Lost

One of the biggest differences between NJ and good old Idaho is the traffic. It is insane to drive anywhere. It's not impossible and not as bad as I imagined but it's still insane. I don't think anyone planned where they were going to put roads. It was just a oh here's a open spot, throw it there type of idea. It is the biggest mess getting around. Even Ms. Garmin (that's what we call our nice little helper GPS lady) gets lost here. If you miss an exit there isn't an easy way to fix it. You usually have to wait for a exit or two get off then drive around until you get to an on ramp and get back on and hope you get off on the right one again. It's also bad because the highway splits and then merges back together and if you don't take the right split you can't get off on the exit you need so you are just out of luck.
So after we first got here Jeff's phone broke. Well he can't work without a phone so our second day here I put the kids in the van, plugged in Verizon into the GPS and headed off to the closest one. Since his phone didn't work he took mine so he would have one to use that day. Well I get to the first Verizon on the list and it is in the scariest neighborhood. There is no way I am getting my kids out of the car. Well upon further investigation it wasn't even a store it was one of their corporate shipping offices. So I have my GPS direct me to the next one. No Verizon store at the address Ms. Garmin gives me. Either it had moved or it was never there I don't know. Third on the list, another corporate office. Keep in mind that none of these are even remotely close together or in the same direction so I was driving all over the place. I was getting frustrated so the kids and I stopped at McDonalds for lunch and a break from our treasure hunt. We had been in the car for almost two hours. So we get back in the car and continue our search. Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth on the list were not stores either. Isaac needed a potty break so we stopped at a CVS. Nobody spoke English to even remotely try to help us with finding a Verizon store. The radio kept teasing me with Verizon adds because it's huge back here. Verizon does not only cell phones but TV and all the pay phones are Verizon. So why couldn't I find a store! The only Verizon on my GPS list that said Authorized Dealer was in NYC. I was so frustrated and just wanted to get the phone fixed that I said what the heck, why not. I started following the directions and then we hit traffic and my estimated time of arrival was 2 hours later! That's when the tears started. It was 4:30 and we had been in the car all day long and all I needed was to get my husbands phone fixed. I decided to just head home and borrow a phone and get directions to one in NJ. So I push return home onto the GPS we get off the highway and are going to get on another one that will take us back home. I was so mad and frustrated and with traffic and not being able to find one stupid Verizon store it really had me emotional. So I get in the left lane (which takes forever because everyone here is out for themselves) to get on the onramp to head home and what do I see right off the street on the right hand side. A VERIZON STORE!!!! It took me another 10 minutes to get back over to the right hand lane and then another 5 minutes after that to quit crying and compose myself enough to go into the store. I have never been so relieved to walk into a business in my life. Of course nobody in the store spoke very good English because I happened to find the Chinese Verizon Store. (All the signs and pamphlets and everything were in Chinese) but I didn't care. It took them forever to troubleshoot his phone and I didn't care because I was just so happy we had found Verizon at all. They weren't able to fix his phone so we had to buy a new one. His old one was so broke that they couldn't get any of his contacts or photos or anything off of it. I have never been so thankful that I listened and didn't try driving into the city that day. I have gained an appreciation for my cell phone and learned never to depend on my GPS getting me to where I need to go. Since that day I have seen a million Verizon stores that are fairly close to our house. Figures. Well not a million but at least three and that day I only needed one of them. I respect all the people that live here and go through the traffic and driving each and every day. I can't even imagine.
Have you ever been lost? How long were you lost and how did you end up finding your way?