Kessel run part 1

Hi

The enthusiasts among you know of course that the typical Kessel run is 18 parsecs (parsec being a unit of distance and not time) so a 12 parsec run will obviously be shorter and most likely faster (and riskier). A better analogy might have been The X-Wing Run to Degobah... But I digress.

So the trip started with my car's onboard system (avionics?) (velectronics?) getting into a forceful if lopsided disagreement with me as to which way to go. The goal was to reach Santa Fe from Dallas. Google's Maps outlined a course taking Rte 114 to Rte 287 and then taking that all the way to I-40 at Amarillo and then into New Mexico. That's the route I took as you can see from the Spot points.

The computer which I will anthropomorphize for purposes of this narrative as 'she' was not keen on that route at all. She wanted me to take I-35 straight into Oklahoma City and then take I-40, ie take the two straight legs of an isosceles triangle rather than the hypotenuse. In other words, the 18 parsec version (ok I'll stop now).

Typically when you miss a turn the GPS system recalculates the route based on the new course you're taking assuming you know better. Not this time

She kept telling me to go back:
Make a U-Turn
In x meters turn right, then another right (and go back the way you came)
Turn left and then left again
etc.

I swear that the more frequently she issued these requests the more insistent and concerned she sounded! She started suggesting ever more elaborate routes just to get back to I-35 to go north.

As you can see Route 114 narrows to a single lane past I-35 heading west:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=33.036802,-97.28694&spn=0.036409,0.075188&t=h&z=14

The Speedway is enormous. At the time, however, I could not even parse what is was. It was bigger than anything I had seen that looked like a racetrack, but far more importantly I was distracted by the frustration at seeing the highway become a one lane road with lights, the plaintive cries of my car to "Go Back!!", and the gnawing dread arising from an additional bit of information I had about my route. You'll find out what it is in the next post...