My kids know me as the Queen of the Back Roads, and it's a sobriquet I don proudly. It is very common for me, when stuck in traffic or lost, to think, "I know that roads goes east. I think I'll try that." When I take a road trip, I'll frequently scour the map for roads marked with that dotted red "scenic route" marker, and follow that road, even though it might take me miles out of my way. I have an excellent sense of direction and enjoy exercising it.
I love exploring new areas and dreaming about what living in that location might feel like.
Since starting my job five weeks ago, I've stuck pretty close to my GPS system's suggestions of how to get to work. It's pretty straightforward, really. I hook up with I-80, then I-76, then I-77 to Route 18 on the west side of Akron. Exit west, go to the second light and turn left for half a mile. Piece o' cake.
The only variable to the route is how to get from the house on 5th Ave to I-80. For the first two weeks I drove down 5th, then turned right on the access road, dropped down on 422, then followed the signs to 680. Then on our trip to the airport three weeks ago, Jaci said I should take Bradley from 5th to Belmont, right to Gypsy, left to 711 to 680 to 80. I wasn't sure it was so much better, but defer to her knowledge of the area.
But the coming home part was still challenging. The section of road that connects 680 to 422 is miserable, full of potholes and rough pavement. I've tried staying on 80 to Belmont, but that puts a lot of traffic lights in between me and home. Tonight as I was on 680, I suddenly noticed the exit for MLK - 711, and it hit me that that was exactly the road I'd been looking for, trying to figure out where it was. The road is too new to be on my GPS. Hey hey. New would probably equal fewer potholes, right? Right!
Zip. Zip. Turn. Stop. Turn. Zip. Home.
Queen of the Back Roads still rules, even in Ohio!
Oh, you're probably wondering what my other titles are. Goddess of Google and Database Diva.
1 comment:
Um, that was me. Jaci doesn't use the connector.
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