RIDE FROM JEFFERSON CITY TAKES 24 HOURS

Given the option of staying an extra night in Jefferson City or battling a snowstorm and heading back to Cape Girardeau, I chose to head for home. While the opportunity to spend the evening with a large contingent of people from the Cape Girardeau area snowed in at the Capitol Plaza Hotel seemed like fun, I opted to catch a ride with David Barklage in his 4-wheel drive truck and go home.

With my work done at the Capitol, we set out for home around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. There were conflicting weather reports and descriptions of road conditions, but since 4-wheel drive vehicles go well in the snow we proceeded without fear into the winter wonderland of mid-Missouri.

Warnings from Rep. David Schwab of Jackson, who had fled the city earlier in the day with Rep. Mary Kasten, from Rep. Larry Thomason, and others that we should stay put had been ignored.

A treacherous drive down Highway 63 to Columbia seemed to go well. At a stop to buy snacks and gas up, we heard conflicting reports about the condition of Interstate 70, and decided to proceed eastward.

I-70 was a mass of stalled tractor-trailers, vehicles in ditches, and blowing snow with wind gusts of 40 mph. It was desolate and creepy.

The roads were no problem for us -- as long as no one got in our way. Unfortunately, hundreds of trucks blocked our path.

Every few miles there was another jam.

On one hill where we waited more than an hour, a trucker said once a stalled truck got its chains on, it would be able to proceed, clearing that jam. Asked a reasonable question, like why the chains had not been put on earlier, the driver responded: "Do you know how hard it is to put chains on one of these things?"

Rather than use the break to put chains on his own truck, he was sitting patiently. He was not putting his own chains on during the break in the action, but promised if he stalled, he would. It made no sense to us, but then we'd never put chains on a semi.

After going about five miles in three hours, we plodded through a crossing over to the westbound lane, heading back two miles to the Kingdom City exit for a return to Jefferson City. Truck stop lots were packed, and drivers with no where to go abandoned their rigs on the overpass, causing the ultimate gridlock.

Now, nearly 10 p.m., we visited our fellow exit ramp refugees. Two guys, headed for a ski trip to Colorado, reported they had moved 22 miles since leaving at 8:30 a.m.

The driver of a rental truck from Florida, admitted new reservations about his decision to relocate to this part of the country.

A father and son had been on the road more than five hours, trying to cover the six miles to the exit that would take them home.

People complained about the truckers, road crews worked, police officers hunted for truck drivers to move their rigs. Some took naps, others read or visited. For us, a cellular phone passed a lot of time.

People were frustrated, tired and hungry, but patient and friendly.

Finally a lane opened, and we headed to Highway 54, arriving back in Jefferson City near midnight.

After a night's sleep, we set out again, arriving home 24 hours after we first started.