For those who think......

Illinois is flat, ugly and full of only corn.......think again!  When I was growing up my mom had this set of placemats with scenes from Illinois on them.  One was of Chicago......bleh........one was of Horseshoe lake down in Southern Illinois and one was of Garden of the Gods, also down in Southern Illinois.  I spent many meals looking over those placemats and wishing I could go see those amazing places.  This spring, as we debated over where to explore when school got out, Kevin came up with the idea of Southern Illinois.  He found a cabin and got us set up.  So, this past Wednesday down south we headed!  All was pretty standard Illinois scenery....beautiful, rolling fields of corn.  Green.  Fresh.  But then, we saw it...........the trees......the hills.....unbelievable.  As we got closer we were surrounded by greenery.  The roads were narrower, the trees were thick and everything was soooo green.  The air was humid and smelled so sweet.  I don't know what was blooming but it was everywhere.  The cabin was set against the Shawnee National Forest and we heard owls and Whippoorwills singing during the night.  It was the quietest night I'd had in a long while.  Sooooo peaceful!  During our stay we explored Garden of the Gods, Pounds Hollow, Ox-lot Cave, Rimrock, Cave in Rock, Millstone Bluff, Fern Clyffe, Camp Cadiz and numerous back roads.....and there are tons of them!  We learned quickly to stay under 40 mph in the evenings......the deer do not come racing across the fields at you.  They are already in the road.  Just strolling along.  Photographs are easy to take because you just stop where you are and take them.  It's so quiet!  So natural.  Nothing has been disturbed.  No billboards.  No neon.  No fees.  Just Illinois at it's best!  So......we will be going back.  Many times I'm thinking.  It's one of those places that keeps a piece of you when you go....sigh..............