Getting Lost|Pad Patter 3.13

[bonnenuit]

I was using my GPS once on my way to a scrapping retreat as a backup mainly for the last little bit of the trip. In the middle section, the highway I was taking had a new limited-access section that I was on for the first time. And it was so new that the GPS maps had not been updated for it. So I drove about 10 miles with my British guy getting quite upset because the GPS thought that I was driving through farmers' fields. Of course, that's exactly what it looked like on the GPS screen because my little car wasn't on a road at all!

 

[Tree City]

Or this one: How can you be going North 95 and South 3 at the same time?!?

OMG OMG OMG, that kind of stuff makes me nuts. Near where I live, 95 doesn't even go north and south; it kind of goes east and west. So I go to a doctor appt and I use the GPS to get there, to make sure I find the little side street once I'm off 95. I know the entrance I need to get onto 95 and frankly, I don't even pay att'n to whether it's south or north 95--I just take the entrance I need and then start listening to the GPS for my exit info. Anyway, the little street I needed for the dr's office wasn't as difficult to find as I thought, so I figure I can get back onto 95, no problem, so why get out the GPS? The problem: I'm heading south to hit 95, so how the heck can I get ON 95 if I should technically be running parallel to it?! So I had to pull over and figure out if I needed north or south. I now know that to get home I need 95 South, but it just doesn't make sense to me that a freeway can turn and still call itself "South."

And don't even get me started on Houston's 610 Loop. It's a freeway that literally "circles" the city, so you have to learn fun things like "S 610 E Loop." Is that the SOUTHERN-driving lanes of the east side of the loop, or the EASTERN-driving lanes of the south portion? Ack. And of course when we first moved there, I didn't know what a "loop" was, so someone asked me "Do you live in the loop?" and I kept thinking "lady, I live in a house. What the heck is a loop? Is this a Southern thing?" Add to that the "spurs" as well as the 900 other freeways that intersect to and through 610 and it's very confusing. (Okay, "900" might be a slight exaggeration, but it's pretty intense.) Oh, and there are the "access roads," which run parallel to 610. The problem with that? GPS thought you were on the freeway instead of the access road--or vice versa, if you were on 610 but supposed to be on the access road--so the GPS would get mad and say "take the next exit" or "enter freeway at this entrance" even if you knew you weren't supposed to do that. So you'd miss the turn you were supposed to take because the GPS was busy telling you to get off the freeway you weren't even on.

 

[BevG]

@Tree City - I have visited Houston and seen those crazy highways (that are high!!!) and the access highways underneath.

I-85 runs through our city - it too is a North/South road that runs East/West through the city. In Raleigh, they have the whole Belt-line thing figured out -- Inner and Outer. Of course, I still have to draw a little picture in my head to figure out if I am going clockwise (Inner) or counter-clockwise (Outer). But at least I don't have to do that N/S/E/W trick.

 

[QuiltyMom]

Courtney, I get lost All. The. Time. I have absolutely no sense of direction. I even get lost using GPS. It's very sad. My DH, on the other hand, can look at the directions once, shut off his phone and get to the destination without any problems. It's disgusting.

The only place I don't get lost is inside Disneyland. I know that place like the back of my hand!

 

[LeeAndra]

Driving, in general, makes me anxious & is something I would avoid as much as possible if I could...

So I take directions & getting places very seriously. Since I'm anxious & concentrating so hard on what I'm doing & where I'm going, I only need directions to get there if it's a new place and I can remember how to get back. If I'm the one who had to drive, I will also remember how to get back there another time as long as the landmarks are the same.

I have to think really hard about which way is north or south or east or west but can do so in a pinch.

I'd prefer a lot more lead time on the GPS instead of having to wait (and listen without any music playing in the car) until a block before to know where to go so I often pull up Google Maps or Mapquest before the trip to see where I'm going and then turn on the GPS in the car and not feel so rushed or panicky.

I'm a hardcore creature of routine. I park in the same aisle at the grocery store and the mall, I sit in the same row at church, I sit in the same seat in the conference room to eat my lunch at work, I always buy the same brands, etc. so I always take the same route to anyplace after I've done it once so I no longer have to think about it.

