This was parent-teacher conference week, and thanks to canny planning on our teacher’s part, we had yesterday off at the elementary school.  This worked out great for me, as I had received an email from my boss at my week-end job–a little tech college, where I catalog books and do other administrative library chores–that they had hired a new girl at the “other campus”, and would I have time to come train her?

The day started poorly.  I am tired, and I over slept.  Then I missed a major turn-off and had to go around Springfield on the north instead of by-passing it properly on the south.

As the day lightened I was able to see the landscape.  I was so glad I had brought my camera!  South-eastern Missouri is beautiful country, with several patches of Mark Twain National forest.  Vista after vista of incredible autumn scenery flashed by in vivid russets and golds.  I’m sure I annoyed many travelers behind me as I one-handedly snapped pictures while driving down the road.

My day was pleasant as I coached two incredible young ladies on the finer points of using Surpass library tools.  They had already read the manual, and only needed a few pointers on procedure and on creating call numbers.  I had lunch at Sonic, then went over creating reports and doing inventory.  By three PM, I was on my way back home.

Lunch wasn’t sitting very well, and my mind was more on the misbehavior of my stomach than on driving directions, so I mixed up my highways, and drove south instead of south-west.  I pulled into a Conoco station in West Plains for a bathroom break, some Pepto Bismol, and a map check.  Sure enough, I was fifty miles in the wrong direction.   The question, of course, was should I drive back the way I had come or cut across the southern portion of the state?  It looked as if Hwy 14 would take me over to Hwy 65, and the Branson area which would put me about 2/3’s of the way home, and back on  my normal driving route.

I had not gone 10 miles on Hwy 14, before I knew I should have turned around.  But “stubborn” is something I learned tagging after my grandmother as a little kid, so I persisted.  The road wound around and around and up and down hills that weren’t quite as bad as driving in Arkansas, but challenged my little trunk’s four cylinder engine going up, and my brakes, clutch and transmission going down.  The road was not well-traveled, so I got my camera out, and where I was not needing both hands to drive, I was snapping pictures madly.

I was passing through the heart of Mark Twain Forest segments, and the landscape was incredibly beautiful!  The russet and gold autumn landscape was now interspersed with bands of dark green plantings of pine as well and the lighter kelly green of cedar glades.