**in my defense, i actually WROTE this last night around 11pm. but apparently the button next to 'publish' says 'preview'...**
to set this up for you, let me just say that i am really awesome with directions. i rarely get lost, and can usually find my way around anywhere in the car (my husband, on the other hand, can find his way around anywhere flying a PLANE, but on the road can be challenged at times... ;). you can tell me quick directions and i can visualize it and get there with no problems.
however, this weekend in dallas is another story. but after yesterday, i THINK i've figured out the culprit (hee hee). :)
heading down, i managed to make it right to the hotel and convention center with no issues whatsoever. then came the airport. i head off to DFW to pickup sana, todd, andy and kia and decide as i get closer that i am WAY smarter than the navigation system in my car (thus angering her and making her 'recalculate' on numerous occasions on this jaunt). as andy is calling and giving me updates ('at the baggage claim', 'just got outside to such-and-such gate'), i am looping around the airport WAY far out in a circle next to tall grass and obscure air cargo signs. it was straight out of european vacation ('look kids - big ben! parliament!').
after eventually backtracking twice and following a remote parking bus, i manage to make it to the terminal and find my peeps. at this point, todd hops in front and gets the oh-so-glamorous job of being in charge of navigating ('just follow the blue line on the navigation system and we'll be all good'). todd, however, has my personality. which means we like to have fun and get distracted easily... so after a few 'oops! we're going north! we need to go south!' loops, we eventually get on track and head towards the hotel (stopping for lunch at the awesome cracker barrel mentioned earlier).
the next evening, we head out for a really late dinner when the show wraps up, and this time andy hops in the front seat. i feel much more confident as andy is more focused and we're all hungry (so i figure this should be easy). AND the restaurant is only a mere half mile away (YAY!).
insert road construction, road blocks, one way streets, and yes - an actual 'big ben! parliament!' roundabout (that is deserted), and you end up with us finally making it CLOSE to the restaurant and parking next door at a fedex kinkos (it was a 'you can't get there from here' scenario). fortunately the small hill we had to walk down to get to the restaurant was pretty easy to navigate. :)
however, last night put my dear friend mike hanline in the front seat in the directional role. while i won't go into my thoughts on his driving skills, let me just say that he is on top of the navigational skills. we managed to make it to our destination far away with no wrong turns or mishaps of any kind. and his directions for heading back were just as clear. thanks mike!!
so in order to make myself feel a whole lot better, i have decided that the antisdels and bondurants must have come to dallas with some misdirectional aura about them that messed with my awesome driving skills. but in their defense, the drives and meals were some of the best times and best stories, so i'm pretty sure there's a reason for everything... :)
peace to all!
jen :-)
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