The Heart Of Illinois

8 Miles Today;  Forrest left home before the sun came up and I'm glad I did.  What a beautiful reddish skies greeted the walking guy.  I took my northern route which includes farm fields, woods, and of course a few subdivisions.  I was lucky enough to see 8 deer cross the road.  Just before seeing the deer a fox came within 20-25 yards of me.  I knew it was a fox because of the extremely bushy tail.  However the fox didn't have the pretty reddish color like you see in pictures.  His coat was grayish & a little black thrown in.  The weather was very sunny, no snow, with a temperature of 18 degrees when I left home.  Today my virtual journey put Forrest in "The Heart Of Illinois" aka The Bloomington /Normal Region and its relationship to Historic Route 66.

Route 66 Update

Bloomington/ Normal Ilinios

As Forrest begins his final full of February he finds his Route 66 virtual walking journey has him in the fairly good size town of Bloomington with a population of nearly 66,000.  Before entering Bloomington, you must first travel through Normal, Illinois, though over the years the two cities have virtually merged to become one metropolitan area.  As you travel Route 66 you have to watch carefully to observe where Normal ends and Bloomington begins.  At the turn of the century, a disastrous fire claimed a great portion of Bloomington's downtown area; however, agriculture, highways, railroads, and one of America's biggest insurance company (State Farm) continued to influence the city's growth.  When Route 66 came through in 1926 was built along the Chicago & Alton Railroad corridor, numerous businesses sprouted up along Route 66 and the heart of Bloomington's downtown district.  When superhighway Interstate 55 replaced Route 66, it bypassed Bloomington thus began a big decline in the city's business district.  Route 66 might be long gone but surely it made an impact on America's infrastructure.  Until tomorrow, God Bles Walk Forrest Walk