Technology is Great. Some technology is greater than other technology. Ipods and Mpeg players are O.K. for some, but I haven't found a real use for them yet. I occasionally record a memo on my Cell Phone, and have probably taken a dozen or so pictures. I hardly ever go anywhere though, with out my 1D Mark II Canon camera, so why would I take a picture on my cell phone?

One of my favorite technologies though, is the GPS. In our family is should be a Garmin. My son Dan, works for Garmin in Salem Oregon, and would probably shoot any of us that bought another brand. I do like my handheld Magellen Sportrak Pro, but it was purchased before Garmin bought out UPS Avionics, where Dan was working.

Today was a great example of putting your trust in something without checking all the settings and remembering that the last time you used it you changed it to the shortest route setting.

I was heading to Days Creek Oregon, anticipating heading East at Canyonville the 8 or 9 miles to my destination. As I was approaching Myrtle Creek, Oregon, about 12 miles North of Canyonville on I-5, I heard that distinctive voice in the background telling me that I needed to exit. Being the obedient person that I am, and my wife not beside me to question why I was getting off, I just blindly followed the instructions.

About 4 miles from the freeway, and 8 miles from my destination, suddenly the sign said, "End of Pavement". At this point, do I return to the freeway or continue on? The GPS tells me I am on the "Days Creek Cutoff Road" so it must go there. I continued on! Now I am on a single lane road, with no where to meet and pass, and the GPS looks like a snake for a route. Oh and we are climbing quickly. No place to turn around now without falling in the canyon, so there is only one way to go, and it's only 5 miles to the mail highway a couple of miles from my final destination.

I've included a few pictures and they make it look like a freeway. I should have taken a picture of the vehicle sitting on the road for better perspective. About 1 mile from the highway, I finally start to see signs of life and decide that I will probably make it. I did save about 6 or 7 miles, so the GPS did it's job. I just did a poor job of interpreting what it was telling me.