Morris, Illinois

Arrived in town on the lovely I&M canal path and set up my tent in the small campsite in a park on the edge of town.  I had seen a poster that the county fair was going on, so I bikes out to the fair and walked around a bit.  Ate some pizza and ice cream.  Good stuff.

They also had the Granby County racetrack there, and Midget car racing was going on that night. I tried to go in, but the guy at the gate told me that tickets were $15, and they had stopped selling them.  I was sad.  But, I walked around and looked at the livestock section, and learned that a couple nights ago there had been a sheep judging!  Sounds like a Bingo square to me!

Before I left, I went back to the racetrack gate and begged the guy to let me in for just 10 minutes.  He relented, and in I went.  The race was under a caution flag when I got in, so things were pretty mellow.  They waved a green flag, and the cars seemed to speed up a bit.  Entertaining enough, I though.  But then they waved the flag again and OH MY GOD THE CARS STARTED GOING 120 MPH AND SOUNDED LIKE A MILLION BEES AND IT WAS AWESOME.  It was seriously impressive and I cheered out loud when someone manages to pass the lead car.  The race went back under caution after I few minutes and I left.  For at least one night, consider me a race fan.

On the way out of the fair, I noticed a row of shower rooms.  I asked someone what they were for - he said that usually the race drivers or 4-H kids use them, but I was welcome to take a shower if I wanted.  So I did.  So nice to not stick to my sleeping bag.

This morning I had a nice breakfast downtown (cute downtown, btw) and bought some fishing line and hooks for some future fishing.  I went south out of town to historic rt 66, and I've been on that all day.

Morris, Illinois, I will remember you fondly.