Growing up in a small town in Kansas driving was quite different than here in the suburbs of Minneapolis. In KS cities and towns were separated by decent amounts of space clearly showing where one ended and the next began. Here in MN I cross a nearby street and am in a different city, but only know it because a sign says so - and there isn't a sign for every small street. Going to church I take a highway through three cities in the space of 20 minutes. In KS distance could be measured in times and it would be fairly accurate every time. If I ever saw heavy traffic it was only around the bigger cities. And driving to Wal-Mart meant taking back roads, not interstates.
The other day here in MN, I wanted to go to Wal-Mart. My "local" Wal-Mart had been out of some things I wanted the past couple of times I went. So I decided to try a different one. The directions on the Google map were easy enough and the estimated time was 14 minutes. So I loaded up my two girls - three years old and two months old - and headed off thinking I could be back in about 45 minutes. The first step was to pick up the nearest interstate going west...away from the Twin Cities...on a Friday afternoon...at 4 o'clock. I knew it was a bad idea as soon as I reached the on ramp. 14 minutes down the road found me at a standstill looking in the rear window of the car in front of me, still a few miles from my destination.
While I had still been able to move, I had considered a different route. I took too long deciding, though, and from a standstill it was impossible to safely get into the swift traffic in the exit lane. Coming home, towards the Twin Cities, wasn't too bad. However, my quick and easy trip to Wal-Mart was anything but quick and easy. Though I did find everything I needed.
Now you know why we tried to plan our trips so we did not go through Wichita during those rush hours, and having seen Minneapolis, both Wichita and Oklahoma City look like tiny dwarves.
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