good day to get lost, i guess

The moral of the story: be sure to have Nuvi with me when I go somewhere new.

Honestly, I'd written out the directions to Miller's Coins in Pooler, I did.

It seemed to be pretty straightforward, too.

I was to take 516/21 into Garden City, turning off onto Highway 80 West, then take that right into Pooler and keep an eye out for the store on my left.

That all sounded simple enough.

But here's the thing: Hwy 80 split into a wild thing, with signs that pointed to West for a road that became a one-way coming toward me!

Okay, no worries, I'd just back up and try again.

Then I saw another sign that indicated Hwy 80 West branched off to the right, but that turned into the decidedly non-scenic tour of the industrial area in Garden City.

Nope, that was definitely not right.

After an hour of rambling around, backtracking, and wrong turns, I'd had enough.

I would cut my losses and return home.

That's when the train appeared, with me on the wrong side of the tracks.

I can't remember the last time I got stopped by a train.

Seriously, it's been years ago.

After about 7 or 8 minutes, I turned off the engine and settled in to watch.

It was a beautiful, warm, blue-sky day, so why not enjoy it?

There were lots of cargo containers aboard, some with names I knew, some unknown.

Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and quite a few others.

About ten minutes later, all the laden rail cars were past, but there was a long tail on that kite, with a couple dozen of empty rail cars... and, surprisingly, no caboose.

The last rail car passed with no fanfare at all.

Then the track gate rose and we all headed on down the road toward our destinations.

Mine was home, with my Japanese magnolia hoisting pink buds to the sky, as if cheering on the new year.

What a joyful sight!

Tomorrow, I may try again to offload my foreign currency, maybe.

It will be another beautiful day, like today was, for another long drive.

In fact, it'll be even warmer, giving us upper 70's to drive away any lingering chill.

Yes, that will be good for opening up every window of the house!!!

Hallelujah for this breath of hope!