Just came back from a short roadtrip in the Great Lakes area. I camped mostly in the wilderness to save on costs, enjoy a genuine natural environment and add a touch of adventure to the trip.
Drivin' the Midwest
I first spent a whole day in Milwaukee wandering in the streets and along the Milwaukee River. Milwaukee traces its roots to an early settlement established by French and Canadian explorer Solomon Juneau in 1818. Back then, Milwaukee was mostly used as a stopping point for fur traders.
The distinctive shape of the Milwaukee Art Museum
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Later, numerous German immigrants settled in the area and helped build Milwaukee as a major brewing and manufacturing powerhouse mostly known for being home to the Miller Brewing Company - Miller Time Yay - and the Harley Davidson Motor Company.
The Harley Davidson company is the last American company to manufacture bikes and was founded in 1903 by Harley and Davidson.
A young guy trying one of the numerous Harley Davidsons on exhibit in the museum. Apparently Harley Davidsons are no longer reserved to bad guys and wild hogs!
I then headed North to attend Air Venture 2009 in Oshkosh which is the largest gathering of pilots, aviation enthusiats and industry exhibitors in the world. During the airshow, more than 10,000 aircraft head to the Frank Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh making it the busiest control tower in the world. About 700,000 visits during a week-long clebration of flight makes it the must-attend airshow for any aviation enthusiast.
The Aeroshell demonstration is one of the most spectacular at Oshkosh
Pilots usually enjoy the numerous displays, exhibits, museums, air stunts and formation flights during the day and then camp next to their own aircraft during the night. This year, visitors could enjoy a C5-Galaxy, a C17, the White Knight 2, the Skycatcher and many many other... What is worth mentionning is that this airshow specifically aimed at the aviation enthusiast and pilots meaning that visitors can touch aircraft, step inside, manipulate the controls and have some demos and explanations. This is quite different from the Paris Airshow or the Farnborough Airshow which are almost exclusively aimed towards big fish and other professionals and where the paying public is treated as if it were an annoying bug loitering around multi-million dollar jewels.
Camping in Wisconsin. Could you spot Rodolf on the picture ?
Later in the day, I headed due North towards the state of Michigan to reach Lake Superior. I initially elected to do some wild camping over there in the Hiawatha National Forest but a night-encounter with a bear followed by the eerie sounds of wolves howling close-by in the forrest played tricks on my mind and I finally decided to finish the night in my car...
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The next day I visited Pictured Rocks National Seashores and I must admit it is well worth it. The park is little-known but amazingly beautiful, laying on the coast of Lake Superior and featuring interesting carvings and colors over limestone cliffs.
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Most of the gorgeous landscapes can only be reached by foot after a bit of trecking making this park quiet and uncrowded. Exactly what I was looking for and great for a spiritual retreat!
Chapel Rock on the southern shores of Lake Superior with its pine atop is quite amazing.
Pristine white sand beaches may also be found outside of the Bahamas...
I walked for about four hours on a 9 miles track across woodlands to reach Chapel Beach, Grand Portal Point and Mosquito Beach. And what is great is that I just met five or six persons. With so few people around to pollute the environment, it is no wonder that the waters around the lake are cristal clear. Later in the day, I headed back South towards Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin and Baileys Harbor where I spent the night.
Interesting limestone formations close to Grand Portal Point
This part of Wisconsin is cherry-land with cherry trees abound everywhere. A lot of farms were even offering some interesting pick-your-own-cherries tours of the plantations. From Northport at the top of th ePeninsula, I took a thirty minute ferry-ride to Washington Island, a little island populated by Icelandic and other Scandinavian people. It is a nice escape from the vibrant Doors county. Later in the afternoon, I resumed my drive South and overnighted in a corn field close to Sheboygan.
Lighthouse on Lake Michigan, Algoma
Finally, during the last day I slowly drove along the coastline of Lake Michigan towards Milwaukee to catch my flight to Hotlanta. I really liked Wisconsin, the "Dairyland of America". It is very different from Georgia: it is clean, people speak proper english and people do ar-ti-cu-la-te. Nice to hear some good English after so long in the low-lands of the deep South.
Shortly before sunset. 
Stratospheric shots with atomic blast colors...
