Travel
Some travel days are good, and some aren't so good, but when you keep going in circles first thing because you can't find where you are supposed to detour, it sort of sets the tone for the entire day.
First thing that bugged me was the new male voice on the GPS - Jack. Where in the world does Garmin get these voices, or what computer program puts the sounds together. He kept telling me to get onto Wisconsin "Wendy-nine". It dawned on me that he was saying twenty-nine, and a hundred or so miles later he said to drive "wendy-nine" miles and then keep right. There are some other ridiculous pronunciations but this one struck me as being totally off the wall.
I have always avoided driving anywhere near Minneapolis-St. Paul, but the bypass around it was easy as pie to follow. Traffic was heavy, but maintained a steady speed. I finally arrived at the motel in St. Cloud. Again, the directions given by the Garmin were really bad so I just followed signs to the motel 6 exit. Then when I arrived to find this is probably the worst motel I've stayed in for a long time, that took the cake for the day. The room is ok, and the front desk was friendly, but she put me in the middle of the long corridor and I ended up having to bring Lady past the office. I hate doing that, and she acted like she'd never gone through a door before.
I'm changing my route a bit after reading Rod's blog, I'm determined not to go anywhere near Sturgis. I love the bikers that flood into Washington DC for Memorial Day every year, but it seems like they would be concentrated in a smaller area. I lived in Northern VA so maybe I just don't know how and where they spent their time when they weren't down by "The Wall". It was always an awesome sight to see the thousands of bikes heading towards DC from their various staging areas.
I am so hungry this afternoon I will have to go out to eat somewhere. I've avoided it by bringing a lot of food along, but I'm running low on the stuff that is filling. I think there is a supermarket within walking distance - well, a pretty long walk but I need that - so I will just leave Lady in the room while I go shopping.
- Alive!
A few times today I wasn't sure I'd make it. First of all, until I reached Youngstown, Ohio (eastern side of the state) there was fog and light precipitation all day. The foggy haze wasn't bad enough so that you couldn't...
- Bend, Oregon
I arrived in Bend at 3:pm today and have been trying to stay on an internet connection ever since. The free wifi is just about worthless. Add to that I can't find the cord that links my camera to the computer so I can't download any pictures I've...
- Milwaukee, Wi; Oconto, Wi; Duluth, Mn
I'm not sure if I'll be able to cover the time since I left Hammond, IN on Thursday morning (the 7th) but I'll try not to get too wordy. Leaving Hammond in the morning I ran into pretty heavy traffic and lots of construction almost immediately,...
- A Great Day On The Road Again!
Today was a good day, travel-wise. The sun was shining all day, and the only road work I ran into was about 40 miles from my destination. I had a bit of a wait - on the two lane highways they have to make one lane stop and wait until the highway gods...
- The Wizard Of Oz
This morning I thought I would try an Aussie voice on my GPS and see how I like it. I had Karen or Lee to choose from, so I selected Lee. He's not bad at all - I was afraid he would sound like the Geico Gecko, which I couldn't have stood for one...
Travel
St. Cloud MN
Some travel days are good, and some aren't so good, but when you keep going in circles first thing because you can't find where you are supposed to detour, it sort of sets the tone for the entire day.
First thing that bugged me was the new male voice on the GPS - Jack. Where in the world does Garmin get these voices, or what computer program puts the sounds together. He kept telling me to get onto Wisconsin "Wendy-nine". It dawned on me that he was saying twenty-nine, and a hundred or so miles later he said to drive "wendy-nine" miles and then keep right. There are some other ridiculous pronunciations but this one struck me as being totally off the wall.
I have always avoided driving anywhere near Minneapolis-St. Paul, but the bypass around it was easy as pie to follow. Traffic was heavy, but maintained a steady speed. I finally arrived at the motel in St. Cloud. Again, the directions given by the Garmin were really bad so I just followed signs to the motel 6 exit. Then when I arrived to find this is probably the worst motel I've stayed in for a long time, that took the cake for the day. The room is ok, and the front desk was friendly, but she put me in the middle of the long corridor and I ended up having to bring Lady past the office. I hate doing that, and she acted like she'd never gone through a door before.
I'm changing my route a bit after reading Rod's blog, I'm determined not to go anywhere near Sturgis. I love the bikers that flood into Washington DC for Memorial Day every year, but it seems like they would be concentrated in a smaller area. I lived in Northern VA so maybe I just don't know how and where they spent their time when they weren't down by "The Wall". It was always an awesome sight to see the thousands of bikes heading towards DC from their various staging areas.
I am so hungry this afternoon I will have to go out to eat somewhere. I've avoided it by bringing a lot of food along, but I'm running low on the stuff that is filling. I think there is a supermarket within walking distance - well, a pretty long walk but I need that - so I will just leave Lady in the room while I go shopping.
- Alive!
A few times today I wasn't sure I'd make it. First of all, until I reached Youngstown, Ohio (eastern side of the state) there was fog and light precipitation all day. The foggy haze wasn't bad enough so that you couldn't...
- Bend, Oregon
I arrived in Bend at 3:pm today and have been trying to stay on an internet connection ever since. The free wifi is just about worthless. Add to that I can't find the cord that links my camera to the computer so I can't download any pictures I've...
- Milwaukee, Wi; Oconto, Wi; Duluth, Mn
I'm not sure if I'll be able to cover the time since I left Hammond, IN on Thursday morning (the 7th) but I'll try not to get too wordy. Leaving Hammond in the morning I ran into pretty heavy traffic and lots of construction almost immediately,...
- A Great Day On The Road Again!
Today was a good day, travel-wise. The sun was shining all day, and the only road work I ran into was about 40 miles from my destination. I had a bit of a wait - on the two lane highways they have to make one lane stop and wait until the highway gods...
- The Wizard Of Oz
This morning I thought I would try an Aussie voice on my GPS and see how I like it. I had Karen or Lee to choose from, so I selected Lee. He's not bad at all - I was afraid he would sound like the Geico Gecko, which I couldn't have stood for one...