Fielder's Choice

I have a hard time remembering when I had an actual road map in the glove compartment of my vehicle.

Technology has certainly taken over as far as directing us on our travels.

Pam and I are almost always using one of those free GPS navigation apps when on the road ­ like Waze or Google Maps. There are others, including MapQuest, Maps.Me, Scout GPS, InRoute Route Planner, Apple Maps, MapFactor Navigator.

I know the ones we use certainly come in handy. And it's always funny when the navigator ­ whose voice is apparently coming from somewhere far, far away ­ mispronounces the name of a city.

There are times a destination slips up on us, and while driving I'm saying, "Pam have you plugged it in yet?"

I guess, in that regard, I've become too dependent on it.

Occasionally we have to go to the next exit and turn back.

For the most part, these days the navigation app is on target as far at the destination.

I do recall several years go, my good friend Ronnie Day (who passed away in 2018) and I were heading to rural Arkansas for a high school football game.

I'm not sure what we were using back then to help guide us. But it certainly steered us wrong. We ended up on dirt road in the middle of a field.

Thank goodness, they've produced a wide selection of apps. The ones we used typically give you the fastest route and tell us when there might be a traffic delay ahead.

I've tried to slow down a bit in recent years, and if time allows, I like to choose one of the alternative routes ­ off the interstate and busiest of highways.

I'm typically traveling Highway 178 from Holly Springs to Olive Branch, rather than getting on I-22. Of course, part of the reason for that at this time is the work being done on the interstate bridges around Holly Springs.

We miss so much by zooming around on interstates. The speed limit is 70. I might be doing 75. But some other drivers are going around me like I'm sitting still.

I like the apps that give you the routes off the most hectic highways, and they may all do that. I'm not sure due to my lack of technology knowledge.

We took a "side route" into Birmingham recently. And when we left downtown Birmingham we took a side route most of the way home.

I had the opportunity to drive through parts of rural Alabama, near where I grew up. The drive brought back some really good memories. We passed through a few towns which were high school rivals but also produced good friends for yours truly.

If we're going on a road trip, and there's an off-the-interstate options that gets us there just like 30 minutes or an hour later, I'm all for it.

Those routes usually take us through the heart of small towns, and we enjoy stopping at local businesses, like gift shops and restaurants, and other attractions and experiencing new things in new places. Those things bring people to Holly Springs off the interstate, too.

It seems we're all in a hurry these days. But try leaving early, slowing down and taking a different route.