I sometimes take for granted the modern conveniences of life.
Saturday was one of those days.
My husband and I set out around 10:30 am from our home in Kenosha, which is in southeast Wisconsin. We were headed to watch our daughter in her show band performance in Fort Atkinson, which is about 75 minutes west of us.
I have a new car which has a navigation system so I plugged our destination into it and it began shouting directions at us. It wasn't long before my husband cancelled the directions. "I know where I'm going," he said.
And he did.
We arrived in Fort Atkinson, watched Kara's performance, then took her with us as we travelled to the far southwestern side of the state to Platteville to watch our exchange student, Hannah, and Kara's boyfriend, Zach, perform in the Tri-State Honors Band at the university there.
Again, my husband knew the way. I napped as we made the two hour trip.
Once we arrived in Platteville, we used the navigation system to find the university, but something didn't seem right. We were heading OUT of town instead of IN. I pulled out my phone and looked up directions. The service was sketchy but the directions eventually loaded. Yep, we were headed the wrong way. Siri (finally) got us where we needed to go.
We watched the performance, loaded everyone into the car, and set out for home. It was dark now. Very dark.
My husband wasn't quite sure of the best way to get home. We didn't want to go back through Fort Atkinson because that would take us farther north than we needed to go.
He began driving in what he felt was the general direction of home. (There were no interstate highways nearby.)
Before long, we both realized that we might be lost. I plugged our home address back into the navigation system. It wanted us to go back north towards Fort Atkinson. Nope. That would take us an hour out of our way.
I pulled out my phone. "No Service," it said. We were literally in the middle of nowhere -- farm fields galore. Of course there wasn't any service.
"Get out the map," my husband said.
"Map?" I asked. "I don't have a map in here. Why would I? I have a navigation system AND an iPhone."
We both looked at each other. We continued driving on dark, empty, farm-lined roads, hopefully heading east towards home. We passed only a few cars on the quiet two lane road and any towns we went through passed in a blink. Oh my....
We made it back home at 10:30 pm, exhausted from our long day of travels.
As we pulled back into the garage, my husband said, "We should have gone back through Fort Atkinson. We would have been home an hour ago."
Saturday was one of those days.
My husband and I set out around 10:30 am from our home in Kenosha, which is in southeast Wisconsin. We were headed to watch our daughter in her show band performance in Fort Atkinson, which is about 75 minutes west of us.
I have a new car which has a navigation system so I plugged our destination into it and it began shouting directions at us. It wasn't long before my husband cancelled the directions. "I know where I'm going," he said.
And he did.
We arrived in Fort Atkinson, watched Kara's performance, then took her with us as we travelled to the far southwestern side of the state to Platteville to watch our exchange student, Hannah, and Kara's boyfriend, Zach, perform in the Tri-State Honors Band at the university there.
Again, my husband knew the way. I napped as we made the two hour trip.
Once we arrived in Platteville, we used the navigation system to find the university, but something didn't seem right. We were heading OUT of town instead of IN. I pulled out my phone and looked up directions. The service was sketchy but the directions eventually loaded. Yep, we were headed the wrong way. Siri (finally) got us where we needed to go.
We watched the performance, loaded everyone into the car, and set out for home. It was dark now. Very dark.
My husband wasn't quite sure of the best way to get home. We didn't want to go back through Fort Atkinson because that would take us farther north than we needed to go.
He began driving in what he felt was the general direction of home. (There were no interstate highways nearby.)
Before long, we both realized that we might be lost. I plugged our home address back into the navigation system. It wanted us to go back north towards Fort Atkinson. Nope. That would take us an hour out of our way.
I pulled out my phone. "No Service," it said. We were literally in the middle of nowhere -- farm fields galore. Of course there wasn't any service.
"Get out the map," my husband said.
"Map?" I asked. "I don't have a map in here. Why would I? I have a navigation system AND an iPhone."
We both looked at each other. We continued driving on dark, empty, farm-lined roads, hopefully heading east towards home. We passed only a few cars on the quiet two lane road and any towns we went through passed in a blink. Oh my....
We made it back home at 10:30 pm, exhausted from our long day of travels.
As we pulled back into the garage, my husband said, "We should have gone back through Fort Atkinson. We would have been home an hour ago."
I can remember when we had piles of maps stuffed into the glove compartment. No more. Yet, what do we do when Google maps is out of service. I hope you were able to find some good from your being lost.
ReplyDeleteWe had a very similar situation this weekend too on our way to the basketball tournament. My sister canceled her OnStar...boy was that a mistake. I also asked her if she had a map! Nope! You're right - the things we take for granted.
ReplyDeleteOh no! A map?!?! Haha! I'm so glad you arrived home safely, but those experiences are frustrating!
ReplyDeleteI still carry a map. Guess I'm old fashioned but too often there is no service on the phone or GPS. What an exhausting day!
ReplyDeleteWe still carry maps, too - mostly for peace of mind. What a day you had - full, but exhausting.
ReplyDeleteWe still carry maps, too - mostly for peace of mind. What a day you had - full, but exhausting.
ReplyDeleteWow, I don't have anything but an IPhone, my car's too old, so I carry a map, or print out at home first. I guess I've never thought there would be no cell service. We are now spoiled, aren't we? One time I was unsure about where we were going, & Ingrid, only six, said, "Just ask Siri, Grandma." Glad you made it finally!
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people who doesn't trust a GPS when I travel. I mean, I trust it, but not completely. I always go to the AAA -- in advance -- to get a TripTik (and a local map) just in case. It makes me very old-fashioned, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAt least it was at the end of a long day and you made it to all the required events. Even so, it's no fun when it takes longer than expected. Reminds me of the "leisurely" route Linda and I took to Warsaw last summer for the All Write Conference. I like having a paper map around since I don't always trust technology!
ReplyDeleteThis is a funny post! We don't even have navigation in our cars, only on our phones. And, we certainly don't have a map! How long will it be before papers maps are completely obsolete??? Glad you finally got home.
ReplyDelete