Drum roll, please.
Are you ready for this?
I have now driven in New York.
That's right, I have actually been behind the wheel of a car myself as opposed to just popping into the back seat of a cab. And mostly, it was fine. Except that most of the routes to the Lincoln Tunnel were blocked and it took me 20 minutes just to get out of the city. That and the fact that my GPS system was getting a tiny bit frustrated with me. (Calmly: "Turn left in 2oo yards." Then more insistently: "TURN LEFT NOW." Then with annoyed resignation: "Missed turn. Recalculating route." She refrained from adding "idiot!" to the last comment.)
Avis hooked me up with a pumpkin orange (festive, right?) Mitsubishi Eclipse and I have to admit it was fun getting behind the wheel of something nimble and sporty again.
But the key lesson learned? A GPS system is key. I drove down to a little town in Pennsylvania, just to the northwest of Philadelphia and even in the daylight, I feel like I would have missed at least a couple of turns were it not for my trusty little electronic companion anchored to the dash. And coming back at night in the dark? Fugeddaboudit. Seriously, I suppose it's mostly because I'm not familiar with the area, but I really felt like the roads (even the highways) were not all that well marked.
Funniest GPS moment? On the way home at about 9:00 at night, I'm sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic snaking my way down the long winding entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, barely inching my way forward when Ms. GPS pipes up in her infinitely chipper tone, "There is a better route available!" Well, unless is has to do with this Eclipse having teleporting capabilities or unless there is a helicopter immediately above ready to pluck me out of the traffic snarl, I think I'm sticking with the original route.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I've never been to NY, but I can't even imagine what driving there would be like. Sounds like it was a fun side trip though. How great to be able to see your Mom and her friend!
Thank goodness for technology!
Shari, I rented a car from JFK once and drove to Cape Cod... no GPS (didn't exist at that time)... well, I got so lost, I finally had to stop at a local firehall to ask directions! The fireman I asked must have simply thought I was some lunatic from New York (you know the car had NY plates).
Of course his directions were no better than my passenger's who got us into the mess in the first place. We eventually made it--but after 8 or 9 hours of driving.
It's funny because I don't even give a second thought to driving the labyrinth of 8 and 10 lane freeways in California and manoeuvring my way at high speeds between multiple freeway intersections, onramps and offramps, but New York is just different. I'm not sure I'd ever really get used to driving in the city. The cab drivers alone are enough to make you want to hurl your license into the Hudson River.
Post a Comment