A touch of autumn means road trips and narrow blacktops

I hate to say this, because I believe in jinxes.

But this weather is spectacular.

Here's why:

Reason No. 1: Fall colors continue to glow. I thought we passed the peak for autumn leaves a couple of weeks ago, but the bright sunshine continues to turn those gold leaves into a stunning display.

My mother called to say how much she has been enjoying the weather. I said it was great, but I hoped we would get some nasty weather next week so we could have a proper Indian summer for Thanksgiving.

"What do you call this?" she asked.

A decent fall, I said.

Reason No. 2: My utility bill is looking more and more like my bill for limousine service. Since I don't have a chauffeur and because neither my air conditioning nor my furnace have been on in weeks, the bills look ... well, affordable.

Reason No. 3: Because the weather is so nice, my wife and I have been taking advantage of it on weekends by going on road trips.

Last weekend we took the back roads to Washington, Mo., a historic and lovely town on the banks of the Missouri River west of St. Louis.

Right on the banks.

From almost any vantage point in the old downtown -- now a haven for antique stores and an antique grocery store that has been in business since the 1860s -- you can look at the river. The old part of town has the good fortune of being on the side of a hill, which means it isn't prone to flooding and doesn't need a floodwall, which also would cut off the great view.

If you've never been the Washington, it's a great weekend getaway.

Reason No. 4: On these weekend excursions, I get to drive the back roads.

Usually, when my wife and I go somewhere, we are in a hurry and take the interstates because they are convenient and efficient. But our trip to Washington, for example, took us to Ste. Genevieve, Bonne Terre, Cadet, Old Mines, St. Clair and Union. Almost any of these spots have something to interest you.

Like Old Mines, which is where we saw the huge tractor in a field next to the highway. The tractor turned out to be a sculpture of hay bales of all shapes and sizes -- complete with pumpkin headlights.

So enjoy the fall weather.

Even if it lasts into winter.

That's OK with me.

---

Both going to and returning from Washington, we passed the new maximum-security prison at Bonne Terre. It's huge. It looks like one of those complexes where you rent storage units for all the stuff that won't fit in your basement, but these units happen to be for humans who broke the law.

The prison very likely would have opened this year, except the state ran out of money. But that's not the only reason the prison won't open for at least another year, according to Tim Kniest, public information officer for the Department of Corrections. There were two lawsuits contesting the site selection and awarding of the construction contract that put off work for 18 months. And there have been some other glitches as well. For example, the prison still doesn't have its natural-gas hookup.

Folks in Bonne Terre are mighty anxious for the prison's 800-plus jobs to become available, although local applications will be taken mainly for entry-level jobs. Other trained prison workers will come from other facilities, and some current corrections officials will be promoted to positions in the new prison.

Probably the most important component of the Bonne Terre prison, says Kniest, is its inmate intake center. This is where individuals who get prison sentences are sent for evaluation and processing to see where they will wind up for the rest of their term. Currently, the state has intake centers at St. Joseph and Fulton that are bulging at the seams.

If all goes well, there will be enough money next year to open the prison. If the $44 million operating budget is approved, it will take another six months to take care of last-minute details and hire and train the staff.

In the meantime, my wife and I were more than a little surprised to see lights -- indoors and out -- were turned on. The place looked like a small city of bright lights.

So why is a prison that isn't open burning so much electricity? Kniest explains that there is a 26-member security and custodial staff in place at the prison. Even though the prison isn't open, the Department of Corrections is responsible for maintaining it and making sure equipment warranties and the like are kept up to snuff.

Meanwhile, I wouldn't suggest you try to do any stargazing around Bonne Terre.

---

For a wild ride, try taking Route K and Route C from Bonne Terre east to Highway 32 after dark. The narrow road is a delight of country scenery during the day. At night, those big trucks pop over hills like double-wide freight trains.

And there is plentiful wildlife. We barely managed to stop before the car smacked into a buck with a huge rack of antlers standing on the pavement. It's about the closest I've ever been to one in the wild. The buck seemed to think we were pretty interesting too.

And there was the raccoon that scampered in our lane and then decided to change directions just for the heck of it.

We gave ourselves extra points for arriving safely home -- which is a great place to be on an chilly autumn night.

R. Joe Sullivan is the editor of the Southeast Missourian.