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Monday, February 23, 2015

Maps get more difficult with age.


Had I known that driving would become such a pain, I would have never learned to do it! Sure, it feels great getting around in and about your neighborhood, running off to the mall, the restaurants, meeting friends at a museum. But, navigating in a strange city shows you just how old you've become.

The above is a map of Portland. Oregon.  On the left of the river was our motel, and on the right, the college our grandchild attends. We visited her for a weekend soon after she moved in her dorm, and had planned to drive her to the area where our hotel was for some fancy dining.

It didn't work out like that at all. We, Hubby and I kept getting lost each time we tried to catch a bridge and go across. Each time. As if we had never been to Portland. In fact, we had been to Portland many times, staying at the same hotel and frequenting the same downtown neighborhood where we enjoyed dining and shopping and people watching.  We had not attempted to travel to other parts, though. And that experience, finding the right bridge and getting off at the right exit, was way too much for our nerves.

Thank God our grandchild had a good sense of direction. She located the map on her iphone and helped us navigate back and forth  whenever she was with us.


19 comments:

Rob-bear said...

Technology can be overpowering — reducing is to babbling idiots. As for me, I generally prefer low-tech to high-tech.

Blessings and Bear hugs, Rosaria.

Hilary said...

Oh that would be me for sure. I can remember my Dad driving in New York state and not being able to get out of Albany. We drove the same route over and over again - paying the same toll at least three times. I come by it honestly. ;)

Brian Miller said...

ha. thank goodness for technology in this instance...its been a long time since i was last in portland...pittsburgh downtown can seem the same way to me at times....

Helen said...

Portable GPS gadgets are the best! Worth every penny (and not terribly expensive.) I named ours Lola Falana and she has saved our skin more times than I can count! In Cocoa Beach our rental car had its own ~~ I named her Sophie! Again, a hassle free exploring experience. The most horrendous getting lost drama happened to my son and I in Los Angeles! It was very late at night and no one in the area we wandered in spoke English .. don't know how we finally made it back to our hotel, but 2+ hours later we did. Never again!

joeh said...

GPS helps, but I screw up with that too. Lucky for me Mrs. C has an internal GPS and almost never gets lost. Occasionally she makes a bad turn, but she figures it out very quickly. Needless to say,she does most of the driving.

Tom said...

I prefer maps myself -- see my post at http://sightingsat60.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-love-maps.html -- but it sounds like (as Helen suggests) you're ready for a GPS.

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

I can certainly empathize, Rosaria! Glad your grandchild was able to set you on the right course!

kj said...

that would be me, too.

but what i read most from this post is that you and your husband were willing to venture, for love.

you get big points for that.

love
kj

Grandmother Mary said...

Since our car doesn't have GPS I use my iPad google maps for directions that tell me how to go without having to look at the map. Maps that talk to me- priceless!

Unknown said...

We are having the same problem. We start with a map, then print out a google map, then use our GPS and finally at the recommendation of our son downloaded on my phone the Waze app where all the drivers in front of you report how much traffic, when there is a cop ahead, severe accident, etc. I wonder how they can report all that and drive too. Makes it too scary for us. Wish us luck as we drive to Florida in a few weeks.

ellen abbott said...

Portland is confusing! I guess trying to cross Buffalo Bayou in Houston can be confusing too since many streets do not cross.

yaya said...

There have been times that my GPS has gotten us lost so we never travel without a map or written directions. I hate going to strange areas anymore. Our son lives in Portland..well, Beaverton, and I'm glad he drives when we visit!

Friko said...

Kids are born with clicking fingers. They can do anything to do with technology.

One of them should come free with a bus pass when we reach 65..

Lisa said...

hola Rosaria, I love maps but they could not be updated for roads change, nowadays it comforts me every time I hear the voice on Waze that says, Let's go

Maggie May said...

Well the youngsters have had this technology since they were little. We didn't even have a phone or anything! That's the difference.
Its easier to get lost though, when older as I'm fast finding out.
Maggie x

Anonymous said...

I can SO relate. But, I had trouble with this when I moved from Utah to Virginia, when I was only FORTY-TWO. I'm now 74 and am grateful for the GPS, though there are times, esp. in big cities, where it doesn't work too well. Grandchildren are wonderful, and very helpful with technology. I think they were born with technological brains, and we weren't !!!

Amanda Summer said...

Oh thank goodness for those iPhones - they've gotten me around several cities.

A Cuban In London said...

Sorry to hear of your predicament. It's happened to me too a few times! :-) And you know what they say, blokes never ask.

Greetings from London.

Sally Wessely said...

I feel your pain. Thanks heavens for cell phones and the maps they have on them. Even with those, I can get so lost.