I have said that my method of driving to unfamiliar locations is the use of Concentric circles...gradually honing in on my target until I find where it is I need to go.
My new job requires lots of driving and to lots of places I have never been. And I have had many opportunities to improve my method. Translation: I have gotten lost. A lot.
Yesterday, I attempted to plan ahead for one of my appointments by "Mapquesting" (I think I have coined a new term) the location. That would have helped, had I actually rememebered to bring the directions with me. I thought that I remembered well enough that I could "wing it". But as I was driving, I thought, "Was it Stillwater Blvd to Lake Elmo Ave or was it Lake Elmo Ave to Stillwater Blvd?" I tried the first. I was wrong. That just brought me back out to a road I was trying to take a shortcut from. I proceeded anyway and considered at times, calling back to the office, admitting defeat and asking for directions. However, I continued on, following a hunch. I was just about to admit that my hunch was not going to work out when I turned down a road, and behold...There was the building I was looking for.
Pure dumb luck! But the take away from that experience...I now know how NOT to get there and now I also know exactly HOW TO get there. Good thing too, I had to go there again!
My other adventures have taken me on the various, scenic backroads of Woodbury, Stillwater, Bayport and Lakeland. Lovely drives along gentle rolling hills and by the river. As I drove along, pretty sure it was the wrong way, I thought to myself, "Am I really lost if I know that I am going the wrong way and I know where I should be, know where I am but know it is the wrong way to where I need to go?" Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The good news, I am getting better. I am learning how to find places. I have the luxury of time at the moment so that I can build in a little cushion of time to find my way, in case I do make a wrong turn at Albequerque, as Bugs Bunny would say. And I am getting better about Mapquesting and taking the printed directions WITH me! It's progress.
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