Road Name or Landmarks

Now that the anger is gone I figured I might be able to post about my Thursday from you know where.

Yesterday was take your kid to work day...and the kids were out of school for teacher prep. Rich and I decided it would be fun to take him lunch that day to a job that I've been wanting to see and so the kids can go to his work for a bit. Redden, Austin and myself pack up a really fun lunch. We all had smiley faces on and were ready to go at 11:15. I was told that the drive would take me approximately 45 minutes. As most of you know, I rid of my cell phone about 2 years ago to save money and to prove that you can live without one. So needless to say I began my cell-phoneless journey without a cell phone. I remembered Rich had said that his boss tried to call the day before but he didn't get the call because he gets terrible service in the mountains of the house where he is working. So...at 11:15 I called him and left a message that said "I am just leaving the house and it's 11:15, if I'm not there by 12:15 come looking for me. Bye". I'm sure alot of you can see where this is headed.

You see...the problem begins...I was told to turn left at the flashing light onto Currin. When I arrive at a flashing signal the road sign reads Wildcat Mtn Road not Currin . I take it thinking that maybe he just got the street name wrong. I follow that for approximately 15 miles and get really nervous with my surroundings...Can you say backwoods scary? I turned around and decided that perhaps there was another flashing signal down further with the street name Currin. I make it back to Eagle creek and continue on to the next intersection which I might add has NO flashing signal but the name of the street is Currin. So at this point... do I follow the landmark directions (flashing light) or the name of the street direction (Currin)? You choose it should be fun!! I decided to go down currin. After following Currin for what seemed an eternity, we'll just say I went farther than I had on the previous road. I came upon a "funny intersection" and took a left as instructed. I ran into another freeway?!!? I would have stopped to ask for directions but couldn't find anyone who looked safe enough to ask. I finally decide to turn around and begin the journey back perhaps looking for a different intersection I could've missed. I find a really old "safe" looking man getting his mail and stop to ask him if he knows where Currin and a firestation meet. He proceeds to tell me to go into Estacada 10 more miles further down Eagle Creek Rd. I go all the way back to the flashing light problem and follow the road into Estacada. I end up stopping at a coffee shop to ask where the firestation was. I was guided to the firestation and walked in and said I was lost and they laughed and said "well you're safe now, you're at the firestation."
For the last 1 1/2 hours my kids have decided that they don't want to see their dad for lunch, that they both need to pee, and crying because they're scared and don't want to get lost forever!!! Boy was that firestation refreshing. One man walked my kids through a tour of the station, put them in the fire trucks, gave them badge stickers and Estacada Tatoos. While that was going on, another gentleman has layed out the county maps and my husbands instructions on where he is. Hahaha aren't I pathetic. The gentleman was so sweet but could not figure out where I was supposed to be going. The man giving my kids a tour overheard the street name Pagh and firestation and said "Pagh...There's a Pagh road across the street from our Sandy station 25 miles from here!!!!! Can you believe that? How in the world did I end up in the depths of Oregon and have no clue? 2 1/2 hours later I arrived at Rich's job site to spend the next 30 minutes with him. How lovely was this day?! The ride home seemed to take us about 20 minutes. It flew by. Moral of this story: Even if I had a cell phone...he wouldn't have answered so when you're lost...you're lost.