County Courthouse, Reno Nevada

Bottom postcard; Post Office, Reno Nevada

The little cartoon clipping says, "900 miles of wire are required to connect the control equipment at Boulder Dam."

Next stop in the scrapbook - Yellowstone! Woo-hoo!!

1937 Vintage Road Trip Scrapbook, Part 18 - San Francisco Bay Area

(for part 1, click here)

Daly City and San Francisco Bay Area

July 6^th, 1937 finds the Johnsons checking into the Mission Auto Court at 6843 Mission Street in Daly City, population of close to 9,000 at the time. Cost - $5.00, plus a 25-cent deposit for the room key.

The Mission Auto Court was originally the Mission Auto Camp, established in 1923 by J. L. Vasey. It eventually became the Mission Bell Hotel, and was torn down in the early 1990’s. If you were to go to that address now, you’d find a strip mall with a Wells Fargo and a Lucky supermarket. Daly City is located just south of San Francisco.

From the postcards in this section of the scrapbook, it looks like the Johnsons were fascinated by the Golden Gate Bridge, which had been completed and opened on May 27^th, 1937 – less than a month and a half before the Johnsons arrived.

Next to the postcard of Fisherman’s Wharf, our favorite scrapbook author Joan writes: “Hundreds of gaily painted fishing craft lie in anchor at that place. They are mostly manned by Italians who often go miles out to sea in search of the city’s seafood. A sight typical of the Mediterranean is presented when the great nets are dried on the wharf."

Above are postcards of Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown at night, and another card of the Golden Gate Bridge.

On to Part 19 - Donner Lake, Soda Springs, CA, and Nevada!

James William Pattison (1844 - 1915)

My Grand-Uncle was Ralph Kline who lived to be 100 years old. He was an incredibly kind man - fought in WWII, and lived in Minneapolis with his wife, Dorothy (who now lives in Rochester, MN at a feisty 98!) One of Ralph's grand-uncles was an artist named James William Pattison. He led quite a fascinating life, and there's a great write-up about him here, if you'd like to read it.

Here's a portrait of him:

Portrait of James William Pattison done by Louis Betts in 1906, oil on canvas
47" x 33" from the collection of the Union League
Club in Chicago

Anyway, we've had this painting done by him that's been in the family for many, many years, and now it's been passed to me. Although the painting isn't titled, I found some other paintings of his online at various museums and auction houses, and some of them feature his daughter, Penelope, whom I believe is also the subject of our painting. So for now, I'm calling it:

Penelope in a Field with Sheep

The image is approximately 19" x 24", and the glass in front of it got cracked, but the painting itself appears not to have suffered. I had a hard time getting any good shots of it due to reflection, etc - plus I used my iPhone to take the pictures, which don't do it justice. I believe the medium Pattison used here is gouache, the definition of which is: "a method of painting using opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a gluelike substance."

The next few shots are close-ups I took.

Penelope:

Snuggling lambs:

Sleepy sheep:

Here's the back of the frame. I'd like to take the back off, perhaps, to see if anything is written on the back of the painting itself, but don't know if I should.

Anyhow, it was fun learning of this grand-uncle of a grand-uncle who was a semi-famous painter and art reviewer! He even exhibited in the Chicago World Fair - which the excellent book Devil in the White City is about. (Not about Pattison, of course, but...you know what I mean!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Touring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Michigan's Upper Peninsula by Boat

On our recent trip to Michigan late in August, one of the highlights was taking a Sunset Boat Cruise along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The tour takes off from Munising, Michigan and lasts about three hours. It's a bit pricey, but I thought well worth it.

The boats fill up quickly, but good views can be had all around. You can get up and walk around and even hang out on the open-aired back deck. There's a restroom on the boat, and they sell soda and water if you find yourself thirsty.

The first half hour of the cruise is simply getting out to the Pictured Rocks, and on the way you cruise past Grand Island, on which is the cool old Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse, first operational in 1868:

As the ship's captain and crew take you out past Grand Island and into Lake Superior - slipping in corny jokes with the narrative - you soon start to see how the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore got its name.

There were caves and grottoes galore.

The colors come from water seeping through various minerals contained in the sandstone cliffs. Iron produces the reddish colors. Copper creates the green. I love the palette of the picture below. It looks like someone dipped a giant paint brush in various paints and made bold up/down strokes along the cliff wall.

My wife and I kept mistakingly calling the place Painted Rocks National Lakeshore instead of the proper Pictured Rocks...

The black and white colors below were created by water seeping through manganese.

There are also a number of cool rock formations. Though you can't really see it in my picture of Chapel Rock below, the tree on top of that rock has a huge root that juts through the air to the mainland like an extension cord, where it is embedded in the earth.

On the way back, the sun began its descent (thus the name 'Sunset Tour'), and people stood on the back deck of the ship to watch.

The clouds were incredible that evening.

As the boat headed back to Munising, the sun flared into spectacular molten gold.

I highly recommended this tour for all ages. And if you go, make sure to bring your camera. 

Another option for the more adventurous is kayaking the lakeshore. There are companies in Munising (like this one and this one) that will give you a ride out to the main area and drop you off, then haul you back to town when you're done.

If you're interested in books about Michigan's Pictured Rocks, here's one by well-known photographer Craig Blacklock, as well as one by William Blewett which is more about the geology of the area. Clicking on either one will take you to their respective Amazon pages:

    

Thanks for stopping by!

The Mackinac Island Butterfly House, Michigan

On our recent trip to Michigan, we took the ferry to Mackinac Island, home of dozens of fudge shops, horses & bicycles (no cars are allowed on the island) beautiful mansions, the Grand Hotel, picturesque everything, and - what this entry is about - the Mackinac Island Butterfly House.

The day we went to Mackinac (pronounced mack-in-awe) Island was gorgeous. Perfect temperature, bright blue skies, and a gentle breeze. The ferry was a short relaxing ride across a smidgeon of Lake Huron. After getting a few squares of obligatory fudge we walked a short distance to the Butterfly House.

Typical scenes on Mackinac Island

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be as impressed as I was. The place didn't look too exciting from the outside - rather nondescript and small. But we went inside, paid a reasonable admission fee, were handed a butterfly identification chart, and headed into butterfly central.

And I've gotta admit, it was lovely. Butterflies of various types and sizes all over the place in a greenhouse-like setting that begged to be wandered slowly.

Slower! Ssssllllloooowwwweeerrrrrr!!!

And did I mention there were butterflies?

Butterflies landed on us, snacked from flowers and feeders, flew among a variety of vegetation, and taught us how to love again. Well, okay, maybe not that last part. But my family did have a great time. 

After leaving the butterfly chamber, we headed into another room that had various displays of mounted exotic insects (many that you would not want crawling up your leg) as well as live turtles, tarantulas, lizards and a hive of honey bees. And yes, of course they had a gift shop.

If you go to Mackinac Island, I highly recommend this place. It's great for young and old alike. Both of our kids - often hard to impress - were quite mesmerized by the experience.

And if you do go, make sure to send me back some fudge!

Click here for books on Mackinac Island!

Click here for books about butterflies!