I enjoy getting away from the flurry of endless farm chores and driving to a quiet serene mountain cabin to spend a few days of total relaxation. My favorite getaways are usually within 4-5 hours from home. They are also the least stressful.

Its the trips that are halfway or more, across the US that send me into a complete panic. I try to have all the directions printed off, the addresses written down to each destination. If we are flying I like to know where each stop will be and how long we will be there. I like to have the itinerary printed out and within easy access at any given moment. By the time I get through airport security I usually have lost my drivers license half a dozen times, my itinerary is in shreds, and my nerves are frazzled.  The fun really begins when we pick up our rental and try to find our way out of the airport. We have no idea where we are heading and have to rely on our wits to get us there.

A few years ago we flew into Reagan Washington around 11:30pm. We found our car in the long term parking lot, punched the "home" button on our GPS, it immediately told us to "drive to highlighted route". Before we could even determine where the "highlighted route" was, the GPS was "Recalculating." Then we were to drive "1/2 mile and take ramp on right". We drove 1/2 mile and there were three ramps, Rob said, "This one?" and I said, "yeah" and the GPS said, "Recalculating!" OH BOY!! Then I noticed we were driving through the City of Washington DC. This was an opportunity I was not passing up. I always wanted to see something at night, it didn't matter what, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, just something! We were passing gardens with fountains so I knew we had to be close to something! Then I heard a voice say, "in 500ft take a right", Rob said "this one?", I said, "yeah" and the GPS said, "Recalculating." Rob was really starting to hyperventilate, mostly vocally!!. Then I realized we had turned onto a less than favorable street and I had lost my opportunity to see anything at night, except inner city Washington. They say that three wrongs don't make a right, but that night, five wrongs made a right. We messed up on two more turns and then right before our marriage vows hit the fan, we found ourselves on the correct interstate that guided us home to our normal happy life!!

Did I mention that we have another trip planned in the very near future? It will be our first time flying into San Francisco. We have about five hours to find our way out of the airport before anyone will send out a missing persons alert. Do you think that will give us enough time?