Why I never ask for directions...

In my previous post, I wrote about my weekend on my cousin's farm. We left the area later than I wanted to because I knew it would be getting dark in a few hours. I was the main driver and did not bring my glasses for night driving. I figured if I could get us into Petersburg, VA, my sister could drive from there. She knows the route from there. We left at 5:45 PM and it should have been a 3.5 hour drive. We were driving down Route 40 and had been on the road almost an half hour. We noticed that a lot of cars heading the opposite direction kept flashing their lights at me. I thought, wow that is a lot of people warning me that a cop is taking radar. I dropped my speed down to 40 MPH because I didn't knew what the speed was but knew most of the route was 55 MPH. I kept driving and driving and driving, no cop. Then one lady flashed at us and waved us down. I slowed down some more thinking something was on the van. My imagination was thinking there was some mass murderer and we were heading straight towards them. I did not know. Then I spotted it..... a tree fell blocking all of Rte 40. I could do nothing but turn around. I pulled up in someone's driveway. This family and evidently all the neighbors were sitting at this house on the porch watching all us poor travelers struggle. I waved at them and all at once, they all raised their hands and waved at me. I just laughed. So we headed back the other way trying to plot how to get home. That is the only way I knew. We stopped at an old country convenience store. I played with the GPS for awhile but the only alternative routes were back down 40 and back down 40 and back down 40. I knew if I went back to my cousin's then traveled another 30 minutes into South Boston that it would be a five hour drive from there. I was not liking that alternative. I went in to potty and asked the country bumpkin if there was a way around 40. He told me of course. I should go down there and turn where there used to be a grocery store then turn where there used to be a car repair lot. Right past there will be Eureka and you can take one of those roads to bring you around that tree. I sat there dumbfounded. Honestly man, the reason I am asking directions is because I am not from here but you are giving me directions like I live here. If I lived here I wouldn't need the directions. Then a country customer asked me if I understood. I was honest and told him no. HE then told me to turn left at the old Grocery store right before the town of such and such ends. Then turn left at the old car lot. Then turn left on Saxe Roy Rd. I was so happy to hear the name of a road. The only bad thing is I never found this old grocery store. I drove some more. I pulled over at an old country church trying to get the GPS to route me through South Boston, no such thing. I was hoping being at the church would cause divine intervention. That sort of happened. I turned back around when I discovered I may have lost my cell phone. We went back to the country store. No cell phone but my nephew did find it in the car. Praise the Lord! I made the mistake of asking for the directions again to get around the tree. It was no better than the first answer. So off we headed back down 40 hoping the tow truck driver we met earlier was going to move it. We hoped and prayed. I began to get nervous because a truck had flashed his lights at me again. I was like come on, Please God , I want to go home. Thank goodness he listened. Two neighbors had volunteered during this time and had chainsawed enough of the tree that one car at a time could go through. It is now 7:15 and off we go...home. We drove about a mile and long and behold there is that Eureka town that county bumpkin told me about. We could have been long past there had he spoken fluent English. Wow, what an adventure. Anytime my Mom and I are involved with something it becomes an adventure. We made it home after 10:45 PM .