 

[dawnmarch]

My story:
I navigated all the way from Fort Wayne, Indiana to New York border. Then hubster said " This is my home turf, I can take it from here. Well, we were headed to Long Island to see his family. If you've never traveled to LI, you don't know that rest stops and gas stations, etc are RARE. And there are tunnels, bridges you can get stuck on ( though not too often). So go to the bathroom BEFORE you make that 1 1/2 hour trip!!! WE did not. I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad to gooooooooooooooo!!!!!

But he kept saying- it won't be long... That was at 7pm. At 11pm we were LOST in Harlem! And I still had to go. Back then, it was said in The City that not even cops stopped in Harlem.

And there was no GPS, no Siri! Not sure how we got out of there, but we finally made it to his parent's house. OH boy. I navigate now!!!!

OMG, I did the same thing! Back in the 80s, I was out late with friends in NYC and then tried to get to Long Island, ended up taking the wrong exit and ended up in Harlem at about 1 am. Harlem was really unsafe back then. It was one of the scariest moments of my life because I was by myself, I could not figure out how to get back onto the highway, everything was closed and so I had no idea what to do or how to get out of there. I drove around freaking out and finally saw a couple women out walking. When I pulled over to ask for directions, they took one look at me and said "Girl, you better get out of here." They were so nice and gave me great directions for how to get back to the highway. I've never been so grateful for the kindness of strangers.

 

[bestcee]

95 doesn't even go north and south; it kind of goes east and west.

We have a cross between that and the Loop you spoke of.
215 goes East west across the top of Las Vegas. Then it goes north/south as it circles the outside of Las Vegas, then turns into east west again as it heads towards Henderson - But it is always labelled as East/West as far as I can tell!
And it intersects with I-15 at the top and bottom of the city. Luckily, those are very different sections of town, but I'm sure people still get lost going the wrong way. Which, on I-15 can be dangerous as you could end up in California, or Mesquite if you aren't paying attention.

 

[bbymks5]

In my 39 years of life I have only driven in AZ, mainly the Valley which is on a grid system for the most part so it's pretty hard to get lost.

In Phoenix, anything east of the dividing street Central is in the streets, anything west of Central is in the avenues. There are some roads that change names depending on the city you're in (i.e. in my neck of the woods Dunlap and Olive are the same road, but it's Olive where I live) and some stop and start again like Thunderbird LOL

 

[bellbird]

I can get lost in a walk-in wardrobe - i'm useless with a map and talking gps's annoy me like nothing else b/cos i'm all about music while driving so i get directions off the internet before i leave and write them a few times in a row, remembering street names and rely on that (and then it comes unstuck sometimes when i could go R or L on the same street name and i forget which way and have to back track!) Otherwise DH has a brain that is much better at direction generally and he drives!

 

[Sunberry2]

Near where I live, 95 doesn't even go north and south; it kind of goes east and west.

We have this here too, I-10 generally runs east and west. But in Phoenix (at least the east Valley) it runs more north and south. So if I have to think about where I'm heading to (or coming back from) because it's not one of those location I'm always going to, I have to remind myself which direction I'm really trying to go - East towards Tucson or West towards Los Angeles.

There are some roads that change names depending on the city you're in (i.e. in my neck of the woods Dunlap and Olive are the same road, but it's Olive where I live) and some stop and start again like Thunderbird LOL

This is what drives hubby nuts. He doesn't see why a city has to change the name of the road just because it crossed some imaginary line. I'm used to it because I grew up in the east valley and Scottsdale pretty much changes all the names of streets.

I don't generally get lost once I'm used to the area or have gotten a good sense of what's around and can figure where North is. Google maps is definitely my go-to for getting to and around anywhere new. And California. No matter how often we drive there or visit my aunt and uncle, I can never figure out how to get around! It's more of that "go north to go south/east/west" or multiple highways converging just to split into something different!

 

[londoncuppa]

I have a good sense of direction but a lousy memory, so MapQuest is my friend.

 

[londoncuppa]

I can get lost in a walk-in wardrobe

Bwahahaha... that's the second time this week you've given me a good laugh, Justine. I needed that.

