We received a phone call from son Matthew, a couple of days ago, informing us that he was headed to Grand Encampment, Wyoming for the holiday weekend. He was meeting up with a college friend & 18 other guys to camp and take in some fly fishing. He was uncertain whether he'd have cell phone coverage, in case I tried reaching him.
My response...
be careful
how long of a drive is that?
stay safe
do you know how to fly fish?
be careful when your in the water
(he informs me he will be standing in knee high water)
are there bears in Wyoming?
(he laughs and replies there are no bears in Wyoming)
Two day's later...
Phone rings, I answer, it is son Matthew (who is cutting in and out on his cell phone), informing me he is somewhere in Wyoming and his GPS isn't working on his phone and was just wondering if I would "hop onto the computer" and guide him to his destination! Mother has now gone into total panic mode & starting to hyperventilate (not quite, but close), so I pass him off onto his Dad. Dad takes phone from me (the one that hangs on our wall) and grabs his cell phone out of his pocket...phone junkie! One phone at ear and another in hand... Dad's first reply, "Yea, I hear it's pretty desolate, do you have enough gas?" So now dad is fidgeting with his cell phone screen, doing the stretching of fingers thing across the phone (like the weather man does), trying to zoom in on some 1" x 3" map on his phone screen. OMG... Mother is now screaming (not really, but close to), "where is our atlas, wouldn't it be easier to just get the atlas?" Dads replying, "I have one right here, as he holds up his phone." Yes, a 1" x 3" map that his 50 year old eyes can no longer read! So dad continues to fidget with his phone map as he keeps loosing Matthew on the phone. Mom is now thinking...Wonderful, this is just great, he is out in the middle of nowhere, a gazillion miles from any town, he's lost, gps isn't working, and no cell phone coverage...
and he doesn't own an atlas!
Atlas? What's that?
Dad has now moved to a larger map that his 50 year old eyes can read, our PC. He hops onto google earth and says "how cool is this?" He is now showing me actual photos of some desolate highway that our son is lost on, very reassuring. There aren't even cars on this interstate...
Son keeps calling, dad keeps answering phone, call keeps getting dropped...
Dad is now texting son directions. Mom now needs a Xanax... her lost son is now sending & receiving text messages while driving....something this mother continues to preach to her adult children to never. ever. do.
One message sent to dad, from son, reads - "Tell Mom not to worry"...
Question of the day...
do our twenty-something-year-olds even know there is such a thing as a road map? Would they even know how to use one? Do they still teach how to use a map & how to fold up a map in school?
In the meantime, I will stick with my old, worn & tattered atlas. It will always get me to where I'm going regardless of where I'm at...give me a hard copy, please!
AND one more thing...
are there bears in Wyoming?
Brenda
I must tell you that you had me laughing through this entire post! The visuals I got were like I was in the room with you and your hubby. My oldest son is 17 and I have been through "it" already with him and just know there will be more panic attacks coming.
ReplyDeleteI love my atlas, too. When I hold it in my hands I feel so powerful....like I can go anywhere I want to in the entire country with that one thing in my hands. I made the mistake once going to Columbus with my friend for the TNNA show using my hubby's gps....it failed us and we didn't have our atlas!!! I had to call my husband and he did the same thing you did...got on google maps and helped us out.... never again will I rely fully on gps!!
Oh my gosh, this is great! I just had this conversation with my kids (about learning to use a 'real' map) while they were complaining of their "map skills" books I have them do in our homeschool.
ReplyDeleteTwenty something sons, sometimes, think they are invincible, which is totally horrifying to their mothers:)
Thanks for the wonderful post! I needed the laugh. You sound soooo- much like me:-)
Suzanne G.
Oh my gosh, reading your post, is deja vu for me. My DS did the same thing on a ski trip to Canada a few winters ago. He and a few buddies decided to take a seasonal access road to the resort but none of them realized that they do not plow seasonal access roads in the winter. Same situation, GPS cut out, sporadic cell service. I reacted the same way you did. And my hair turned another shade of pale.
ReplyDeleteHe's done it a few times, we recently guided him out of Washington DC while he and his new bride were on their way to Alabama to report to the AFB he was stationed. It's always an adventure. Glad I've got company.
I can totally relate! Doesn't matter how old our kids are, they are always our babies and we are always in "mom" mode.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest (20) plays college baseball and middle son (25) sent me a text the other evening telling me "Kevin isn't playing tonight - he has a cyst in his eye". Oh my gosh, my heart stopped when I read the word cyst. Turned out it was a stye and middle son typed the word wrong. I firmly told middle son "Next time be sure you get the diagnosis correct"! He thinks I was overreacting....sheesh. I told him there is a huge difference between a cyst and a stye!!
You and I just grew a few more gray hairs this week...sigh.
Hope your son's rest of his weekend is uneventful. I hope you have some wine, tequila, vodka, rum, whatever on hand just in case.
Sorry, I live in California so I can't answer your question about bears in Wyoming. We definitely have them here, in my neighborhood in fact!
I'm still laughing and imagining the times like these that I have yet to experience.
ReplyDeleteMy three boys are in cub scouts and have been learning how to read their compasses and maps. They complain - "Why can't we just get a GPS?" I then proceed to tell them that in some circumstances they don't work - especially if there is a huge solar flare or something happens to the satellites, then you need to know how to get around the old fashioned way!
From one mother to another - I believe you need to know the truth - yes, Virginia, there are bears in WY!
You'll have to keep us updated on his adventure!
My son always said I was the biggest
ReplyDeleteworrier in our town! Your son will be fine - he'll be having a ball while you are worrying yourself to death!
Since Yellowstone is in Wyoming, yes there are bears in Wyoming.
Don't worry - they are all at Yellowstone looking for "pic-a-nic"
baskets!
To me, nothing beats a good ole paper map....
Stop worrying, have faith in your son and get some stitching out!
Best wishes....
I have had my kids call to have me look it up on the web, geez. We got them both a gps, so now they can find their way. We have one, but I still carry my Delorme with me on trips, nothing like a real map that I can see at a glance.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
I've been to Encampment! In fact, every summer when I was growing up we would go camping near there:) It is a very good fishing area! Hope he caught some trout! Nothing better!
ReplyDeleteYes, ma'am, there are bears in these here hills, but for the most part they want nothing to do with people. We live in downtown Encampment,(pop. about 400). I have lived in Wyoming and hiked the wilderness areas for twenty years, seen many bears, cougars, etc. none of which wanted to be buddies. They high tail it the other way. There are few instances where an animal attacked humans, usually it's related to food. I'm sure your son is fine and dandy and safe.
ReplyDeleteIt can be frightening here for people coming through the first time since the only roads that really have much traffic are Interstate 80 and Interstate 25. Even those aren't nearly as busy as in metropolitan areas, of which we have none. I hope he had a great fishing trip, the water is up very high from Spring runoff in both the Encampment and the North Platte, he should get a tasty trout!
Oh my gosh..I was dying as I was reading this post..I constantly tell my kids their way isn't the only way to do things..What did your dad and I do before vcr's, dvd's,cable, cell phones, computers, etc...Funny..Glad it all worked out for the good and he is safe..
ReplyDeleteI guess you can put an atlas on Matthew's Christmas list this year! :)
ReplyDeleteErin thought I was funny when I pulled out my Iowa map when we were coming back from Chicago. I got the map in driver's education some 15 years ago but it still works like a charm!