Touring in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Concrete Park, created by Fred Smith in the years between 1950 and 1964 is located just off Hwy 13 near Phillips, WI.  Fred's occupations were listed as a lumberjack, barkeep, and self-taught artist.  He must have been a character and one with a vision.  I had heard about this place from friends and finally got to take it in. The individuals in this rustic garden have lots of charm and personality - Fred's??  They are rough, whimsical creations, unpretentious and way out of the ordinary.

The next day we made it to the Porcupine Mountains in the Michigan Upper Peninsula, the destination of our trip.  The trees were in full autumn glory.   The sunny warm days made our motorcycle trip easy and fun.  We camped in a yurt at the Union Bay campground, it sat just above Lake Superior.  We had stunning Lake Superior on one side and flaming color scattered all over the 'mountains' on the other.

Looking out over Lake of the Clouds

                                                               
                                      A fallen giant in the old growth forests near Mirror Lake.

                 We had just spent a night camping in a tent, so this yurt camping was pure luxury!
From the outside a yurt is not much to look at - inside it was cozy and homey -- except for the flies, which -- I'm not going to talk about, except to say there were a few, quite a bothersome few ...