Thunderstorms and threats of a tornado blew through the St. Louis area Saturday night as we wrapped up a quick trip to Amy’s hometown for a death in her family and gathered with friends at a sports bar to watch Miami thrash Virginia Tech.

The tornados passed over the area and finally touched down in Evansville, Indiana, and Henderson, KY, causing widespread damage and leaving at least 15 dead.

Slept in Sunday morning and packed the Liberty before heading out of the Hampton Inn parking lot shortly after 8 a.m. CDT and turning East onto Interstate 64. The Garmin GPS estimated arrival back in Floyd at 7:28 p.m. EST. Light traffic on a Sunday so I set the cruise control on 74 and let the Liberty eat up the miles.

Took time off from family funeral business to drive up to Alton for an always-excellent dinner at Tony’s. During my 12 years with the Alton Telegraph, Tony’s became the restaurant of choice, especially their pizza and the pepperloin, a butterflied fillet with peppercorns and a garlic butter sauce.

A phone ringing at 3 a.m. is never good news. The sound jarred me awake but Amy was already up and waiting for the call. She has a sixth sense about these things and had talked to her relatives the day before. The end was near for a favorite aunt. The phone call only confirmed what she already knew.

Death in a family never comes easy. When that death is the last link to a previously-lost mother it comes even harder. I held her while she cried, the sobs shaking her body. Time later to make the necessary plans to journey to the St. Louis area to be with family.

We took care of the necessities. Board the dog, arrange for someone to watch the house and care for the new kittens that Amy is fostering for the Humane Society and find someone else to photograph a football game.

We packed the Liberty in the early morning frost and headed out on U.S. 221 towards Floyd shortly after 8 a.m. I’ve driven the route to and from St. Louis many times in recent years, usually from Arlington while Amy first cared for her sick mother and then as we took care of the estate. My usual route from Floyd was Rte. 8 to I-81, I-81 South to Wytheville. Pick up I-77 North to Charleston, West Virginia and then I-64 West to St. Louis. Normally the trip takes 12-13 hours and covers 700-plus miles.

This time, I let the Garmin GPS map the course. It suggested, instead, U.S. 460 from Christiansburg to Princeton, WVa. to pick up I-77. I hadn’t traveled that route in years and the last time, I remembered 460 as a winding two-lane road after you cleared Blacksburg.

No more. U.S. 460 is four-lane all the way to Princeton and a pleasant drive. We slowed as we drove through Pembroke and Narrows but made the rest of the trip with the cruise control set on 60. By the time we turned North onto the West Virginia Turnpike (I-77), the Garmin’s ETA said 6:45 p.m. EST – less than 11 hours driving time.