Navigation is Never a Problem with a GPS Unit, Right?

Well. Not exactly. More about that later.

We drove out to a place called The Applehouse, a restaurant in Linden, about 65 miles away. We met our friend Alice for lunch. The Applehouse was chosen because they make sparkling cider (and donuts, which is apparently a thing with cider mills) and have a BBQ smoker and what looked like a super tasty, super reasonable, menu. Alice wanted to get some locally-made sparkling cider for a cool "themed" Thanksgiving celebration her cousin is hosting. So we drove out there.

Lunch was every bit as delicious as I'd hoped. The donuts were very tasty as well. After, it being a beautiful day, we thought we might hit a park to let Soren run off some of his energy. Consulting the GPS, we saw a likely candidate and started off on the way.

This was the point at which things got silly with the GPS. There was a sign showing freeway access nearby, off to the left. The GPS said to go right. That still looked okay, because the frontage road and freeway ran parallel, and the GPS map showed an on-ramp off to the right. We followed the GPS, and drove past what might have been the on-ramp during the Eisenhower era.

So the route we took was... somewhat circuitous. We drove 10 miles to reach a park located less than 3 miles away. Through the little town of Front Royal. Eventually along a one-lane road sharing both traffic directions (via a timed traffic light). Into a strange residential area. Past some dilapidated, kudzu swallowed, old houses. In the middle of nowhere, with nothing at all to indicate the presence of a park, the GPS chimed in "arriving at Owl Park on the right." Yeah. No. No dice at all. Alice and Susan and I laughed about our quality scenic drive to the non-existent park, and decided to head out (us to our home, Alice to hers).

Again following the GPS (because why not, right? In for a penny...), we head back. This time we apparently took the short portion of the long circle and... ran into a park. About a mile away from the Applehouse. We pulled in and played with Soren for a while. A fine time was had by all. After all that trouble.

It was a fun day, nevertheless. Always nice to hang with Alice, and it was really lovely out in the VA countryside.