Adventures in Driving...

I am the first one to admit that I am directionally challenged. There is a very tall building outlined with blue neon lights in the southeast valley that we affectionately call "The Blue Building" and it is this landmark that is my compass when I'm driving in the Phoenix area. Once I learned the grid system that Phoenix uses (even address numbers on the north and west sides of streets, odd on the south and east sides or streets are east of Central and avenues are west) I could easily find almost any address, even without the aid of Navi (the navigation system in my car).

This week I have discovered that not every city utilizes such a logical street system. Instead, Maryland (and the east coast in general) roads follow cow paths or wagon trails or land contours resulting in roads that look like a plate of spaghetti as they twist and turn. Adding to this confusion are the circular roads like the DC Beltway (I-495) and the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and the ever-popular traffic circles with anywhere from three to five streets coming off of them. Add to this two or three times as many people as there are in the Phoenix area and you begin to see my dilemma.

This morning I needed to drop Janne off at the Metro station "kiss and ride." Being the more seasoned and savvy Maryland driver, she drove there in the rush hour traffic as I paid attention to the route. It took us right at 30 minutes to get there. I wasn't too concerned about finding my way back to the apartment since I knew Navi would have several routes for me to choose from. I chose one that minimized freeway usage (no sense opening that can of worms so early in the morning!) and was on my way.

I soon discovered that lanes often become right or left turn only lanes thus causing Navi to "recalculate" my route. After making this mistake twice, I stayed in the middle lane. I also quickly realized that speed limit signs in Maryland are really only "suggestions" as absolutely no one goes the speed limit. I was  driving 10 mph over the speed limit and was being passed left and right. Fortunately, no one honked at me- my family has a pool going as to how many times I'll get honked at in a week!

By this time I had made so many left and right turns in addition to the road twisting and turning that I had no idea what direction I was driving (I need to find a "Blue Building" here!) or where I was in relation to where I wanted to go. I decided to just follow Navi's directions and enjoy the drive. I passed forested areas (not unusual for this area) with "Watch for Deer" signs every mile or so and farm land with lots of cows. I crossed several rivers, some more than once. It was a beautiful morning and the scenery was quite enjoyable. Finally, off in the distance, I began to see familiar landmarks. As I pulled into the parking garage at our apartment complex I noticed it took me 62 minutes to get home from the "kiss and ride"- twice as long as it took Janne to get us there going with rush hour traffic!

Monday I am getting a street map and then turning Navi off. I don't think I'll ever learn the streets with him just telling me where to turn. My goal for next week is to be able to get to Target and Starbucks without the aid of a map or Navi. When I can do that, I'll treat myself to a Dark Cherry Mocha WITH whipped cream!