Saturday, December 28, 2013

Adventures in Driving

Last week my son came in for Christmas.  He flew into Philadelphia airport which I had never driven to before.  Since I no longer trust my "man" on the GPS, I got directions from MapQuest.  It's very difficult to travel on the interstate while trying to read directions.  But I tried.

Everything went well until I turned onto the NJ Turnpike.  While driving along, I remembered that I had to exit for Pennsylvania, so I took the first mention of Pennsylvania.  It was the wrong one.  After a series of wrong turns, I asked how to get to the airport and was told to take I95 South, which I did.  After a little while, I took another wrong turn/exit and wound up in a residential area.  I saw two youngsters and stopped them for directions.  They told me how to get back onto I95, but I'm sorry that I didn't tell them how smart they were not to get too close to my car.

At this point, I was so lost that I actually decided to "trust" my "GPS Man".  Now I was back on the road, headed to the airport.  I took the right exit and pulled into the parking garage, but it was the wrong garage.  Back onto the road and another series of wrong turns.  Back to my "GPS Man".  He told me to take I95 South which I did for several miles even though my gut said otherwise.  When I saw that I had left the Philadelphia airport way behind me, I decided to finally trust my gut and get pack on I95 North.  After driving around for about 3 1/2 hours for a 1 1/2 hour trip I got to the airport and met my son.

Then we went back on the road to my home.

Today, I let him take care of the directions and we arrived at the airport in about 1 1/2 hours.  I parked the car and dropped him off at the TSA checkpoint.  Then it hit me.  I never took note of the area of the parking lot when I left the car.  I knew what section I was in so I walked around, periodically pressing my clicker which resulted in silence.  Then I remembered that we had crossed the road, not taken an overpass like I had when I left the terminal.  So, I reversed my steps into the terminal, and found the exit which would take me to my car on the ground level of the parking garage (not the upper level where I walked around).

My car was just where I left it and I was able to find my way back home.  The trip home was not as difficult as last week's to the airport.  There has to be an easier way.

4 comments:

Pamela said...

You are brave. or crazy. or both.
:)

Snooty Primadona said...

You and I together would get hopelessly lost... even with GPS.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

BetteJo said...

My GPS (my lady) has totally changed my life. I guess that's kind of sad, isn't it? But anyway. For my job I frequently have to visit unfamiliar hospitals, most of which are a maze of old buildings and new additions .. this parking lot and that parking garage, not to mention doctor's building one, two and three. It doesn't always work but I try to remember to pull my phone out and take pictures of where I park. Whatever indicators are on the walls, the elevator doors, etc. Usually gets me back to my car. But getting to the place to begin with? I wouldn't have even dared to attempt it without my lady. I just say - sometimes she takes me on little adventures. It's still better than I would do on my own! You're very brave!

Anonymous said...

Good hint about the photos. Maybe you just need a new GPS or an update so you can trust it. But they are not fool-proof. Places like airports can change quickly.