Detour Diary
Laughter does not have to come from a major source. It could be ... relatively minor.
The road less traveled offered an unexpected adventure one morning, and a quick glance at my watch assured me that time was on my side. I took the fastest route out of town, heading southeast, determined to photograph an eighth-grade class participating in a community clean-up project.
As I set my cruise control to avoid exceeding the speed limit, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted a neon orange D.O.T. diamond sign on the right side of the road. The big black letters warned of an upcoming closure … on the very roadway I needed to travel, where construction workers clad in neon yellow were scattered around the bridge I had to cross. In that moment, I felt like Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit, shouting, “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!”
Desperate, I decided to follow a vehicle onto a nearby gravel road, hoping the driver knew the back way to my destination. As a dust storm enveloped me, I disengaged the cruise control and sped up, trailing the vehicle I hoped would guide me. When my intuition nudged me to turn in a different direction, I left the other driver in my dust. Thankfully, my internal GPS didn’t let me down, and I found the road I needed.
My journey continued through a tiny town until a stop at a stop sign gave me a chance to read another neon orange diamond sign warning of yet another upcoming closure on the very road I needed to traverse. Luck seemed to be against me, as yet another team of brightly-attired construction workers was busy on THAT bridge, too!
Determined, I flagged down a man on a John Deere garden tractor and asked for directions. Following his guidance, I went back through the same tiny town. After simultaneously taking two left turns, I navigated a country roller coaster of steep slopes and tight turns for miles. Siri repeatedly begged me to “proceed to the route.” At one point, I almost tossed my phone out the window and told her to just “proceed to the route” already!
Finally, my seemingly eternal road trip came to an end as I entered town. I had never been so happy to see pavement in my life! It was clear: I had spent way too much time on the road less traveled.
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