Road trip!

I'm leaving this afternoon with several children (I'm taking the helpful ones and leaving J. at home with the, um, less helpful ones.) My brother and his family have recently moved to Iowa (long story, not mine to tell) and they need help getting the place ready to house a horse and other farm-type animals. Enter B. who likes nothing better than to do hard work around farm-type places. He will be working for my brother for most of the summer and we need to drive over to drop him off. Of course, other children want to come along and see the farm and play with cousins, so that's what we're doing. It's a quick trip and I'll be back tomorrow. That's OK because the whole family will be heading out next week (with a dog sitter at home... just need to point it out) to spend the fourth over there. Because we'll be back next week, P. is going to stay there as well and we'll bring her home with us next week.

Now, I've been in the area before, but not frequently and certainly very few times as a driving adult, so I needed to call last night to get directions to the various places I need to show up tonight. I'm afraid that this is where my rather mundane driving trip becomes a bit of a farce: city girl driving in the county. Hilarity ensues as she gets hopelessly lost in the middle of a cornfield. You see, the directions I have to get places are less than clear. At least to my mind. I like and do very well with directions that sound like this. Drive three blocks, turn left at the stop light on 36th street. Go another three blocks, past the strip mall and turn left on the street just past it. etc., etc. What do I get for directions instead? I get things like "Turn left onto the blacktop road just before the big hill" or "Turn off the black top right before the blue silo" or (my personal favorite) "Turn past the house onto the lane between two corn fields." Um, I will be in Iowa. doesn't every road go between two cornfields? At least I will be finding these places while it is still daylight. At least that's my plan. We'll see. You can tell I'm brimming over with self-confidence about this, can't you?

Comments

Anonymous said…
There is corn and not-corn. In Iowa, the not-corn is soy. The more you know...
Carla said…
This reminds me of my mother's version of directions. She lives in the UP of Michigan, so it can be rather similar to Iowa. "Turn left where the old Postma barn used to be." Used to be?? Really? You're counting on my memory from years ago to get me there? Ha!

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