PAVED ROADS ONLY

My husband often says I have a God-given GPS in my brain. It's true. I rarely get lost. My sense of direction is remarkable. I'm not bragging, that is just a fact. It isn't flawless but it is remarkable.

When I move to a new area I typically get in the car and just start driving around. My goal is to see if I can get so lost that I have to get out a map to see how to get back home. I've never had to map my way home.

All that said, I have found Florida to be one of the most challenging places to not get lost. The roads are bipolar and few, if any, go north/south or east/west. They wind and curve and just do whatever. Plus, they don't name roads, just give them numbers 484, 369, etc., which can at times be confusing. And some don't have names as all and aren't paved. So, I have a Florida rule, STAY ON PAVED ROADS ONLY.

This has been a good rule for me and it applies whether I'm walking, bike riding, or driving a vehicle.

I live in a gated community with lots of roads. Many find it confusing and won't live here because they fear getting lost. At first that was a concern for me too. Well, I was more concerned my husband would get lost than me. When I started bike riding in my community I found it less confusing but discovered it has more cul de sacs than through roads. Eventually, I found a route to do that kept me from dead-ends and endless circle-only, go nowhere, roads.

But, after doing the same route hundreds of times I tend to get bored. Once in a while, I noticed a golf cart that turns down a dead-end road and disappears into the woods. I went to take a peak and saw that there was a golf cart trail into the woods that must go somewhere. I was so curious but the trail is not paved and to discover where it goes would mean breaking my rule about paved roads only. So, I turned around and went back on my normal route. I promised myself that some day when I had a golf cart I would go exploring that mysterious road and see where it goes.

However, today I felt a bit adventurous. Again bored of seeing the same old thing I turned down that road just to take another peak at the unpaved golf cart road. I stopped and looked down into the wooded area as far as I could from my safe paved road. Then it happened. I decided to give it a shot.

At first it was fun. In the adrenaline rush I didn't even notice how hard I had to peddle on the sand. Plus it was a slight downhill which kept my momentum going. The further I got the harder I had to peddle. How far does this go? Where does it come out? Now all I can see is trees and sand. No houses, no civilization.

I came to fork in the road and went left. Another fork so I went right. Always trying to memorize what I did so I could get back if this ended up being a mistake. Too late! I was committed. I looked around and began to worry about what might live in these woods. Florida is very different from the northern woods I'm used to. Fire ants, crazy poisonous looking spiders and snakes, alligators. I started to worry about going through spider webs as it didn't look like there was much traffic on this road.

The bike started going slower and slower. At this point I'm standing up peddling, trying to use shear will to keep the bike moving. The sandy road had gotten much softer and my bike tires were sinking deeper in to it. But I didn't want to stop. I didn't want to walk and have something crawl on me. When the bike came to a complete stop because the tires were so buried I just stood there on those pedals wondering what I would do next.

The only solution was to get off the bike, pull it out of the sand and walk until I found sand that was a bit more solid.

Another fork in the road. Then another. Still no evidence of civilization. I start thinking about the Israelites and how they wandered in the desert for 40 years. "Please God, help me get out of here quicker than that!"

Still trusting my internal GPS I hoped I would eventually end up back at the place where I entered this unpaved road. Finally the sand was a little more solid so I got back on the bike. I peddled as hard as I could and fought through the burning in my thighs as I didn't want to walk again.

Another fork in the road. Left or right? At this point I'm just picking the direction that looks like the sand will not be too soft to ride the bike on. I thought about using my google maps on the phone as I was starting to doubt I'd find my way out. But 2 things prevented me from doing that. One is that I would have to stop the bike again to do it and that wasn't an option I was willing to do. The other is that I was worried I was in an area where there wasn't any signal. If that happened, I wasn't sure panic wouldn't set in. So I just kept peddling

Then, I saw what looked like a building up ahead! WAIT, it was a building! And, it was the building I went past when I first went down this stupid road. YEAH! I'm out! I'm on my lovely paved road with the same old lovely wonderful scenery I always see on my bike ride. And, despite the fact that I had to go up hill, it seemed so easy now that I was on a paved road again. YEAH!

Still had 5 miles to get back home. And, all I wanted at this point was a shower as I was pretty covered with sand. Back home now, all cleaned up, I am thankful for my little adventure. But I won't be doing it again. My "paved roads only rule" is back in place!