Edith's profileYonder - I Found It!PhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
3/21/2007 159 Miles To HomeLast night I had a thought... I was wandering in my mind, bored here at the office, and remembered that Monday, on my day off this week, I'd had nothing to do... no where to go really, so I just made stuff up. I took the dogs to two different parks and we walked and they barked at ducks by the lake, and we had a lovely time. The weather was beautiful, and it was interesting to watch the pooches checking everything out. Elvis is looking up to Precious now as a big sister, and it's too cute watching him follow her... she sniffs something on the ground and moves on... he's right behind her to sniff it too... and then run to catch up to her.
My thought was that perhaps I could go somewhere on my Wednesday day off... I only have 8 hours when I can be out of rush-to-the-office-from-where ever-I-am-to-do-a-bond range, so I thought perhaps I'd drive the two and a half hours to Columbus, GA where my friend lives and I'd spend some time with her and then just come back in time to be close enough to do a bond if one should present itself.
It was a happy thought. I imagined we could go to the art gallery there and spend some time among the paintings... we'd gone to the High Museum a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it. They have an agreement with the Louvre and are exhibiting some of the paintings from there... it's a three stage thing. I'd been to the gallery (museum?) in Columbus with my friend before, when they had a special exhibit of Bo Bartlett's work, and really enjoyed that too... it was years ago, but I've not forgotten it.
I probably should have set my clock (cell phone) to wake me up early, but I didn't... so I got up around 9 am. I took my shower and remembered my half-plan thought of yesterday. I called B to make sure he didn't have any plans for us for the day, and he had to work most of it... couldn't even take me to lunch... this was good I thought. I mentioned what I wanted to do, and he was all for it, thought it was a great idea.
I called my friend and she was thrilled too. She said she'd work harder (has her own company) to get her stuff done early so we could go to her family's restaurant for an early dinner (or late lunch), and then we could go to the new exhibit downtown... yay!
I started out, just fine really. I got an ok start, time wise, and though I knew I'd run into traffic in Atlanta, I also knew that I'd still be able to get to Columbus around 1:30 or 2:00 pm... which would allow me to spend about three or four hours and then I'd have to head home... that was acceptable.
Then something went terribly wrong. I don't know how I did it... I've been down there before... but I got off on the wrong 85 going in the wrong direction... it didn't look right, but me, dingbat, kept going for about 1/2 hour until it really sunk in that I was going the wrong way. I called my friend and she said get back to where I started... this was a hitch, but I'd still be able to spend about 3 hours with her after correcting my error... this was still acceptable.
I re-traced my way and got back to the correct 85... only going the wrong way... north, instead of south. Ok, I figured I'd get off on an exit and just go over the overpass and get going in the right direction. Uhhh... not. I got off ok, but then there was this twisty, one way only roads, turn me around and make me sight see because the highway was no where to be found kind of detour... I kept trying however... through tiny roads and past the civic center and back up roads I knew I'd passed over before... for about another 45 minutes before finally, after honking at a guy at a light, I got directions how to get back on the highway.
I called my friend. We determined that it was now too late for me to continue down there. I had already called the girl who works the two 8 hour days I get off per week... I've worked a couple of days for her lately so I could build up some time off too... and she couldn't answer the phones for me for a couple of extra hours. It was hopeless.
Of course, now I was on the highway I needed, so I had to find another overpass and swap direction again... this time it was much easier to do as the overpass actually DID go over to the other side and let me get back on the highway heading north... without having to tour any other parts of Atlanta.
So, my friend and I stayed on the phone for the hour it took me to get close to home again, and it was lovely... I always love talking to her. She's so energetic and fun... she's got a great sense of humor, and she's always very supportive and encouraging.
We've planned it again for next week, and I really hope this time I can pay attention and go in the right direction... I'm going to print out a map next time, like I've always done in the past but failed to do this time, and go for it.
So, I drove 159 miles... to go home... from home. Only me. Comments (6)
TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://40shopintravler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!CBE8CEF234BA1C25!832.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
|
|
|
