Roger Chavers via Wikimedia Commons
As with every adventure, there were good points and not-so-good points.
The drive across US Route 60 was beautiful, although not much autumnal color was yet visible. Truthfully, the drive across last summer was more beautiful. Still, with limited traffic, it was most enjoyable.
The train ride was beautiful with as much color being visible as we saw last year. Only five of us were sitting in the lounge area of the former California Zephyr dome car, "Silver Feather," so that made one leg of the journey very enjoyable. But, then, things changed. The train was 1-1/2 hours late picking us up for the return trip -- after the conductor had threatened to go off and leave us if we were not at the station promptly on time. Shame on you, Mr. Conductor!
The drive across US Route 412 and through the Ozark Mountains was absolutely beautiful with more color being visible than we had seen at lower levels. And, yet, there was so much traffic that we scarcely could take our eyes off the road to enjoy the scenery. One detail was heartbreaking -- the poverty we saw along the way. People were living in anything they could find, from metal sheds to travel trailers to one-room cabins. So very sad. Even so, it was a lovely drive, and I'm glad we took it.
Will we take this trip again? My guess: probably not. I'm still leaning toward taking the California Zephyr to Colorado. C is leaning toward taking the Texas Eagle to San Antonio via Fort Worth. Time will tell where -- if anywhere -- we are able to go. If not, there are always those truly lovely YouTube videos of the places we want to see.
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