Tuesday, May 1, 2007

The Global Kathy Positioning System


My wife and I have travelled all over the United States during our almost 37 years of marriage. Together we've driven in 35 states and I've been in 42. A few of our trips were 5 & 6 week cross country treks in our motorhome.
We've driven the hair pin switch back curves in the Sierra Madres, through an ice storm in Cripple Creek, through many National Parks, yielded the right of way to elk and buffalo and tented in 30 degree weather in Florida. We can talk at length about our honeymoon in Maine and the night we spent in Mina, Nevada, a place that looked like the lunar surface.
At no time was I ever sure that my wife knew where we were.
Now don't get me wrong, she just couldn't find us on a map. I would give her subtle hints like, "we're on Rt. 90 in South Dakota just outside of Hill City heading west."
I'd look over and she'd be turning the road atlas every which way, biting one side of her lip, looking like a 3rd grader seeing a division problem for the first time. She also had access to a trip tick and a Garmin hand held GPS system.
One of my favorite ways to mess with her would be to ask her which way the sun moved. She'd say west every time. I'd say then we've got to follow the sun. Of course I would try to ask this at noon!
Let's say we were on Rt. 80 in Iowa, I'd ask her to look to see how far it was until Rt. 80 intersected with Rt. 70. ( They run parallel) This one she never caught on to but each time she'd get frustrated and angry with me.
My all time favorite was the time our college age daughter travelled home with us from California in the motorhome. I got to bust on both of them.
I've noticed that young people have no sense of where they are because no one made them learn geography.
When I travel I have a picture in my head of where we are, where we're going and how to get there and unlike many men I will admit when I take a wrong turn. This usually happens when I listen to my wife's directions.
I just find it amazing when they don't know which state we'll come to next.
As you can see from my blog title, I put alot of stock in knowing where I am at all times. There was a brief time when I didn't but hell "..it was the '60's!"

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glenn, I love your humor. It definetly would be interesting traveling with you! I can't read a map for anything and my hussband does not find humor in it, especially when we are in a tight squeeze. He needs to read your blog!
Rosemary

Anonymous said...

wceee

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