The nights are growing colder, and it will soon be winter. Like a beautiful woman, Missouri will soon change from her fall colors of reds and golds to a winter dress of pure white snow. In any of her seasonal outfits, we love our beautiful Missouri.

Cozy winter evenings provide an opportunity to travel via our computers as we enjoy the beauties of a Missouri winter. To aid you in that travel, I’ve researched a few Missouri websites for you. As usual, you can type in the URLs yourself or just go to ShowMeMissouri.net and access the Cyber-Travels button to follow the links in the article.

I will be spending a good part of the winter at my home in Glasgow (GlasgowMO.com.) Visit my personal page at www.jymiller.net to learn even more about my town, including a slide show of our historic homes. We are the home of the oldest continuously operating single family owned drugstore in the United States and the oldest public library west of the Mississippi.

When we travel on the highways during the winter, we must always be aware of road conditions, and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT.org) makes checking roads convenient by providing current road conditions and closures. The site also has a link to the Missouri Highway Patrol “Crash Report” listings of accidents investigated by the MHP. The term “crashes” is used because the patrol says there are no “accidents.” There is even a link that allows you to sign up for text alerts to be sent to your cell phone with road condition updates.

Something that I have not done yet, but plan to do is to ride the Amtrak. You can begin to research rates and schedules at Amtrak.com/home. Trains run daily between St. Louis and Kansas City and include food service for snack foods and beverages. Trains cross the Missouri River at Glasgow, the site of the first all steel railroad bridge in the world. The current bridge, which I can see from my home, is a replacement.

Sports lovers will find Missouri a great destination year round. The Missouri Winter Games (MOWinterGames.org) in Springfield include basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, bowling, trapshooting and more. This year will also feature a demonstration event by Olympic gold medalist gymnast Jordyn Wieber. The event takes place in late February and early March.

Bird watching is an interesting hobby that can be enjoyed all through the year. You can travel to the woods or a park to search for birds, or you can can find them in your own backyard. You can even find them on your computer. Bob and Sally Sharamitaro of the “Dogtown” area of St. Louis have been taking photos of the feathered visitors to their back yard for years and share them at www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/birds/yard-bird-photos.html.

You can read about their award winning wines of Bushwhacker Bend Winery in Glasgow at BushwhackerBend.com/default.aspx. Check out links to Glasgow events and hospitality businesses and see some great photos of the winery, which overlooks the Missouri river. On nice days, the back deck is a great place to sip and converse and maybe see an eagle soaring over the river.

Winter in Missouri is always interesting. Try to get out on the good days and stay by the fire during any stormy ones. Those long winter nights are a good time to catch up on your reading, play games with the family or surf the Internet to learn more about our great state.