Weather

The Boys

theboys.jpg

I'm Reading

Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson

Blogs

Pituitary Message Board Pituitary Network

Misc

Breast Cancer Research

This site is certified 69% GOOD by the Gematriculator


Personal Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory



License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

« My Super-Ex Girlfriend and Mom | Main | Analysis of Road Trip: Segment Two »

July 31, 2006

Analysis of a Road Trip: The Beginning

Perhaps you recall the entry in which I mentioned that The Boys and I were going to go to Tennessee for a week of fun in the sun with my parents and uncle at Dale Hollow.

My Uncle Ben has a house on the lake; the fun of this is complimented by the fact he also has a houseboat, jet boat and wave runner. Sweet ... sweet ... and ... sweet.

(The fun of this is further complimented by the fact that Granny and Big D, in addition to being super parents, are party animals. Sweetest!)

The trip to the lake was awesome and there will undoubtedly be entires about it -- but this entry, and the several entries that follow -- are about the trip that came post lake.

And it goes:

Following the trip to Dale Hollow The Boys and I were going to head off to Evansville, Indiana to hang with some friends and Their Boys.

Curious about the amount of driving I might be doing at the end of the week, I Yahoo Mapped driving directions from the Dale Hollow Marina in Celina to a dealer of Coup de Villes in Evansville.


Not a bad drive

(Obviously, the Coup de Ville thing is something I threw in just after Marina/Celina hit my ear. But, wouldn't you have been disappointed had I not gone for the cheesy rhyme? Of course it doesn't work at all if you are one of those who pronounces Celina like vagina. You say Sa-Lee-Na I say Sa-Line-Uh ... sa-lee-na, sa-line-uh, va-geen-a, va-gine-uh, let's call the whole thing off.)

Where were we?

Four hours from Dale Hollow to Evansville. Not bad.

From conversations with mom and dad I remembered (remembered is the keyword here) that it was also about four hours from Granny and Big D's to Dale Hollow. The Boys and I would be able to make both drives without anybody going crazy.

As it happens it is something just over five hours from Granny and Big D's to Dale Hollow -- not that it would matter -- since that isn't where we were going. It is, however, just over four hours from Granny and Big D's to where we were actually going: Norris Lake.

I had heard mom and dad say the drive would be four hours -- and I squirreled that away in my brain. I'd also heard them say we were going to Norris Dam, more than once, and I turned that into Dale Hollow -- more than once.

The oddest thing about this is that I've been to Norris Dam ... sure, it was 36 years ago, but I've been there! I remember it!

I've never been to Dale Hollow.

Even now.

I can see how this may not be terribly clear. I've reread this several times and I'm having trouble following exactly what I'm saying. And I'm saying it. And the whole thing happened to me. If it were only as simple as removing the Evansville/Coup de Ville line I'd take that step. But that isn't it.

To simplify things -- and to simplify them in such a way that I don't have to erase any of the stuff above -- how about a list:

  • I thought we were going to Dale Hollow -- despite the fact I'd been told Norris Lake several times

  • I had been told the trip was just over four hours -- I made the jump that it was a four hour drive from mom and dad's to Dale Hollow

  • I remembered the four-hour part -- I zoned on the destination part

  • I mapped the distance from Dale Hollow to Evansville

  • I didn't map the distance from Norris Lake to Evansville

  • Norris Lake is closer to mom and dad's than Dale Hollow is -- by about an hour

  • I know this doesn't necessarily make it closer to Evansville. Dayton is closer to mom and dad's than Cincinnati is ... yet, Cincinnati is closer to Evansville than Dayton is. See ... I do have some familiarity with how distance from one place to another works.

  • I thought -- and this is the thing that would be the first big mistake ... that's it. Just I thought. If there had to be more I guess it would be: I thought Norris Lake was closer to Evansville than Dale Hollow was -- which would make it something under or about four hours.

    • We'll continue this tomorrow. How about some photos.

    Posted by delmer at July 31, 2006 10:02 PM

    Comments

    Gah!

    Kill it! KILL IT!! DIE SPAWN OF THE DEVIL WASP... DIIIIIEEE!

    :-)

    Posted by: Dave2 at July 31, 2006 11:12 PM

    I suppose being "concise" isn't what blogging is all about. I have to wait another day to find out what happened! You sir, are a great blogger.
    Darrell
    P.S. Sawsall

    Posted by: Darrell at August 1, 2006 8:01 AM