Little America

I 'm sitting in the sun at the cafe, waiting for a bowl of clam chowder. It is delightfully sunny and warm. Little America is a truck stop off I-80 near Rock Springs, WY. It boasts 17 marble showers for truckers, which gives you a clue to its pretensions. Even the plain old men's room is all marble. 

I got my clam chowder. I can count the number of tiny pieces of clam in the bowl on one hand. Not much potato either.  The main ingrediant is some kind of thickener, I think.  The ice cream cones are only 75 cents, however.

       The cafe at Little America

The gift shop here raises kitsch to a new level. E.g.:

  

And: 

It's fun in a campy way. 

Little America goes back to the 50s. Here's what it looked like then:

The novel we are reading. Stranger in the Kingdom, is set in 1952. One of the main characters drives a "woody" station wagon. And what's for sale in the gift shop here? 

A "woody" station wagon cribbage board!  It all fits together.