Good Directions

I am very good at giving directions. I am clear and concise. I include major landmarks in my directions. I use north and south as well as left and right. I include street names, and crossroads. My directions are perfect.

My family, on the other hand, cannot give directions to save their lives. They are, typically, clever people, but don't ask them which way to go. I, unfortunately, forget this every once in a while.

This weekend, Sean and his family, Mum, and the twins went up to the lake. Dan, Sarah, and I decided later that we'd like to go up, too. I called and asked Mum for directions. She said it was super easy. We were going to McCleary Beach of Northshore Drive. It's about 7km beyond Carleton Place, so Mum said. Because Mum tends to think that I'm a bit "slow" sometimes, she spelled out all relevant names for me. Just so I won't get confused (insert the roll of the eyes here).

We drove for about an hour to get to the general area of the beach, but Dan and I couldn't find the turnoff. We went 12km past Carleton Place and didn't see a Northshore Drive. We pull over at a church and called Mum from the cell phone. She shouted, "TURN ON NORTHSHORE ROAD!". Sean, in the background, yelled "NO, IT'S NORTHSHORE DRIVE". Mum says, "DID YOU HEAR THAT? NORTHSHORE DRIVE!". Then the call was cut off, thank goodness!

I was wicked angry. I already knew the name of the street to turn on. What I didn't know was where Northshore Drive(!) was in relation to where I was at the moment. No chance of finding out either. My GPS still thought I was at home (sigh), my maps were at home, Dan is absolutely clueless when it comes to directions, and Mum and Sean were worried about whether or not I thought Northshore was a "road" or a "drive"!

I continued driving. No signs for McCleary's Beach or Northshore Drive. However, there was a sign for Westshore Drive. I almost drove past it, until I saw Sean's truck at the turn off. Perfect. I turned off and followed Sean to McCreary's Beach. I pointed to Dan that not only are the directions of my family impossible, there's a bit a Mad Gab fun involved. You gotta love that!

I took a couple of pictures. Feel free to have a look at my album.