The first thing we encountered this morning were toothless hippies serving spiked coffee on the outskirts of Giant City Park. In a town called Anna, we found gas station pumps that suck air out of your tires and charge you 75 cents for the service. More toothless hippies were seen standing on the truck stop corner with signs asking for kindness. And there is no breakfast available in Southern Illinois. Only drive-thru junk.
Our campsite at Giant City State Park, South Illinois
Our empty-stomach grumpiness finally subsided at Dolly’s Restaurant in Vienna. Not quite the spectacle of Europe, but a spectacle nonetheless. We sat next to three highway workers, one sunburnt sway-backed farmer, a young guy who needed 6 bucks, and an oversized bottle of Domino Non-Dairy Creamer (in convenient powderized form). Our garden omelettes emerged from the kitchen behind 10 plates of fried chicken, mash ‘n’ gravy, green beans and bread pudding. All of these consecutive feasts were served on plastic dishes that our camping equipment would put to shame.
What is this??? Someone please explain, we can't take the weirdness no more...
Our incredulity continued as we saw trucks erratically swerving around the road and a highway worker dozing with his feet hanging out the driver’s side window. He awoke with great pomp, adopted a slow lopsided gait and made his way towards the tar roller. Amidst all this human weirdness, the rest of the natural world was at its finest.
Non-human entities in South Illinois are not weird
