Taking a Different Route

There was no Brownie or Girl Scout troop in the small town where I grew up, so perhaps I have a tiny bit of an excuse for not knowing some things. I am acquainted with people who can glance at the sky, and from the position of the sun, have a good idea of what time it might be. I am not one of those people. Neither can I tell you which direction I am facing except at sunrise or sundown. But I do like maps – as decorative objects. Their intended use of providing navigational aid is lost on me. On some intellectual level I almost understand how they work, but can’t make the leap to using the information to actually find my way around. As one of my friends said long ago, I could get lost in a paper bag. Despite the fact that I’ve lived there for years, once in awhile I get turned around in my own neighborhood. In other words, ‘directionally challenged’ does not even begin to describe my problem.

Only in recent years have I had to find my way around on my own on trips, but becoming a widow meant that unless I wanted to stay at home forever, I had to bite the proverbial bullet and get out there. Thank goodness for MapQuest and a GPS. I usually start out with both, but the GPS is the best for me because I don’t have to try to read a page and watch the road at the same time. The GPS also understands my attention span and reminds me several times what I have to do, then if I miss a turn, immediately (sometimes very aggravatingly) insists that I make a legal u-turn.

Having said all this, perhaps it is understandable that part of my trip yesterday turned into an adventure for me. Traveling from near Jackson, MS, to Austin, TX, I planned to leave I-20 near the Louisiana line and head south to Austin. My GPS was adamant that I stay on it through Dallas. For me it was an act of bravery that I turned off the GPS. True, I did have a MapQuest print-out, but not for the exact route. Nor did I have a Texas map with me. In a rather startling realization of how dependent on the GPS I’ve become, it took several miles before I got over the slight panic at being disconnected and settled down for a pleasant ride on smaller roads through the Texas countryside. Had I stayed on the Interstate I’m not sure what the scenery would have been, but along the long stretches between the small towns there were lovely wildflowers, long-horn cattle, beautiful trees, and the best surprise of the day: a Roadrunner! Seeing the spunky little bird was such a delight that I laughed out loud, and continued happily on a different route.