Time Well Spent

Today I had some things to do that took me to the cities of Washington and Union (both in Missouri). I asked Hubby Tony if he wanted to drive along with me. He said he would. Before we left I put him in charge of adventures.

On the way out the door I grabbed my purse, lunch, paperwork, and a list of errands to be run. There was a package that had to go out in the mail, so I brought it too. My local branch wasn't open yet, but I knew I would be driving by a post office while taking care of my other things. The person I was sending it to doesn't know the area and would have no idea how far away from home I was when it got mailed.

Both cities are west of St. Louis on Interstate 44. The Washington exit (Route 100) takes about a half hour to get to, and my first stop was an additional ten miles to the west. From there I drove south for another five minutes to get to Union. The entire drive was lovely, a combination of rolling hills and natural areas. Everything was green and lush thanks to the recent rain.

It took about an hour to do all the 'have tos', then I turned things over to Tony. He's always on the hunt for a new place to get coffee, and said that La Finca Coffee in Eureka (halfway back home) had great online reviews. We could have driven on the Interstate, but instead Tony had mapped out a Route 66 Byway route.

For the most part the route paralleled the highway. We drove through areas that looked downright rural, light industrial sections, and well developed neighborhoods. The middle section of the drive was familiar from our trip earlier in the year, but still fascinating.

The reviews were right; our coffee was very good. We walked around the small downtown Eureka area, then got back in the car and started towards home. I decided to stay off the highway, and went north on Route 109. When we saw the turn off for Rockwoods Reservation (a state park) I asked Tony if we wanted to stop and get some steps. We did.

I pulled into the parking lot by the first trailhead. The trail turned out to be longer than we wanted to walk, so we did a portion and turned around. The mature trees on either side made the area wonderfully shady. Off to the right was a steep hill. A small, shallow creek on the left gurgled as we walked along, and at one point we crossed the creek on large stepping stones.

After we were finished walking we got back in the car and continued towards home. Eventually we returned to Route 100, just substantially more to the east. At that point it's called Manchester Road, a major five-lane road. We continued east until we reached the road that would take us home. As we pulled into our subdivision I took a look at the odometer. It registered less than ten miles more than it would have if we had taken the direct Interstate route. I think those extra miles were time well spent.

Five years ago: Good Concept, Bad Execution