Most Directionally Impaired Driver Ever

I had the opportunity to go to a fabulous blog conference. It wasn’t too far away and I was going to go on my own. I haven’t driven on my own, out of my area – without a GPS – for a long time.  And I am the most directionally impaired driver ever!

First, understand that according to my amazing husband, the trip to my blog conference was fool-proof. I just needed to drive until the road ends, head north, drive until I see the signs. No problem, right?

Except, well, first I had to leave at 6 a.m. to get to the conference on time. I know, 6 a.m. isn’t early for a lot of people, but I’m a night owl. So, 6 a.m. is not my favorite time of the day. In a perfect world, days should start around 7:30 a.m.  I started my trip out in the dark.

Then I headed into the canyon. The canyon is beautiful, but also full of twisty roads. And, my radio doesn’t work in the canyon. I found myself getting very drowsy, and for safety stopped to walk around for a while. Then, as I was getting into the car, it started to rain/snow.

“Cool,” I thought, “it’s winter, and we need the snow.” Then it started to be a blizzard. My windshield wipers were going as fast as they could, but I still couldn’t see. Now, I was driving about 15 miles an hour, behind a snow plow. At this point, I was officially late to my conference. Oh well, better late than never. And as freakishly as it started, the blizzard ended.

Encouraged, I get to the next city on my list of landmarks. And then, well, I miss my turn. I don’t know how I did it. My husband just shook his head when I told him, over the phone, that night. (Yes, I could hear him shaking his head over the phone). Anyway, I ended up driving up into a ski resort, at which point I knew that I was not on the right road. So, I retraced my steps, and then ended up on another mountainous road. Again, I turned around and had my gas light turn on.  I found a gas station, and took care of the problem. Then I started randomly accosting strangers in the street asking where the highway was.

At this point, I wanted to cry and go back home to my warm bed. I missed my chauffer (read: husband) and was really tired of the goose chase. But . . .

I finally found someone who knew where the highway was. With his kind assistance, I was able to find the way to the highway, and was able to navigate the rest of the way to the conference without incident. The conference was worth the battle to get to it. So – even though I’m the most directionally impaired driver I know – I’m also one of the most persistent.