Wired for Travel

I took a quick trip to Milwaukee this weekend. This was the longest I had driven by myself-previously my longest trip had been from Champaign to Valparaiso, IN for business. That was about a three hour drive as opposed to the 4 hour drive (with stops) to Milwaukee. This trip also marked the first time I have driven through Chicago. Usually I make Mike take that leg of the journey. Although admittedly I took the tollway instead of the loop, but still! It actually gave me a lot of confidence.

The other things that gave me confidence were all of my gadgets. Let's see, I had my iPod hooked into my car stereo, so I had plenty of tunes to listen to. Nothing says keeping yourself company like singing "Radar Love" at full volume! And in case I got a phone call (or needed to make one) while driving, I had my bluetooth firmly in my ear so I wouldn't have to distract myself by fumbling for the phone. Since I was taking the tollway, I also had the IPass so I wouldn't have to slow down to pay for tolls. That saved my change for the City of Champaign's downtown parking changes, but that's another story. And last but not least, I had Garmin Nuvi. Ah, Garmin, you are so good at telling me where to go! And your guidance was especially helpful coming back when I was in the wrong lane and missed my exit to 57. She guided me back to the interstate no problem!

Did I really need all of those gadgets? Well, outside of Garmin probably not. But they sure made life and the drive much easier!