Jump to content

Motorcycle Ride, Kelley's Island, and a Widelux FV


Recommended Posts

Hi all,

 

Took an overnight motorcycle ride to the Lake Erie Islands for Memorial Day

(Sunday / Monday) with my 13 y/o son. Kelley's Island, to be exact, in western

Lake Erie. Took the ferry out of Marblehead, 4-mile water crossing, then camped

overnight on the island at the (Ohio) state park there. Took the 35mm Widelux

because it's easier to fit into the tankbag of the motorcycle than the Kodak

Panoram is...

 

Since I'm sharing photos and not writing a book, I won't go into a lot of details

here. But once on the island we visited the glacial grooves, which are theorized to

be a former streambed before a mile-high glacier gouged it out deeper and wider,

smoothing the gouges along the way. My son was particularly impressed with the

island airport, where the runway ends at the public road, and stop signs on the

road warn you to look both ways for aircraft. We visited the local historic

museum, which had quite a few panoramic photos of their own, probably from one

of the bigger brothers to my Kodak Panoram, based on the prints' size, and we

photographed the interior of the museum and the two volunteer ladies working

there.

 

Photos aren't meant as art, more as a record to enlighten, as I've never seen

glacial grooves like these, and I suspect few people have.

 

First shot is the ferry ride over. In keeping with Kelley's Island's modern reputation

as a party destination, the right-most Harley had one saddlebag full of ice and

beer... My BMW is the right-most bike, at the head of the line.

 

Enjoy!

 

Doug Grosjean<div>00Pfh0-46445584.thumb.jpg.4014838600a6e74fe8d128dcb4d86a6e.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once on the island, we wandered a bit. It's not a big island, maybe 2-3 miles across in places, and irregularly shaped. Speed limit is 25 MPH, and golf carts and bicycles dominate. Our motorcycle, not particularly quick or fast in normal use, felt like a rocketship there....

 

This is the airport, mentioned above.<div>00Pfh9-46445684.thumb.jpg.1d2163a4644971c30894d244b446fa7b.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Kelley's Island Historical Museum is in a former church, built in 1868, but the abandoned and empty from 1917-1980. The Historical Society leased it, refurbished it, and ended up buying it eventually.

 

These two women were enthralled with the panoramic / swing lens idea, as they had photos there in the museum taken with swing-lens cameras, but hadn't really thought about the particulars.<div>00PfhU-46449584.thumb.jpg.f71381349933fd186f5a231f05f18264.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And finally, back on board the ferry to the mainland on Monday. My BMW GS is in the LH portion of the photo, the only motorcycle in the shot.

 

This photo, taken from upper deck of the small ferry looking down, illustrates the extreme distortion possible with a swing-lens camera if not kept level. Here, you can see the bottom deck, but in each of the upper corners you can see the horizon.

 

The upper LH corner, there's also a small shelter on the shore. That's Inscription Rock, a large rock full of Native Americar petroglyphs, believed to be about 400 years old. The glyphs are pretty dim, but they were much photographed 100 years ago, so there's a plaque showing what was what, way back when.

 

After arriving back on the mainland, we stopped at a one-hour photo lab to get the negs processed, and then rode home.<div>00Pfhi-46451784.thumb.jpg.2b0bfc997f9c92949373bc42259b420d.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...