 

[AJK]

OK, I just HAVE to add this-- it is on and off topic. It isn't about driving. But walking...
We spent the weekend with my son and his family. We all went to Kalmia Gardens on Friday afternoon for a "nice walk" through the Garden. And it began as just that. BEAUTIFUL! Then DIL decided to go off the lovely path and take the woodsy one.
She had visited this park many times as a college student and felt confident about this choice. So, like lambs to slaughter we followed. Thing is, we took a left and shoulda taken a right onto the simple path. That mistake cost us 2 1/2 hours of wandering around in the swamp paths with the littles ( ages 2 & 4). They did great, but got VERY tired. I wasn't dressed, well, none of us were- for black swampy paths where you have to look carefully for places to step. I had to have help many times from Son or Hubster to make it through swampy spots. I didn't want to face plant in that black muck!!! My lovely teal tennies soon turned that color. I worried they would stay that way! ha. NOT TO MENTION the facts that
1. There are numerous deadly snakes ( copperheads, eastern rattlers, water moccasin) who call that area home s-s-s-s-s-s-ss-s-sweeet home!!!! And
2. it was getting late- we arrived at 3:30 and were still LOST in the 30 acre preserve at 5:45! We walked at least 6 miles. Little Maddox finally burst out with "Oh, this is very bad!" So we stopped to pray for guidance back to the garden. 20 minutes later we didn't make it to the garden, but to the street beside the preserve- at least 4 miles from the garden and car! The kids called friends to come pick us up and take us back!

Truly it was humorous, but much later and it would have become dangerous. I am making a page about it and the thoughts that ran through my mind!!! @AnneofAlamo

 

[AJK]

DESIGNERS: We need a "Sometimes Those Who Wander ARE Lost!" KIT!!!!

 

[GlazeFamily3]

OK, I just HAVE to add this-- it is on and off topic. It isn't about driving. But walking...
We spent the weekend with my son and his family. We all went to Kalmia Gardens on Friday afternoon for a "nice walk" through the Garden. And it began as just that. BEAUTIFUL! Then DIL decided to go off the lovely path: View attachment 271798
She had visited this park many times as a college student and felt confident about this choice. So, like lambs to slaughter we followed. Thing is, we took a left and shoulda taken a right onto the simple path. That mistake cost us 2 1/2 hours of wandering around in the swamp paths with the littles ( ages 2 & 4). They did great, but got VERY tired. I wasn't dressed, well, none of us were- for black swampy paths where you have to look carefully for places to step. I had to have help many times from Son or Hubster to make it through swampy spots. I didn't want to face plant in that black muck!!! My lovely teal tennies soon turned that color. I worried they would stay that way! ha. NOT TO MENTION the facts that 1. There are numerous deadly snakes ( copperheads, eastern rattlers, water moccasin) who call that area home s-s-s-s-s-s-ss-s-sweeet home!!!! And it was getting late- we arrived at 3:30 and were still LOST in the 30 acre preserve at 5:45! We walked at least 6 miles. Little Maddox finally burst out with "Oh, this is very bad!" So we stopped to pray for guidance back to the garden. 20 minutes later we didn't make it to the garden, but to the street beside the preserve- at least 4 miles from the garden and car! The kids called friends to come pick us up and take us back!
(will add help call video here)
Truly it was humorous, but much later and it would have become dangerous. I am making a page about it and the t houghts that ran through my mind!!!

This reminds me of the time we got lost hiking in the wilderness. Me, My husband (boyfriend at the time), my mom, and my youngest sister were attempting to hike to a waterfall. It was numerous miles down a forest service road (aka unpaved and rocky) and directions were poor at best. We didn’t start at the right location and ultimately wound up on the Appalachian Trail. The hike was supposed to be short and therefore we had very little with us... not to mention there was a miscommunication and the water was left in the car. I remember using a baggie we found in the backpack to drink from a stream. We hiked for around 8 hours, just trying to get out of the woods. We finally reached a clearing and a couple from England said they had parked nearby and offered to take us back to our car. It took TWO AND A HALF HOURS BY CAR to get us back where we had started! We were very experienced hikers, but that day was not our finest. We are so fortunate it had a good ending.