It was a new record. We got lost going out of the driveway today.
For a change, it was not the navigator's fault. The driver, having given up on her navigator, took matters into her own hands. "Turn right at the end of the driveway," Penny said, giving the driver a shortcut from Settler's Run to catch the Albany highway. The driver took a left turn at the end of the driveway, interpreting the term "driveway" to mean the end of the road which connects with the driveway. The driver had gone about 10 km when she began to get angry with this huge 4 wheel drive riding her tail, with high beams glaring in her eyes. Then the 4WD cut the beams, and then flashed them. "That's Penny," the driver said, and pulled over. Penny had been chasing us at significantly over the speed limit to let the driver know she was already lost. The driver asked if she could just keep going in the direction we were headed, but Penny said it would be quicker to turn round and head back to the house again (if we had kept going, I swear we would have ended up on that damn Margaret River-Busselton highway again!) Once we were pointed in the right direction, it was pretty impossible for either the driver or the former navigator to get lost, since it was a straight shot from the road to Perth. We did stop in Kojonup for lunch. The sign "coffee shop" seemed promising, but it was anything but. It looked like a nice efficient place, but the people running it appeared to be on loan from the local old folks' home and there was much confusion about orders, and it took forever to slap some chicken salad onto a piece of toasted bread (which was only toasted on one side). While we were waiting for our food, I bought a CD. It was 5 songs recorded by a local group of 3 kids, aged 14, 15 and 17, who have been singing together for 3 yrs and who had obviously put out this home-grown CD on which they thank their parents for all the miles they have driven them to gigs. How could I not buy it? (We played it in the car and it probably won't get played again, but I feel good for having contributed.) We took our sandwiches and went off looking for someplace to eat them. We were right near the cemetery (which is across the street from the hospital, an arrangement that would make me uncomfortable on hospital admission!), so we parked under a tree overlooking the graves and ate lunch. Peggy pointed out that we seem to be visiting all the local cemeteries--I think this is the third one we've been to. We did not, however, get out of the car, owing to the fact that we appeared to have parked near the home of some of the largest ants I'd ever seen and I was afraid they'd bite my ankles if I tried to step on the ground. After lunch, it was just get on the road, follow countless huge trucks over hills on the 2-lane highway, and eventually spy Perth in the distance, hitting it just about the time rush hour traffic was starting. We pulled into the driveway at about 4:10, 10 minutes later than Peggy predicted when we left the farm (coincidentally about the length of time we drove down the wrong road...ahem) and the dogs seemed happy to have "Mum" home again. I suggested we have Chinese take-away for tea tonight, so I walked down to the shopping center and picked it up. As I walked back, I realized that except for pictures of the lambs this morning before we left the farm, I hadn't taken a single photo all day. Fortunately at about that time, I spied a 28 and a pink and gray walking together in front of the veterinary office and I took a picture of them, so that's all you get for photos of the day.
