I'm about to tell you all about what I did yesterday (Monday). Some of you might find it strange. Some might find it hilarious. And some might find it plain crazy. And perhaps a few of you will get me. Regardless, it's what happened and I'm here to tell you a story.
My Memphis, TN readers will understand this a little more than those of you who are not familiar with the places and streets I am about to write about, but I don't feel like that will take away from the adventure.
So I started out my day by going to the County Clerk's Office to get tags for my car. I didn't have to wait too long so that was nice. I then left and drove over to my gym where I tanned and then worked out as usual. I left the gym and drove over to Serra Chevrolet to get the oil changed in my car. And this is where the story actually begins.
I'm told by the man who is about to take my car that there is a 3 hour wait. Any normal person (and I never claimed to be normal) would have left. But not me. I just said ok and they said they would call me once they were finished with my oil change. Now I always go to the dealership to get my oil changed because it is $13 and everywhere else it is over $30. So it's a nice deal and worth the wait in my opinion. And it's Monday after all so the wait is usually longer. And did I mention that I didn't get there bright and early since I had previously been getting my car tags.
I decided that since it was already 11:30am that I would walk down the street and get some lunch. I've never eaten in a restaurant by myself until today and I have to say it wasn't as awkward and strange as I thought it would be. I finished lunch and went outside and decided that perhaps I might walk to my house. I was guessing in my head that it was probably about 4-5 miles. I called my brother who promptly assisted me with Google Maps and yep I had guessed right.
I had originally thought that I might go to Target, but I didn't. And then I also had thought that I might walk over to Wolfchase Galleria Mall. I did in fact have a Victoria's Secret free panty coupon in my purse. But I didn't go to the mall. I decided that it might be a great idea to walk to my house. And so I did. Kind of.
Here's how it all when down. After lunch, I walked up to Germantown Parkway. For those of you not familiar with Memphis, Germantown Parkway is a super crazy busy 6 lane road that is jam packed with tons of shopping centers, stores, gas stations, and insanely crazy drivers. Oh and one important detail you do need to know is that the speed limit is 50 miles per hour on this street. But you can already guess that most people go way faster than that.
So little me, decked out in my gym attire (pink beach bar tee shirt, even pinker Aeropostale track pants, grey New Balance running shoes, aviator sunglasses, gold Guess purse) goes walking down Germantown Parkway. I cross over the I-40 bridge and I keep going. I see a guy holding a giant arrow and waving people on to come into a store that buys old gold jewelry. I stop to talk to him and he's quite nice. I then keep walking south and then I realize that there is a problem. Let's see - what is not in my purse? My keys and garage door opener. Yep because they are at Serra Chevrolet because they are working on my car! Geez!
So sometimes I don't always think things through. It's not the best, but I easily came up with another plan. I decide that I will walk to Starbucks (the one right past Macon and Germantown Parkway) and get a Venti Iced House Coffee with Soy and no sugar/sweetener. So along the way still continuing down Germantown Parkway, I see lots of things. Many of them not so good. I see lots of litter which makes me sad. I know people litter everywhere, but your perspective is so much different when you are not in a car. You may see it when you are driving, but you really see it when you are walking. Do you get what I mean?
And then I walked past The Flying Saucer which for those of you not familar, it's a very large bar that has hundreds of beers in house. It's most excellent and I also really love their food. I mention it for the sole purpose of telling you I passed 2 piles of barf on the side of the street on my walking adventure. Or at least I am pretty sure that's what it was. I don't know. Gross. Perhaps someone was drunk and was leaving and had to pull over the car? Hmm.
I'm so very excited when I finally reach Starbucks. I order my coffee and take a seat in a large comfy wingback chair. I stay there for sometime and then I realize I'm bored so I decide to walk to my house even though I can't get inside. I get to my house and sit in one of the chairs on the back patio. My dog barks at me through the window and it's clear he's very confused as to why I'm not coming inside. My husband calls and he will be home from work in about 40 minutes. I hear the mailman open my mailbox and walk up front to get the mail. I have 2 small packages and that made me really happy. My husband arrives home and then we leave to go pick up my car.
So now that this is all said and done, I go on Google Maps and calculate my little trip. Keep in mind I had already worked out at the gym this morning and had put in 2 miles of cardio there. Add that up with the almost 6 miles I walked from Serra Chevrolet all the way to Starbucks and then from Starbucks to my house and yeah I walked close to 8 miles today. That's pretty crazy!
Maybe you are thinking,"Why didn't you just wait at the dealership for 3 hours?" or "What the heck possessed you to walk so far?" Well I know there are lots of things I could have done, but I just like to do things out of the ordinary. Would I do it again? Sure, but next time not on such a busy street that sometimes has sidewalks and sometimes doesn't. But regardless, today was a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure I burned off the calories from my lunch.
Even though today was totally my choice I learned several things. I'm extra grateful that I have a car, things are not always as they appear, crosswalk buttons don't last very long in the suburbs and you just about get ran over trying to cross the street, I'm so very thankful for coffee in it's many forms, and I'm thankful I'm healthy enough to be able to walk as far as I did (I've never walked that far in day before).
So the next time you wanna go somewhere perhaps you should try walking there. It was actually quite rewarding and now I can say that I've walked all the way from the Wolfchase area to my house. And I'm glad I didn't go to the mall to use my VS free panty coupon. When I got home there was another coupon waiting in my mailbox! They keep me stocked up!
THE END!
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