.jpg)
.jpg)
BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK AT A MAP.
My super-independent daughter, who's 19, borrows my car often.
This past weekend, she wanted to use it again to go either to Grand Beach on the eastern shores of Lake Winnipeg or to a nearby provincial campground/beach called Birds Hill Park.
Grand Beach was once voted one of the top 10 sand beaches in North America, if I'm not mistaken.
Lake Winnipeg is the 22nd largest natural freshwater Lake in the world. That's pix of the beach, above.
My daughter wanted, ahem, to just sunbathe with a friend and be a beach bum or bunny or whatever.
As per my previous post, this somewhat cramped my own plans to mingle with the masses in the summer heat.
However, I acquiesced.
She used the car Saturday night and kept it overnight so she could leave early for the beach on Sunday. She called me Sunday evening to return the car.
"So, where did you go," I asked.
"St. Malo," she said. "We got lost."
St. Malo is southeast of Winnipeg. Grand Beach and Birds Hill Park are northeast of Winnipeg.
St. Malo's an OK place, but it ain't the rockin' spot that Grand Beach is, or even Birds Hill Park. They took the right highway but they went south instead of north.
Doh!
It's a good thing Manitoba is known as the Land of 100,000 Lakes.
You can basically drive in any direction outside of the city and hit a nice lake with an acceptable beach.
It's the beauty of living in the Canadian Shield.
"It was OK," she said. "We had a good time."
And she even put some gas in the car, although the "Check Engine" light's been on ever since she had it.
I've spent $3,000 on this car just in the past month alone. But that's another tale.
I've shown her what to do if the car overheats. Now I guess I've got to show her how to read a map.
..and baby , I love you...beep beep, beep beep, yeah! Thanks to you I'll have that song stuck in my head all night now! Your daughter is really growing up -I take it that she's not one of the people who's worried about having their photo plastered on here? :). It sure is a lovely area that you live in - something good to see where ever you go.And AS IF your daughter is going or read a map -you know that women don't read maps ;).
ReplyDeleteI mean "to read".
ReplyDeleteaw, i remember the days I used to drive my dad's car. I grazed it two times when I was a new driver. he wasn't too mad at me, thank goodness. :D
ReplyDeletebuy her a satnav and maintain your car yourself - that's a boy's job!
ReplyDelete:)
I've never even seen the engine in my car!
It sounds like she didn't mind getting lost and made the most of the situation anyway. That's a pretty admirable quality.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe she's already 19. You're the father of an adult! Doesn't that make you feel old?? ;)
Lee:
ReplyDeleteDon't you just love that opening guitar lick?
I could think of worse songs to have stuck in your head all night long.
My (not so) little girl is on Facebook. I asked her directly how she felt about it. She reads my blog occasionally.
I could try to put her inside an impenetrable bubble. She doesn't want to be.
Yes, I know women don't read maps. But all she had to do was ask me for directions.
As I said, she's independent. :-)
Menchie:
She's gotten into one accident with my car, a fender-bender. It happens. :-)
Ziggi:
That would be FAR too easy, a SatNav and/or a GPS device.
Besides, how could she operate that AND her Blackberry at the same time as trying to drive the car at 100 km/h?
I forced her to look under the hood only to show her not to pour engine coolant, should the beast require it, into the oil receptacle.
That, my dear, would be a bad thing. :-)
Anna:
Admirable? Yes. Avoidable? Yes. Adventure on the High Prairie? Yes.
Does she make me feel old? YES!
Why bother if you can drive in any direction and hit a lake, right ? :-) Still, I am pro a GPS :-) (although I can read a map ... most of the time :-)
ReplyDeleteAs a directionally challenged female, I have to agree with the others; she needs a GPS navigator. :-)
ReplyDeleteHildegarde:
ReplyDeleteYes, our geography is all that saved her and her friend. Otherwise, she would have ended up sunbathing on a North Dakota missile silo.
:-)
Laurie:
Aren't all females directionally challenged (*Runs away*). She'll have to buy her own talking GPS cellphone or something. Maps are a lot cheaper.
Your daughter is very pretty.
ReplyDeleteFor once, I do agree with you. We females are directionally challenged. I got nuts reading a map.
Crikey! I wouldn't have dreamt of letting any 3 of my daughters behind the wheel of my car independently when they were young! And still wouldn't... even now that they're largely not!
ReplyDeleteCould this be seen to be a noticable difference between such things vis a vis the US/UK do you think?
Lizzie
That's so awesome. I recall my early days of driving when I got lost everywhere! I ended up in Texas once, when I was supposed to be in New Mexico. My sister started yelling, "turn around! turn around! Texans will murder us!!" hehehehe
ReplyDeleteGautami:
ReplyDeleteWhat??!! I thought you always agreed with me! My daughter gets her good looks from me :-) (*Runs and hides from daughter and Gautami*)
Lizzie:
Welcome!
I'm from Canada, not the U.S., but regardless, I don't think letting my daughter drive my car is all that unusual...
She's an adult by legal definition and has been driving for three years. I caution her, but she's mature and responsible.
If she doesn't use my car, she'll use someone else's or be inconvenienced.
Can't put her in a bubble...
Maybe we're more permissive over here, I don't know, Lizzie...
Tidalgrrrl:
But New Mexicans wouldn't?
Now THAT'S a major navigational Doh!, wouldn't you say?
Oh man that made me laugh because I've (ahem) done pretty much the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm blond, what can I say?
Pam:
ReplyDeleteWait now, we were talking about females in general, not just blonds...
Oh, wait, my daughter's blond too...aren't we now getting into stereotyping?
:-)
ooer... i absolutey dread the day damien asks to borrow my car...
ReplyDeleteAngel:
ReplyDeleteMy son's coming of that age this fall...OH NO!!!