Lost!: Sonoma County, CA

Just because I’m losing…

Here I am, about to make a left hand turn from one non-descript road to another non-descript road. Honestly, it’s hard to keep track of where I’m at sometimes, especially if I’m unfamiliar with an area. It’s hard to know which road is which when there are no discernible markings or guide signs. It’s even harder to know where I’m at when I’m completely lost.

Generally, I don’t get lost very easily when I drive. Even without cell phone service or GPS, more often than not I usually have at least a general idea of where I’m at. Even when I’m not familiar with an area, I can still get to where I need to be. This was different, though. Take my complete lack of knowledge of the surrounding area, add the complete lack of cell phone service, and with Highway 1 somewhere far behind in my rear view mirror, and Highway 101 somewhere far off in the distance, there was no mistaking it – I was lost.

I mean, come on, can you blame me? Would you know where you were at just by looking at this picture?

Thing is, even though I know the greater Bay Area, this was literally only the fifth time I had ever even set foot in Sonoma County – which can generously be described as the North Bay - and the absolute first time I had ever been here.

Where is “here”, anyway? I still don’t really know. Even the geotag that my phone puts on every picture I take with it isn’t very accurate, as this is tagged somewhere on Pepper Road, nowhere near an intersection.

I know where we wanted to be: Petaluma. I also know where we weren’t: Petaluma. I had taken a left turn off of 101 to get to Highway 116, in an ultimately futile effort to get to Tomales Bay on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. By about 3:30 that day, and with the water nowhere in sight, we made the decision to turn around and get back to the freeway in Petaluma, which – unbeknownst to us – was less than five miles to the east. Now, if only I had known that BEFORE taking a left turn to go north…

Regardless of my questionable navigation, we got back on 101, albeit 5 miles north of Petaluma. Nonetheless, we soon realized that our ultimate destination was to be San Rafael…

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