(no subject)
I had an Adventure last night. After work I had a staff meeting until 7:30 p.m. and then had to drive into Washington, DC to pick up my daughter at Reagan National Airport. Now, I've grown accustomed to driving the beltway and dealing with rush hour traffic, but I avoid the city itself, so this was a bit nerve-wracking. I managed to find my way around the south side of the city and then north into the airport with little incident. *wiping brow in relief smilie*
I picked up daughter on time, retrieved luggage (all here this year!) and then off to the parking garage -- always a major event to navigate out of one of those, but fairly smooth on that too. And on the way home I had the advantage of not having to read the Mapquest directions in the dark -- my daughter could navigate, right?
Two turns into the ride home, my daughter, talking and talking about what's been happening, waves the page with the directions and says "these aren't really important, are they? I mean, you know what roads you're looking for?" I told her that I knew basically how to get there, and that I was looking for rt. 495 but that road was difficult because it changes direction and is actually a loop around Washington (sometimes running east-west, sometimes north-south). She decided we could get by with just looking for the signs that said "to 495N."
Did I mention that I avoid driving in the city? First I saw the Washington Monument, then saw that I was passing Jefferson Memorial and the US Capitol building. Fun, huh? And after passing through areas of DC I'd rather not have seen, we ended on a four-lane road heading toward "Baltimore." A few signs later, I told Anjee that I thought we were going in the wrong direction and her answer was "well, we're on the beltway so let's just turn around and go back." I had to tell her that no, we weren't on the beltway and in this area turning around wasn't always the solution. I think I scared her by just going on, but I assured her that the exit names looked somewhat familiar and finally announced "the next exit should put us on the beltway." And I was right! I drove straight through DC, back to the east side, and just north of where I work every day. So off I went, taking my normal commute home (though minus the rush hour traffic).
I was rather proud that I found my way home, but I'll certainly study the directions better when I take my daughter to the airport in January. And I'm really, really glad that my son is flying into Dulles instead!
I picked up daughter on time, retrieved luggage (all here this year!) and then off to the parking garage -- always a major event to navigate out of one of those, but fairly smooth on that too. And on the way home I had the advantage of not having to read the Mapquest directions in the dark -- my daughter could navigate, right?
Two turns into the ride home, my daughter, talking and talking about what's been happening, waves the page with the directions and says "these aren't really important, are they? I mean, you know what roads you're looking for?" I told her that I knew basically how to get there, and that I was looking for rt. 495 but that road was difficult because it changes direction and is actually a loop around Washington (sometimes running east-west, sometimes north-south). She decided we could get by with just looking for the signs that said "to 495N."
Did I mention that I avoid driving in the city? First I saw the Washington Monument, then saw that I was passing Jefferson Memorial and the US Capitol building. Fun, huh? And after passing through areas of DC I'd rather not have seen, we ended on a four-lane road heading toward "Baltimore." A few signs later, I told Anjee that I thought we were going in the wrong direction and her answer was "well, we're on the beltway so let's just turn around and go back." I had to tell her that no, we weren't on the beltway and in this area turning around wasn't always the solution. I think I scared her by just going on, but I assured her that the exit names looked somewhat familiar and finally announced "the next exit should put us on the beltway." And I was right! I drove straight through DC, back to the east side, and just north of where I work every day. So off I went, taking my normal commute home (though minus the rush hour traffic).
I was rather proud that I found my way home, but I'll certainly study the directions better when I take my daughter to the airport in January. And I'm really, really glad that my son is flying into Dulles instead!