Our town has about 25,000 people. Compared with a larger metropolitan area, there isn’t that much traffic. When he isn’t working at the Human Service Center in Bismarck, Husband “hotels” in an office at the Human Service Center in our town where I work and works there. We both take different routes to work for the silliest reasons.
Our drive to work takes 10 minutes. In the summer and fall, husband likes the eastern route that takes him over the butte near our home and through a residential area, and approaches our work building from the back. He likes that route because there is less traffic and he can see the gardens by the houses he drives past. He doesn’t like the route in the spring and winter because it can get icy driving up and down the butte.
I like a southern route that takes me past a house where two standard schnauzers live. I love to catch glimpses of those magnificent dogs. I often see them jumping in fruitless attempts to catch the squirrels teasing them in the tree branches just above their heads. The route takes me to the main commercial street in town that eventually runs right past our work building. The only problem with my route is that I have an unprotected left turn to get onto the commercial street.
I am an impatient person. Our town is too small to have very many traffic lights and four way stops. I suppose I have to wait, at a maximum, two minutes before the way is clear for me to turn left. I just hate having to wait for that. Sometimes when I am in a very impatient mood I turn left on a residential street a block before the commercial street. That takes me to another major street where I can make a right turn, and then a left turn with a light, onto the commercial street. Again, it takes me 10 minutes to get to work, no matter what route I take. This is so silly. I am lucky I don’t drive in a big city all the time.
Do you ever take alternate routes for silly reasons? How do you feel about unprotected left turns?
Trail Baboon 
Sometimes I feel as though my entire life has been a series of unprotected left turns. On an actual street, in an actual driving situation however, they are irritating, especially if I am late. My nursing career trained me to be punctual, and I am anxious when I’m running late.
I always mix it up and take a different route. If I haven’t been down that road before and I’m confident about it coming out where I think it will, I take it with no hesitation.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Rise and Shine Baboons,
I wander around town using all kinds of routes. Most of this depends on ice and snow in combination with road conditions, flower beds I like to gape at, and errands that can be combined in a particular area. Another factor here in the spring are nesting birds. Geese, ducks, and wild turkeys are nesting and hatching chicks. Soon they will cross the road for who knows what reason, which means traffic stops suddenly to allow them to cross the road. Watching a train of chicks follow mama is delightful and adorable. However, there are always a couple of people in a hurry who get red-faced at the prospect. In the spring if I am in a hurry, I take the non-chick routes.
We have several ducks in the yard, so we are sure there is a nest near by, probably in the neighbor’s neglected, weedy yard.
THis week was so stressful. At work, our internet in an entire business park area went down last Thursday, and Century Link took its time repairing it. They had it repaired Tuesday but our business’s restoration code did not work. They offered to send out a technician IN.10.DAYS. Operating a business that is part telehealth really gets tough without the internet. We were using hotspots and running back and forth from our homes for a week. Tomorrow the equipment from T-Mobile Business Services is to arrive for installation of their internet service. Guess who lost our account?
LikeLiked by 4 people
Another little gift to make you appreciate retirement, Jacque!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have two main routes to see Sandra: through downtown, and it really is DOWNtown, or stay on the bluff through campus and then down a steep bluff down to her, steeper than the bluff to downtown. So lots of factors dictate those choices, such as what is going on on campus, such as football games, or coming up now the several graduations. The other public college uses the campus for its graduations and MSU holds about four. MSU puts up signs suggesting other routes for upcoming events which is very helpful. And weather of course dictates the route.
And driving through campus can be intersting in various ways. When MSU is not in major session I take a fun route that is faster. In session the many pedestrian crossings are very busy. I love going through campus. Coming back in the afternoon I let students get out of the parking lots because they are trapped by a long line at a stop light. I get honked at for that.
Going over at my normal through campus route sends me through 9 stop lights. This town is full of idiot drivers. So it requires attention.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Before Wess beats me to it:
LikeLiked by 4 people
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
LikeLiked by 4 people
One of Steve’s favorite quotes.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I’ve been thinking about Steve, lately, thanks for remember he liked that quote.
LikeLiked by 5 people
One strategy that works for many left turns is to go straight through the intersection where you would otherwise turn left, and then make three right turns. This is a strategy that UPS drivers employ.
LikeLiked by 3 people
My first response to this was sent into cyberspace earlier today when my internet apparently failed. In essence I said that I like taking alternate routes, though at the moment some of the side streets are a bit tricky due to pot holes. One of the “perks” of working at the alternative school was the short commute, six or seven minutes, depending on traffic. Unless you got really creative and silly, there were only two routes to get there.
LikeLiked by 4 people
WP is not allowing me to “like” any of your comments. Please know that I do!
LikeLiked by 3 people
There are truly about 12 ways to get from our house to the office. I tend to go as straight and fast as possible which means down 35 to 494 but if it’s a really nice day and I’ve got a book on tape I might take a longer back roads route. YA prefers the crosstown to 494. When we drive together, I usually defer to what she wants because it doesn’t really matter that much to me. And of course there’s not much driving to the office for me anymore anyway. There will be a good handful next week but then I’ll be done!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Right Or Left At Oak Street
And some of my favorite authors:
The Road Not Taken by Frost
The Road Less Traveled by Scott Peck
LikeLiked by 5 people
Not to mention “Road to Perdition” by Max Allan Collins. And this:
LikeLiked by 6 people
I usually take the path of least resistance, which means fewest stop lights/stop signs in a smaller town like Winona. In the citites, I loved it that I knew enough of the back roads that I could still get home if I wanted to exit the freeway upon seeing a big back-up ahead.
That said, I do like to go out of my way a few blocks sometimes to take the River Parkway, have a change of scenery. This was true both locales.
I will choose a route where I don’t have to wait long to make a left turn. The roundabouts here really help with that, for those who can manage the roundabouts, anyway.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, I can see I’ve missed out on a lot… 🙂
LikeLike
Meant to go under PJ’s Talking Heads number…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the alternate routes. I take the scenic routes whenever time permits.
The college is only 7 minutes from home and there’s really just one good way there. There will be road construction this summer and I’ll either have to take a longer – roundabout way there, or cut through a housing development, which, the last time the road was closed, wasn’t a thing yet. And it’s interesting, even taking the long way, which seems like SUCH A LONG WAY, it only added two minutes to our trip. Weird.
(matter of fact, they’re installing a ’round-about’ on the main road I take).
Going to Plainview or Elgin for feed or parts, there’s four different ways to go. I take a different one coming than going, and alternate them by days.
There’s nothing better than taking a day to just drive around and picking random roads just to see where they go. Even in Rochester, I’ve explored a lot of housing developments just because I followed some road.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do that a lot. Take one road going someplace, and another road coming back. I like roundabouts a lot. Only wish people would bother to learn to navigate them properly. So frustrating when you’re behind someone who seems to think that they can’t enter the roundabout if there’s a car within sight anywhere.
LikeLiked by 2 people
That does sound fun, just picking a road to follow. We’ve done that during Covid for an outing… found some really nice views.
LikeLiked by 1 person