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Tomorrow, Monday July 6th...I will be leaving for a road trip to South Beloit IL.
This is a town that sits on the Wisconsin/Illinois state line



I was doing a bit of research of South Beliot...and I've learned Beliot is a bastardization of a French word:Bellotte....meaning "pretty". Beliot and South Beliot are NOT pretty...but from the history I've read, when the valley was first looked upon by white men, it was covered in Elm and walnut, with a beautiful river running through the valley. It was a farming community for about 100 years...then...the industrial revolution hit Beliot and South Beliot...what a blight this caused in this area...

But once out of the city...once again the countryside recovers, becomes farming again...and loveliness stretches as far as the eye can see...as well as corn...lots and lots of corn.

I will be taking the "famous" US 51 Route...from the TN. state line up into Beloit....with lots of small towns and great photo ops to take advantage of. I will be posting what I find of small town Americana here...with you guys sharing the fun things, the mundane things...and even the sad thing...the death of small towns due to lack of traffic....ect)....with you guys...it will be a great pictorial, and I hope you will come and see what KY and IL. small towns are offering us in the way of cultural riches....

Sarting To Pack

Just a little note here, would you say I'm anxious to ride? I've already got most of my stuff packed...shit forgot the air mattress...re-roll bed pack...sigh....









Well I still have to pack a bag of undies, 2 pair pants, 2 long sleeve T-Shirts, 2 reg. T-Shirts, 2 pairs of sock, a set of hiking shoes, my hygiene stuff...that should about do me...mustn't forget camera, extra batteries, extra photo cards, battery charger...and I think I will bring along some protein bars for snack food. Road food generally sucks in my opinion. I also have my little black pillow (I've used everything under the sun for a pillow in the past...nothing beats this tiny pillow I've found, and takes up as much room as a blow dryer. I don't own one of those, but I do own a pillow.