Friday OT - Lost Cause

[coolerifyoudid]

I'm pretty good with directions in general, but I've still had moments when I get off a quarter of a turn and can't get my bearing straight. Was there a time in your life where you were lost to a point of panic? Were you alone? How did you handle it?

 

[coolerifyoudid]

When I was in college, I came to KC one weekend. I got down in the West Bottoms near Kemper at night and took a wrong turn. This was before cell phones and GPS. Instead of backtracking, I was determined that I could drive out of it. I ended up underneath a bridge and getting funneled into an area surrounded by homeless people with a stereotypical trash can on fire.

As I came to a stop, some of them got up and started walking towards me. I panicked and was 90% sure I was gonna get killed or robbed. I got out of there in a hurry and eventually found the right path, but my heart was going at 100 mph.

Fast forward to today. I work about half a mile from there and know the area like the back of my hand. But I still wouldn't want to go to the area I ended up in by myself at night.

 

[Clonefan32]

We have a lot at a lake that we keep a camper on. My son and I went down for a night and it was pouring when we got there. As we are unloading our things I pull the door to the camper shut behind me and realize it locked with the camper keys, my truck keys and my cell phone inside the camper. Luckily my son still had his phone on him and my truck was at least unlocked but we were stuck there until my wife drove the 2 hours down with the spare key, in my truck, with no AC, in the middle of a storm.

 

[Gonzo]

I've always had pretty solid directional cognition. My wife, on the other hand...

Way back in college we were driving home from Spring Break with friends at ASU, and as we hit the I-40 junction around Flagstaff, we saw the signs for "West - Los Angeles" and "East - Albuquerque" and she, the love of my life, took the West exit. To this day I give her crap about thinking Iowa is west of Arizona.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

When I was in high school we were out on a good old fashion gravel travel expedition. We drove for like two hours on gravel and ended up in the hills by like Castana. Everyone had been drinking so the last thing we wanted to do was get on pavement... LOL we ended up following the Busch Light cans back to familiar territory but it got kind of hairy for a bit there. If you aren't familiar with this area it's hilly and the roads wind around. There is no NSEW.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I'm pretty good with directions in general, but I've still had moments when I get off a quarter of a turn and can't get my bearing straight. Was there a time in your life where you were lost to a point of panic? Were you alone? How did you handle it?

I'm actually really good at awareness with directions, but 25 years ago, after my back surgery, I was trying to get back in shape and went to Woodland Mounds Preserve southeast of Indianola, and while I was walking the trails which circle through the woods, I missed the turnoff to go back to the parking lot. Started taking different paths for a while (one of which led to a corn field) and while I wasn't panicking, I was definitely getting damn sore from all the walking. No idea how long it took (probably an hour) to get back to the car, but it felt like forever.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I've always had pretty solid directional cognition. My wife, on the other hand...

Way back in college we were driving home from Spring Break with friends at ASU, and as we hit the I-40 junction around Flagstaff, we saw the signs for "West - Los Angeles" and "East - Albuquerque" and she, the love of my life, took the West exit. To this day I give her crap about thinking Iowa is west of Arizona.

I have a friend that did this except everyone in the car was sleeping. They were driving from Des Moines to Denver and she stopped for gas several hours past Omaha. When they got back on 80 she went East and a few hours later my buddy riding shotgun wakes up to realize they are in Omaha!

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I also had a moment when my brother and I climbed Mt Whitney. We were camped out on the mountain and nature called at night. I wanted to get far away from the other campers to do my business. When I finished, I started walking back to my tent. About 300 yards later, I realized I had gone the wrong way.

I had my phone for a flash light, and eventually found my way back, but there is something about being lost on a mountain during a pitch black moonless night that makes every rock look like a bear.

 

[BCClone]

In Chicago. I took the two oldest to listen to some of Lollapolloza going on.like 6 And 8 grade. Just happened to be staying close. When we left I saw a shortcut under the overpass and went that way. I found the homeless spot. I put my daughter in front and we moved quick for that half a block. Nervous for my kids.

 

[Joe4Cy]

When I was in college, I came to KC one weekend. I got down in the West Bottoms near Kemper at night and took a wrong turn. This was before cell phones and GPS. Instead of backtracking, I was determined that I could drive out of it. I ended up underneath a bridge and getting funneled into an area surrounded by homeless people with a stereotypical trash can on fire.

As I came to a stop, some of them got up and started walking towards me. I panicked and was 90% sure I was gonna get killed or robbed. I got out of there in a hurry and eventually found the right path, but my heart was going at 100 mph.

Fast forward to today. I work about half a mile from there and know the area like the back of my hand. But I still wouldn't want to go to the area I ended up in by myself at night.

I lived in the KC area for 3-ish years in the late 90s. While I didn't get lost where you were, there was an intersection that always confused me and I could never make my way back onto I35S to get back to Lenexa. This often happened late at night after Comedy Sportz rehearsal or a night of shows. I'm driving on the street and can see I35 above me but I cannot, for the life of me, find an entrance ramp.

