Well,I got it!

Ara went to her early class this morning and then we drove over to Walmart where I bought a Garmin GPS. I fooled around a little bit with it and was able to get a signal from the window sill of her 4th floor dorm room, but the battery is really low so I haven't fully explored the possibilities with it. I think I may charge it while I'm driving back to NY tomorrow, but I'm not going to mount it in the Jeep and will wait until I get the truck.

I appreciate the comments made to yesterday's post, and I agree that I will really need to cross check with a regular map. I love maps anyway and plan to get a whole new set from AAA as soon as I get back to Asheville.

When I retired in late 1996 I was more technologically adept than most of the people I worked with, and I decided I had reached the peak of whatever I wanted or needed to know. I took off on an anticipated 2100 mile, 6 month backpacking trip, lived in a tent, cooked over a tiny backpacker's stove, and learned to live with only what I absolutely needed - no technology needed. I found my way by following the white blazes painted on the trees, and used topo maps. I had no cell phone, computer, gps, or any of the electronic devices that most hikers wouldn't leave home without toeday. It was a wonderful feeling to meet the challenge of making it on my own. The fact that I had to stop after about 900 miles was because of health issues and not because I was under-equipped. Now I'm starting a whole new gypsy life, and I'm not yet sure how I feel about getting all the electronics that I'm told I can't do without.

I will agree that I should have a cell phone when traveling, and I can even go along with the GPS, but not that I "must have" them. I just hope they don't eventually mask my common sense.