October 9 ~ 2011 Technology, Travel & Hitchhikers

Traveling across the land can be a rewarding or challenging experience.  I took off Friday for Wichita KS.  I had no GPS, no smart phone, no paper map and only a vague idea how to get where I was going.  And a 2 year old. 

It is amazing how much we rely on technology to get from place to place.  I thought about how my parents and grandparents got around (and my mom still just gets an old map and sets out).  I don't have time for maps!  My garmin doesn't charge (missing it's charger & it is hard to replace).  My phone is NOT smart but I can call for help when I get lost!  Gone are the days when we can set out with a map and an idea and get where we are going!  I can assure you getting to the destination without getting turned around was difficult.  Yes I had my phone in hand to call help when I got on wrong exit in Topeka.  Might I also add that I am directionally challenged and can't, on a normal day, tell you which way is west or north!!  So I got turned around... I turned around in the median of the highway when I figured it out & went the right way.  Needless to say, I made it to the right place...

And my little passenger was a trooper!  He doesn't mind so much riding in the car.  I can't say all children are like him.  Our biggest problem was his bucket of toys.  He kept throwing them at me!  But I stopped and picked them all up and put them in the trunk!  No more toys.  He wasn't in the mood to listen to music unless it was one song over & over (BORING) and he played with my itouch until battery went out.  What did we do?  We talked.  His choice.. and that little boy can talk!!

Along the way we saw a hitchhiker.   We were literally in the middle of no where... no town, no house, no nothing... I had room & contemplated picking the man up.  He was traveling with a small dog.  Right as I was thinking to stomp on the brakes to get him, I was hit with a toy in the side of the face.  So I just kept going.  I was not in the mood at that moment to be social.  I was more in the mood to destroy all the toys!  The next town was where I stopped to put the toys in the trunk!  And we got out, walked a bit & used the toliet.  When we left the gas station THERE WAS THE HITCHHIKER & THE DOG.  Espen felt inclinded to chat with the man & pet the dog.  So we chatted.  Nice man.  Just on his way south ~ warmer there for the winter.  He had his cell phone charging at the outlet at the gas station.  The dog had food & water.  I thought it was a real strange deal that he was there at the same time we were....mysterious....

So the next time you are traveling across the country think about all the technology you have at your disposal and if you could leave home without it.  Would you ever pick up a hitchhiker?