Lost GPS Signal

Or should we say lost without a GPS signal :-)

We just decided to drive around Prescott Valley and Prescott to acclimate ourselves with the area. We thought about hitting a Wal-Mart if we saw one but we just wanted to see the area. We had Bob's smartphone and a Chamber of Commerce map so we left the Garmin GPS in the Cameo. We like having a backup because sometimes the phone can find stuff the Garmin cannot but we thought he map was our backup, big mistake :-(

The Chamber of Commerce map was horrible, we found this out when we trying to find the church for Holy Week Services in Prescott Valley. They put big icons where things are located but that obscures the fact that two streets do not intersect. So we put down the map and used the phone's navigator which usually works pretty well. Notice we said "usually" because after it found the church we headed about 10 miles to Prescott. About half way there, GooJill (what we call the navigation voice on the phone vs. Jill for the Garmin) notified us that she had lost the GPS signal. We had 5 miles so we figured she would reacquire the signal shortly. As we got closer and closer this just did not happen.

We were heading to the Sweet Potato Cafe so Jo got out the trusty Chamber of Commerce map. We have not gone old school like this for a long time and we were out of practice. We might have been able to easily get to the place if it was not such a horrible map because we eventually got to where it should have been on the map and it was a Shell station. By this time we needed a necessary break so we calmed down and looked at the map again and then decided to call and ask for directions. Bob does not think he has to turn in his man card because we tried hard before asking for directions. He calls it one of those times you have to put on your big boy pants and git-r-done. We call the restaurant and guess what it, it is closed on a Tuesday, on a freakin Tuesday. We have run into restaurants that were closed on a Monday so this is the first we have seen that is open Wednesday-Monday.

Luckily we had been on just about every road in the area so we knew the way back to the highway to get us back towards Prescott Valley. We were getting hungry so decided to just stop at a place that looked nice. Lo and behold we saw the sign for Zeke's Eatin Place which Bob remembered is on his list for the area. We pulled into the parking lot and guess what, it is also closed on Tuesdays. Well Red Lobster is in the same parking area so we just drove over there. We know we said no chains this visit but this was unusual circumstances. With a chain you know what you are going to get and you can count on the hours of operation. Besides we have not been to this years Lobsterfest.

After a tummy filled with good lobster and shrimp we headed back looking for the Wal-Mart that we did see on the way when we spied a Costco that was packed on a Tuesday afternoon. We guess all the restaurant workers that have the day off use the day for shopping at Costco. We just found out that Costco has some of the best fresh produce you will find anywhere and we were wanting to get the fresh Butternut Squash. It comes already cubed and we just put a little olive oil in a zip loc bag and toss the squash around and roast it in our convection oven and its so good, plus did we mention it already comes cleaned and cubed.

Well we did not see Wal-Mart on the way back to the Fairgrounds RV Park in Prescott Valley, turns out it was across the street from Costco so our attention was drawn away from that side of the road.

We are heading out again today for the jungle of Prescott and Prescott Valley area but this time we will have our Garmin with us. Bob rebooted his phone and if that does not work we did see a Verizon store on our travels yesterday but that could be anywhere since we were all over the area :-)

Till next time,

Bob and Jo