“Walk a mile, mile and a half to the highway and a bus will take you on in to Jefferson City.”

by chuckofish

I had a super fun few days in St. Louis celebrating Valentine’s Day plus hitting up an estate sale and Club Taco for margs. But, after having my return driving plans repeatedly foiled by weather predictions gone awry, I gave up and took the Amtrak back to Jefferson City.

I don’t think this does justice to just how surprisingly deep that snow was!

I was a little worried that I’d end up stuck in a snowdrift on the train for hours but thankfully that didn’t happen–only an hour delay in the station. The train was only 25% full and very pleasant. It occurred to me that I had not taken the train from Kirkwood Station since 10th grade when we rode the train to a journalism conference in Kansas City! Twenty + years ago!

I enjoy train travel and find it much more dignified than air travel. Although, I was worried the bar car would be closed because of COVID–so my mother packed some wine in an appropriate water bottle. Don’t worry, it wasn’t full!

The scenery, through Amtrak’s signature dirty windows, was pretty. I am excited for my return trip (to pick up my car this weekend) during the day so I can see the view for the whole ride.

It helped that I was reading “Hell is Empty” the Longmire where Walt is chasing escaped convicts through a blizzard in the mountains of Wyoming and the entire plot is an allegory for Dante’s Inferno. I was thankful to be cozy on the train with my wine and snacks.

“Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t that many descriptions of hell in the Bible, and the majority of images most people carry around in their heads are from the fourteenth-century poem, which means that our contemporary view of hell is actually from the Middle Ages.

A depressing thought to say the least.”

Walt Longmire of Dante’s Inferno in Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson

I made it to the Jefferson City train station and had packed lightly to ease my walk home. However, the snow drifts were high and the sidewalks unshovelled. Luckily, a nice older couple offered me a ride in their giant pick up (it was only two blocks). They had just dropped their daughter off on her way to Kansas City because she had gotten stuck at home too. As state employees, we had all gotten the news that our respective offices were closed the next day because OF COURSE.

Also, this made me laugh: