Navigation

After one too many wrong turns, I finally decided to splurge and buy a navigation unit. My trusty companion is a Magellan Maestro 3225 that I picked up from Costco.com for $149.97 a few weeks back. It does seem rather frivolous in some ways to have such a device, but it is has already come in handy. Last night we picked Rohan up from the airport. When Cecilie pulled up to get us, half the kids in the car were exclaiming, "I have to go pee." I know - what a shock. Of course there are restrooms at the airport, but there is no place to stop longer than it takes to toss your luggage in the trunk and climb in your car. While we were loading an officer was yelling at another car to "move it" so we felt extra pressure to be on our way since we were in the exact spot the car wanted to pull into. This meant a detour was involved. Recall that a couple of weeks ago I had been to an airport hotel where Lance was staying and manged to get completely lost getting to the freeway. With my trusty new companion I had absolutely no fear about taking a detour so the kids could relieve themselves. We quickly found a McDonald's and put their facilities to good use. Once we were done the navigation unit quickly put us back on road (the right one this time) and we were home in no time. I must confess that I jumped the gun on one of the turns I was supposed to take, but she (the unit has a female voice) quickly steered me back on course.

I must say that I think this unit will strengthen our already strong marriage. Why, might you ask? I'll tell you why. Getting lost has resulted in the few times where Cecilie and I have felt frustrated with each other. I get a little worked up when we get lost, and Cecilie doesn't have a great appreciation for my juvenile antics when we get lost. Trips will become a glorious thing - OK I'm getting carried away now (we do have six kids), but you get the idea.