Lost in My Own Neighborhood

A few weeks ago, one of my new bosses (we'll call him #3) came to KY to see a co-worker off to retirement. I was, of course, invited to the party too and when boss #3 (he is from another state) asked me if I would lead the way to the restaurant, I said I would. I have a GPS system and had the address of the place to conveniently plug into the gadget. I figured it would be easy: hop on one of the expressways, jump off on the exit ('Exit left') and pull into a parking lot.

Well, it was not that simple. First, I misplaced my adapter and couldn't plug the (dead) thing into my vehicle. Then, when I asked directions, the person told me using landmarks as reference (you go by the mall, take the exit to the right, blah, blah, blah...what the f mall were they referring too??!!??) So, I followed the "directions" and ended up leading (ok, we'll leave the loosely defined term for now) Boss #3 and co-worker to another county! Turned out the restaurant was fairly close to the office and we were an hour late. I was so, so embarrassed!

I have been in Louisville area for going on five months now and I still don't know my way around this place. I was shocked to see the street I live on is actually N-S according to the car's dashboard (wow, it really felt E-W to me). I got lost yesterday 1. Mile. from. my. apartment when I went to return my library books. I truly blame this not on my lack of direction (I have learned other cities I moved to better and faster than the locals!!!), but on that stupid GPS navigational system which only shows a tiny bit of a map and tells you where to go. I pay more attention to her than to the things around me. I have no sense of landmarks, familiarity, or direction once I leave my usual paths.

And, I also blame it on the fact that in the 5 months I have 'lived' here, I have traveled to...hmm, let me count, 10 other states/cities. Plus, I go home on my days off and rarely just drive around mindlessly or for pleasure (like I would back home, lol). I go to the office, to the two thrift stores on my way home, Kroger or Target (or the neighborhood pubs, but I can walk to those joints :). I really need to get a map of the area and study it before setting out on new destinations. I also need to have the family come here for once on a weekend (they are this weekend) and time to just explore.

So, I am going to steal an idea I started to read about on another blog. I am going to find 50 new places this year to visit in Louisville (or Kentucky) and (maybe) write about it. Perhaps I will discover more than one way to find my destinations (or at least maybe not get lost driving the one mile from the library to my apartment!)