Wrong Turns – When was the last time you got lost? Was it an enjoyable experience, or a stressful one? Tell us all about it.
It was late in the day when we rolled into Gettysburg. Tired, ready for a shower and a meal, we asked Richard our faithful GPS to take us to the nearest motel. We followed his directions carefully.
It was our first visit to the area. Road-weary, we were too exhausted to deal with getting lost and we were (are) often lost. Diligently, we followed Richard’s directions.
After a few turns and one long straightaway, Richard announced in his loud, clear voice: “You have reached your destination!” Indeed we had, though it was not the one we had it mind.
As far as we could see lay miles of tombstones. Richard had brought us to our ultimate destination, what must have been Gettysburg’s largest modern cemetery. It stretched for miles.
Who knew our GPS had a sense of humor? We didn’t stop laughing until we finally found the EconoLodge.
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Categories: #Photography, Humor, Travel
TRAVEL IN NEW ENGLAND 
RECHARGING MY WORLD 
FAMILY ROAD TRIP! 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
My favorite story of getting lost comes from my trip to Cleveland 5 years ago. I got lost trying to find Lake Erie. I never did find Lake Erie. I have no idea how in the hell that happened…
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When I was in California, I had a lot of trouble finding the Pacific Ocean. I finally got there, but it was a struggle. Some of us are seriously challenged by navigation!
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I like your Richard, he takes you to places I like to visit for some good photos. We also have a Richard now in the car. The only problem being I need another Richard to show me how the first Richard works. anyhow Switzerland is a small country, and you only need a couple of hours to cross the border.
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All our Richards have been mostly good. But all of them have taken us to the wrong places, places where there’s no bridge, no road and hasn’t been since the world was young. This time, it took us to where there was supposedly a motel … and obviously there had NEVER been a motel there. I think he was just messing with us.
Our area — and Massachusetts — is small. You can drive it end-to-end in about 4 hours, top to bottom in 3. Our area has very few roads, so it’s hard to get lost locally even if you are me. But when we are travelling a thousand miles to the Carolinas or something, that gets a little dicey. And that’s when I want to see a map so I know not only when I make my next turn, but a much broader picture. That’s what’s wrong with GPS’s. They give you directions, but not a way of seeing a region.
I’m not great with our GPS, but it’s so simple it’s hard to do anything fatally wrong.
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Reblogged this on Sunday Night Blog and commented:
A GPS named Richard?
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Thanks Rich!
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The moral of the story is never trust any GPS named Richard!
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Or more to the point, never put your vacation in the hands of a GPS because they may be right 95% of the time, but when they are wrong, they are very, very wrong. Bring maps. Just in case.
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plan de ville! I love real maps. You know, the ones made of paper.
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I like maps too, though trying to read a map in a moving car with my aging eyes is not a treat. But a GPS doesn’t show enough of the road to help me know where I’m going unless it’s very local. When one is really traveling, you need maps so you can see the cities in between cities, where you might want to stop for a meal or the night. The GPS has it’s place, but it doesn’t replace everything else.
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“Just a moment… I’ve just picked up a fault in the GPS unit. You said Tombstone, right?”
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In Pennsylvania. I love it when the GPS takes us to a road that’s been closed since 1986 or a bridge that washed out years ago. They sometimes have the weirdest embedded maps. In this case, it’s hard for me to believe that there was EVER a motel where it took us. It was a HUGE cemetery and not new.
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Richard is sassy. I want a GPS like Richard. 😉
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Richard is one of TomTom’s embedded voices. Part of their package 🙂
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That was a good LOL for me- literally. Great story 🙂
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It really was hilarious. Especially because Richard was very stentorian in his presentation. Authoritative. “YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR FINAL DESTINATION!” Who can argue with that?
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Was the EconoLodge more comfortable than the cemetery would have been?
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Short term, probably EconoLodge wins (although some EconoLodges are pretty bad), unless you like sleeping in coffins. But Richard was right. The cemetery is definitely our final destination.
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Our gps is named Lola. Don’t ask me why it just fits. Great read.
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Our new one remains un-named. Maybe a name will come to us, but we haven’t bonded with this one like we did with Richard. Lola is good. Like it.
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That is funny and exactly the reason that I prefer a road map.
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We have a new GPS and it’s a backup … but I find I usually do better using a regular map. Less confusing and more accurate!
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Richard has been in the bullpen lately. There have been fewer wrong turns.
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Richard died. And we haven’t been using the new guy, whoever he (she?) may be. I’ve been printing out instructions and maps in hard copy and we’ve been reaching our REAL destinations with far fewer foul ups. Oddly enough, using our memories has worked out surprisingly well too!
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That’s funny! Thanks for the grin.
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We laughed a lot too. I think that was when I decided to get a road atlas and stop putting all my faith in the GPS!
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What a lovely little irony there, Marilyn! Made me laugh! xxx
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The wrong word in the right place can have unexpected results 🙂 When I saw all those tombstones, I broke up. Final destination indeed!
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