Our GPS (Mis)Adventure

Roadedit - 1
For quite a while Sister Ramey and I have wanted to check out the Presbyterian Children's Home thrift store in Talladega, about 35 miles from us. So Tuesday, we finally got around to it. After the 45-minute drive to Talladega, we had a little trouble finding the store, although we had the address and on-line instructions on how get there. Actually I think we might have happened upon it accidentally.

We didn't find many real treasures. Ramey got a pretty pitcher and I found a small dish that matches the pieces on top of may refrigerator. But it didn't take us long to go through the shop and be ready to return home. That's when the adventure began.

As we had driven around and around Talladega in an effort to find the thrift store, we were sort of turned around and didn't remember how to get back to the interstate.

"Let's use the GPS," I wisely suggested.

I got out my cell phone and called up Google Maps and asked how to get to I-20 from where we were. So here we went. That sweet female voice led us on such a circuitous route that we were totally lost for close to two hours. We went through very scary sections of town, dodged zillions of potholes, made at least one total circle (we knew we had gone in a circle when we saw the desiccated dead deer for the second time. By the time we realized that sweet GPS voice didn't know any more about where we were than we did, it was too late. We had to keep following her instructions, hoping and praying she would take us some place familiar.

Close to two hours later, we arrived in a town that I knew well enough to find the interstate without the GPS lady. (I gotta tell you, the sweet voice was still trying to convince me to turn on driveways and pigtails as I was headed straight for I-20--but I ignored her.) By that time, we were about 20 minutes from home--about 15 minutes from Cracker Barrel. So to ease our nerves and feed our hunger (and visit the facility, as Nature had been calling for some time), we had a nice early dinner and topped it off with some wonderful peach cobbler.

I will never trust my life and safety to that GPS lady again. From now on, my trusty road atlas is permanently ensconced in my car's back seat. 

By the way, the GPS lady never did shut up. She tried to get us to make turns all the way home. At home, as I was going up the stairs from the basement, that sweet voice was telling me to turn left and make a U-turn. I turned off my cell phone then. It's still off. I hope when I turn it back on, she will be gone.

Images

My trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas. I'll never forsake you again, my friend, for the fake convenience of modern technology.

This post was migrated from the old blog. To see the comments on the original post, CLICK HERE. To add a new comment, click "Post a Comment", below.

On 06/06/2024, Ramey Channell said ...

Make a U-turn! Make a U-turn!

On 06/07/2024, Bonnie said ...

My GPS on my phone for Google Maps starts every trip in Tulsa, OK, a city where I've never been. My sister and I were visiting a small town in north central Minnesota that has a very well-known fabric store. That GPS led us out of town and into dirt roads into the woods! We had a good laugh, but I use Apple Maps now and have more success!
Crazy.
Bonnie in Minneapolis

On 06/08/2024, Barbara Anne said ...

What a hoot! I've been visiting homes for sale with DS1 and he's been relying on his GPS lady. So far, so good.

You've made me wan some peeach cobbler.

Hugs!

On 06/15/2024, Wendy said ...

We always have paper maps in car and RV. Use Google maps and WAZE, but need backup to reassure those sweet voices. Not sure that the "younger" generation even knows how to read paper maps. We do get teased about our reliance on them. ndy
-----

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