WORTH THE TRIP

I just came back from a short little car trip. Well, it's short if YOU'RE not driving. If it's ME driving, then of course, it seems like DAYS.

I did a four and a half to five hour drive to and from Myrtle Beach and let me tell you... by the time I arrived, I was BEAT. I always look a friggin' mess by the time I hook up the people on the other end. No wonder. Keeping up the speed and passing by all those mother load semi trucks, alone, is, in a word: nuts. I SO wished we were back in the days when the only way of transporting goods was via the railroad. Model T's and horse/buggies were the only vehicles you had to worry about. Having trucks the size of houses sharing the roads with you is so not my idea of a relaxing ride. Talk about having to stay ALERT. Oh yeah... I kinda like to speed a little bit, so that probably doesn't help matters any too much, either.

In the meantime, I naturally, had a wonderful time on this little jaunt and it was well worth the trip. The easiest part was my loading up my hang up bag and little baby suitcase. The HARDEST part was keeping track of all my high tech paraphernalia. You have no IDEA of how many things I had to keep track!

First of course, was my cell phone and charger. Then there was the digital camera and all it's accessories. It goes without saying I needed every cable hook up known to man for my iPod, so I could listen to my downloaded audio books through my car radio OR through the headsets. The list goes on and on.

THEN, within minutes of my arriving in Myrtle Beach, I determined... THAT'S IT. I'M GETTING A PORTABLE GPS SYSTEM! Immediately. Reading directions while driving to foreign lands is SO not the way I'm doing this ever again. Enter: Yet another techie toy to buy and maintain.

I'm serious. Getting TO Myrtle Beach was a basic breeze. Getting AROUND Myrtle Beach was like entering Confusion City. And trust me... the MapQuest deal was for the birds. They sort of forget to tell you: each street has like 14 names, so you never know where the hell you actually are. It also forgets to tell you all the NEW streets in the city. Which is why my host and hostess gasped when I told them, no, I don't have a GPS. Boom. We went to buy one right smack off the bat.
And, let me tell you... I am now, happily... A REAL, TRUE, HONEST TO GOD BELIEVER! This invention is WAY better than sliced bread! Who the heck KNEW? I walked in the store and told the guy... I want a GPS that ANNOUNCES RIGHT OUT LOUD everything I need to know. And, in plenty of time, too. With snappy maps/pictures included, and one that has a movie sized screen so I can see the darn thing. Basically, I wanted one which will do pretty much everything except mop my kitchen floor. Bingo. We found it within minutes. YIPPEE. I'm out of the cave man days!

And, boy am I glad! This system helped me navigate back home like in a breeze! It got me out of the crazy city WAY easier than I had gotten in to it. As if that wasn't enough, it spoke to me in plenty of time, telling me what to be prepared for, what to look out for, which way to go PLUS, it showed me excellent pictures of the path my car should be traveling. It was WELL worth the hefty price tag! Who needs a travel companion to spout the directions any more??

Bottom line? GO GET ONE OF THESE DEALS. Well, if your car doesn't alREADY have one, that is. You will love it. God knows, I do. Besides... now, I can drive to and from Timbuktu if I wanted and I am CONfident I'll arrive safe and sound. Of course, I'll have no clue what the language would be, but given my GPS... it's but a mere problem in my overall travel. Sorry running water, paper towels and indoor plumbing. I think GPS's might have one up on you.