Our First GPS
Driving from point A to B has been easy schmeasy with MapQuest for years, but now that we’re house hunting in Northern Virginia we broke down and bought a GPS.
We chose the voice of Lee, and we were on our way…to parts unknown had it been left to Lee.
Honest-lee, didn’t he know about the highway?
Lee, encouraging-lee, kept directing us to the backroads.
Wait, there’s a highway setting?
That led to unexpected-lee driving past the monuments in Washington DC, instead of taking me around the beltway.
Where is the Beltway Setting?
Unexpected Washington DC Tour
Trying to make the best of the situation, I used my best tour guide impersonation to verbalize:
We are now crossing the Memorial Bridge, which spans the proud Potomac River.
To our left you will now see the beautiful Jefferson Memorial, designed according to our third president’s favorite architectural style.
Now we are driving under Washington DC through one…two…three tunnels.
(The kids were ecstatic!)
You kids walked all over DC last August.
Do you think you can guess which historical building we will see when we come out of the tunnel?
(Teachers must always work on their student’s higher thinking skills by asking prediction and analysis questions. After discussion of their assumptions, I proceeded…)
To the left is the beautiful Rock Creek Park. I’ve always wanted to take you kids here.
Overriding Lee with MapQuest
The next morning we drove from Silver Spring to Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Good old-fashioned Mapquest gets an A+ because it routed us direct-lee onto the beltway to 95 South.
The GPS, however, daring-lee suggested we drive by Arlington Cemetery…uh no!
Stuffing Lee in the Glove Compartment
When we drove to Colonial Williamsburg Lee was set to direct us.
Absolutely not. We easily know how to get to Colonial Williamsburg from Fredericksburg.
I don’t want to miss Thomas Jefferson!
Tucking Lee away in the glove compartment, we all cracked up when Lee mumbled discouraging-lee…recalculating.
