Riding Wisconsin - Blue Mounds State Park

I've been having fun going to places I used to ride to regularly. 

I'll never forget this spot because on my first ride with Curt G. the gate guard took exception to how my park sticker was mounted. He confiscated it and wanted me to pay another $25. He should have given me a replacement sticker and had me mount it the way he wanted, but we ended up in an argument. Meanwhile Curt quietly paid for two day passes. It's not my nature to get that riled up and it's a wonder Curt went on to ride many thousands of miles with me. I now have the sticker mounted on a plate below my license plate. It seems to make everyone happy.

The main attraction of this park is the twin lookout towers, one on each end of the "Mound". Nice view and it's always cool up there.

This ride was with Gene. I tried to pick up a couple of cinnamon rolls for a snack but all I could find was a 4-pack. Oh, darn.

Picnic area with a serious view!

Cinnamon rolls going, going . . .

One of the look out towers

Stunning view (not of Gene)

I think it's that way?

Riding Wisconsin - Albion

One of my favorite short destinations. Just a bit north of the Depot Cafe in Edgerton, in case a scone is in order. I can't count how many times this has been a quick ride to sit and read a book, make coffee, have a picnic, or just take a nap.

I've never been in the museum, but some day I'll hit the narrow Sunday hours just right and get a peek inside. The school house is to the left of the hall.

The old town hall

Old school house

School house on the left

My favorite spot

Can't have a park without a gun

Hysterical Marker

Hysterical Marker

Concourse de Elegance

This weekend I got to go all hoity-toity for a few hours. Gene was invited to show his '63 BSA by the Mercedes folks when he bought his new Mercedes. He only had one extra Exhibitor pass, so we sweet-talked Susan through the gate as one too. Nice folks there - all just having a grand time.

The weather just couldn't be beat with a cool breeze coming in from the lakefront and just enough clouds to make the sky interesting.

Though the Beezer didn't win, the sheer numbers of beautiful cars on display made the whole day worthwhile.

I'm sorry for so many pix, but there were just too many to not include at least some of the hundreds of shots. Er, I also took some artistic license with some tone-mapping of some images. Cars images just beg to be manipulated.

Getting the beauty out of the truck

Proud restorer

Gang of three. Don't we look official??

Two of the other two-wheelers we saw

Vespa with sidecar

Fun for all ages!

Lots of cars to photo

OK, Fun with Tone-Mapping. Hard to resist!

Riding Wisconsin - Pier Park, Rockbridge

Long ago, within a few years of moving to Wisconsin, I literally stumbled upon this small 10 acre park in Richland county. To this day I'm not sure what led me up Highway 80 out of Richland Center, but there it was, just past the little country store. Over the decades it's been a favorite coffee/lunch stop with just about everyone I've ever ridden with - including out of state friends. 

It's a standard county park with stinky toilets, picnic pavilions, and a swing set, but this one has an escarpment that the Pine River flows through as well as a tunnel that you can walk through to get to the other side. The kind park folks have installed stairs at each end so you can get to the top and walk across. I found my first ever geocache here while poking around with Curt G. There are now two listed geocaches. I looked for one today but the mosquitoes found me before I found the cache. I was probably standing on it. 

Gene & I used to stop here after starting real early to ride to the Mississippi River but we'd get to BS-ing for so long over coffee that we would use up the day and have to go home. The scenic route from Eagle can be made into a 300 mile round trip.

I always wondered, "Where's the pier?", however the InterWeb informs me the land was donated by the Pier family. Mystery solved.

Entering the park

The tunnel through the escarpment

The other side with the Pine River flowing along the base

Starting through the tunnel

Half way through

Just about to cross the bridge over the Pine River

Stairs at the north end

Trail across the top

Stairs at the south end

Looking west from atop the escarpment