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The Trials and Tribulations of Travel
Sep. 22nd, 2007 09:21 pmThere are apparently two knitting stores within decent driving distance of where I live. One is up towards the uni, and I've been there multiple occasions. While I'm quite fond of it, I wanted to see this other knitting store, just to see what they have. So today I set out to find it.
For a while there, I was thinking that the world was trying to keep me from getting to it, as if I went, it would cause a rip in the fabric of the space-time continum and destroy half the universe. Luckily that didn't happen, but damn finding it was a quest.
First, there was The Train. In order to get to the part of down I wanted to get to, it requires crossing some train tracks. Which normally wouldn't be a problem, except there was a train crossing it. A very long train. A Very. Slow. Train. Upon realizing that if I sat there and waited for it, I would probably be needing dentures by the time it passed, I bailed out, and headed back the way I came. Now, I remember from my school bus riding days that when we needed to cross the train tracks, and there was a train in the way, the bus driver would bypass the train by going down the road a ways and passing under a bridge that the train tracks run over. However, I've never attempted trying to find it myself. And so, running completely on instinct and sheer luck, I somehow managed to fumble my way down the road and find the bridge. Obstacle #1 passed.
Now, my instincts had been telling me that the store was going to be in a little square downtown that I had been to a couple of times. There were some other crafty-type things in that vicinity. So I go there, park, wander, and find out that it's not there. The street number I'm looking for is 214, and the store numbers are all in the 100s. Okay, so, I look to see which way the numbers are increasing, get back into the car, and drive onwards. Drive, drive, okay, there's 200, drive drive, 237. Oh crap, overshot it. Turn around at this slightly creepy car wash, drive back the other way. I eventually park somewhere between them and start looking for where the elusive 214 might be. It's nowhere to be found, as if 214 is caught in another dimension, and now exists only as a gateway between here and Hell. Finally, I call home, ask Dad to look it up on google maps, and we figure out that I was apparently on the WEST version of the street, whereas I needed to be on the EAST version of the street. So finally, after getting some directions, I get back into the car, and finally find the place.
I have to admit, it was worth the search. It is a literal HOUSE O' YARN. It's run by a little old lady, and the house the store is based out of looks like it's been there longer than the town has (and it had cute low ceilings up on the second floor), and basically every single room in the entire house is stuffed CHOCK FULL of yarn. It was like a fiber nirvana. I got a couple of balls of yarn, and it was good.
I've also determined that I really shouldn't let myself go into used bookstores, as I'll undoubtedly find something I want to get. After a trip to the used bookstore, I came out with a King's Quest novel (WTF awesome!) and a book on Iron Chef. The original Iron Chef.
For a while there, I was thinking that the world was trying to keep me from getting to it, as if I went, it would cause a rip in the fabric of the space-time continum and destroy half the universe. Luckily that didn't happen, but damn finding it was a quest.
First, there was The Train. In order to get to the part of down I wanted to get to, it requires crossing some train tracks. Which normally wouldn't be a problem, except there was a train crossing it. A very long train. A Very. Slow. Train. Upon realizing that if I sat there and waited for it, I would probably be needing dentures by the time it passed, I bailed out, and headed back the way I came. Now, I remember from my school bus riding days that when we needed to cross the train tracks, and there was a train in the way, the bus driver would bypass the train by going down the road a ways and passing under a bridge that the train tracks run over. However, I've never attempted trying to find it myself. And so, running completely on instinct and sheer luck, I somehow managed to fumble my way down the road and find the bridge. Obstacle #1 passed.
Now, my instincts had been telling me that the store was going to be in a little square downtown that I had been to a couple of times. There were some other crafty-type things in that vicinity. So I go there, park, wander, and find out that it's not there. The street number I'm looking for is 214, and the store numbers are all in the 100s. Okay, so, I look to see which way the numbers are increasing, get back into the car, and drive onwards. Drive, drive, okay, there's 200, drive drive, 237. Oh crap, overshot it. Turn around at this slightly creepy car wash, drive back the other way. I eventually park somewhere between them and start looking for where the elusive 214 might be. It's nowhere to be found, as if 214 is caught in another dimension, and now exists only as a gateway between here and Hell. Finally, I call home, ask Dad to look it up on google maps, and we figure out that I was apparently on the WEST version of the street, whereas I needed to be on the EAST version of the street. So finally, after getting some directions, I get back into the car, and finally find the place.
I have to admit, it was worth the search. It is a literal HOUSE O' YARN. It's run by a little old lady, and the house the store is based out of looks like it's been there longer than the town has (and it had cute low ceilings up on the second floor), and basically every single room in the entire house is stuffed CHOCK FULL of yarn. It was like a fiber nirvana. I got a couple of balls of yarn, and it was good.
I've also determined that I really shouldn't let myself go into used bookstores, as I'll undoubtedly find something I want to get. After a trip to the used bookstore, I came out with a King's Quest novel (WTF awesome!) and a book on Iron Chef. The original Iron Chef.