20 some-odd years later, I still have this nightmare from time to time!

I always get lost in Hilton! Once I step through the doors off the concourse, I cannot tell which way is north, south, etc. After the game, I have to walk all the way around to find the doors that I came in!

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I have a friend that did this except everyone in the car was sleeping. They were driving from Des Moines to Denver and she stopped for gas several hours past Omaha. When they got back on 80 she went East and a few hours later my buddy riding shotgun wakes up to realize they are in Omaha!

That John Denver is full of ****, man

 

[JP4CY]

I wasn't really scared but pre cell phone/navigation days I got into lower Wacker in Chicago and was like WTF do I do now? GPS even still kinda sucks there but as an adult and knowing street intersections I kind of know my bearings.

 

[SaraV]

I always get lost in Hilton! Once I step through the doors off the concourse, I cannot tell which way is north, south, etc. After the game, I have to walk all the way around to find the doors that I came in!

As a female, I take a bit of pride of at least knowing north, south, east, west whereever I am. But in Ames? I somehow get north and south flipped for some odd reason. Same if I'm on the state fairgrounds.

 

[jbclone10]

Whilst studying abroad in '08 in the UK, I took trip to Spain with a group of Americans. I got lost in Barcelona on a night tour of the city hosted by the hostel owners. Stepped inside a store to get my then GF some chips. Came back out, and the group was gone. It was our second night there. I did some serious walking to retrace my steps back to things we'd walked to the prior day. The group was waiting for me back in the hostel. GF was pretty relieved and pissed off. I don't remember if my cell phone (international) was dead or if I just didn't want to pay to use it. Either way it makes for a good story now lol.

 

[Joe4Cy]

On a snorkeling tour one time in the Caribbean one time. I started following some fish, which then lead to me following another one for a brief time, and then another. I glanced around me and suddenly, all I see is wide open ocean. To my left, to my right, nothing but water, some fish, and the plants growing up from the bottom. I'm starting to freak out. I'd lost track of time and the rest of our crew. I went to the surface and turned around 180. I didn't realize how far I'd swum or how much time I'd lost track of! I swam back to the group and found my son. About then, it felt like time to go. We started following a group but it was a different tour! Fortunately, we found our boat and climbed back on shortly before they were leaving for the next snorkeling spot. I love snorkeling and diving but I can easily see how people develop thalassophobia!

 

[carvers4math]

As a female, I take a bit of pride of at least knowing north, south, east, west whereever I am. But in Ames? I somehow get north and south flipped for some odd reason. Same if I'm on the state fairgrounds.

If you lived in Towers when Cy-Ride was in its early stages with few routes, you would always know the walk to campus is straight into the north wind.

Husband got lost with a Cub Scout den in the wilderness of West Des Moines when there wasn’t anything on the city campus but the police department. The library was still tiny on Grand. Our then five year old helped him get out of the woods to the car.

 

[MeanDean]

I usually have flawless sense of directions. Only twice have I been "off."

Once when I flew into S. Florida. Somehow I got East and West exactly backwards. To this day when I'm in a certain neighborhood I have to tell myself, "you need to go West now, so drive towards the ocean." I know it's wrong but I can't reprogram my brain in that neighborhood.

Had the same thing happen to me in Phoenix once on a business trip, but that week I was always 90 degrees off.

Something about flying in and the direction the plane is facing when I land establishes my sense of direction.

 

[MeanDean]

A coworker of mine told me this story about a couple of his high school buddies from Rock Island. They were all going to college at Bradley in Peoria at the time. - The buddies were home for a visit and, to return, were supposed to get on I-74 towards Peoria. It's about 90 minutes normally.

Somehow they missed the turn off and kept going East on I-80. They didn't realize their mistake for several hours till they were almost to Chicago.

This is where it gets crazy. Instead of heading directly to Peoria from where they were, they actually backtracked all the way back to the Quad Cities on 80 and got on I-74 there.

 

[NWICY]

On a snorkeling tour one time in the Caribbean one time. I started following some fish, which then lead to me following another one for a brief time, and then another. I glanced around me and suddenly, all I see is wide open ocean. To my left, to my right, nothing but water, some fish, and the plants growing up from the bottom. I'm starting to freak out. I'd lost track of time and the rest of our crew. I went to the surface and turned around 180. I didn't realize how far I'd swum or how much time I'd lost track of! I swam back to the group and found my son. About then, it felt like time to go. We started following a group but it was a different tour! Fortunately, we found our boat and climbed back on shortly before they were leaving for the next snorkeling spot. I love snorkeling and diving but I can easily see how people develop thalassophobia!

Ok, that one would have scared me.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I wasn't really scared but pre cell phone/navigation days I got into lower Wacker in Chicago and was like WTF do I do now? GPS even still kinda sucks there but as an adult and knowing street intersections I kind of know my bearings.

Dude I almost made this same comment. The first time I was on Lower Wacker and I lost my GPS i was like welp this is gonna take a bit. Luckily I ended up getting it back right before I needed to exit. Lower Wacker is a freakin trip though.