The Long and Winding Roads I Have Traveled

I will never know why but I have always been able to find places I have never been to before with a minimum of directions. My mom was the same way which was convenient for my dad because she did not drive, she was always able to lead him home if they got lost.

Well God blessed me with that same gift and here is an occasion where this gift has come in handy:

One time my girlfriend and I went to a Concert and she got lost on our way there. She took the wrong road and kept asking when she should pull over and ask directions. I had never been on this road before so we drove for over five minutes when I told her to stop. She came with me and as we listened to the directions my friend could not believe it how close we were. "Turn left leaving here and then turn left at the first red light. It will be about two miles down on the left hand side". We arrived safely no problem and plenty of time to see the concert. It was a band imitating the Beatles and they were pretty good. It was an outside concert and we were able to bring in our own drinks as long as it was in a plastic container. So we found some relatively good seating put down our blanket and plopped our butts down. Of course to enjoy a proper concert one must have some soda and something to munch on.

This place had some great munchies back then. They had the littlest Doughnuts that were served hot and you could add your own sugar/sugar with cinnamon but plain was just as good. So off I went to get the food and drinks with my friend. Oops I forgot to mention that we had brought a rock with us to guard our things. It was her cousin who really did not want to be with us but came because we had an extra ticket.

So back to the blanket food in one hand and whiskey in the other just waiting for the concert to start. When it finally began I had a pretty good buzz going considering I was the only one drinking I thought it was my duty. There was just something about the smell of an outdoor concert back then that even smelling the air could give you a buzz. Of course I sat downwind to save the little group I was with. After a while and a little drink the cousin started enjoying herself. It was not a big drink just something to make her feel a little better and she was seventeen years old, I was not drinking legally my friend had to buy the whiskey for me. Or maybe it was my dad, he would buy for me once in a while.

The stars were beautiful that night and I just laid back listening to the Not Beatles and enjoyed myself. Then came the end of the concert and for some reason my girlfriend is now in a panic. We get back to the car just fine. No one got hurt or lost and I still had some whiskey left for the ride home. With me all was right in the world. Even the usual parking lot back up where I met some new friends who shared in my whiskey and I shared their air. My girlfriend was talking to her cousin when I finally heard that tone in her voice that meant we were leaving NOW. So I hopped in the car and said good bye to my new friends.

I will never understand why my friend was in such a rush to leave so when she got out of the right hand turn lane I did not say anything. When we hung our left I thought she knew what she was doing. That is until she said "Oh shit, I turned the wrong way. Didn't I, I turned the wrong way? Can you still lead us home"? Now I was the only one drinking and breathing that air so I thought, "I'd just turn the car around". What came out however was "Yeah no problem next street turn left". It was beautiful outside and I was having a good time, plus why be stuck in traffic when you can go exploring instead? So we went driving down the dirt road so slow I was able to stick my head out the window and still see the stars.

Well after a while I started getting tired and knew I would have to go to the bathroom so with some regret I found a major cross road. Unfortunately my girlfriend saw a sign that said we were close to a place that was almost one hundred miles than where we are from. When I pointed out it was one of those signs that just informs people that they are heading in the right direction she felt better. We found a Gas Station and I used the facilities and grabbed some extra things for the ride home. Next street sign we saw my girlfriend recognized the name and with great confidence informed me my direction services were no longer needed. It was a really fun night at least I enjoyed myself thoroughly and the band was good. However my girlfriend never got a sense of direction so this is not the only story of us going out of our way instead of just turning around.