All Turned Around

Whenever I plan on going someplace new in a part of town I'm unfamiliar with, I prepare.  I get good directions.  I get out my map and plot my course. Then when I get in the car, my directions and map are out.  I pretty much know where I'm going and how to get there.

This morning I got a call from my sister-in-law.  Her grandmother was dying, and she needed me to pick my niece up from school.  No problem.

After my niece was in my car, I explained the situation.  She burst into tears. When I offered her the chance to go to the nursing home to say goodbye, she gave me a definite yes.  

But I had no idea where this nursing home was or how to get there.

I called my SIL.  I don't keep paper or writing utensil in my car, so I had to instantly memorize the directions.  They led me through a part of town that I was once familiar with (I had lived in that area in 2000-2001), but I hadn't been that way in a long time.  That's going to be my excuse.  Because I got so turned around...

What I heard was that I was supposed to make a left turn on this one street. But when I got to that street, I could only make a right (unless I wanted my car to get up close and personal with the Pacific Ocean).  Certain that I had made a wrong turn somewhere, I turned around and retraced my path.  

My niece was sure that I was taking too long.  She was sure that by the time we got to the nursing home her Nana would already have passed.  I was feeling horrible enough already.  And my niece could have been correct--we could have already missed her Nana.

I found a place to pull over to call my SIL again (certain that she thought I was an idiot by now).  Sure enough, I was going the right way before.  I should have made a right turn right where I turned around because I was sure I was in the wrong place.  

So, I got to the right street, but I made a right turn instead of a left.  I again called my SIL to confirm.  By now she was standing outside the nursing home (because she had to be sure that I would never find it on my own).  I turned around and headed (finally) in the right direction.  

Then I found the place easily, but I was in the wrong lane.  Of course there was a bus in the way so I couldn't change lanes.  And the guy behind me decided that he had to honk at me for being an idiot.   Yes, I was perfectly aware that I was an idiot.  But we had been in the car for nearly an hour getting to a place that was probably less than 20 minutes away from where I had started.  I wasn't in the mood to have to turn around again.

There's a reason I rarely drive.  I can't be trusted to find any place.