Most of us look for adventure. There's something about the thrill of the unexpected and the excitement of the chase that really cures a dull, boring life.
However, sometimes we don't really see an adventure heading our way until we're right in the middle of it. One such sneaky adventure is disguised as getting lost. It may not necessarily feel like an adventure when you are experiencing it, but getting lost is one of the most common adventures.
Although it doesn't seem that hard to stay on course, with an address and a map or GPS, everyone gets lost from time to time -- even if it's just on the way to the grocery store down the street.
One reason people get lost is being in "unfamiliar territory," said Marissa Moore, a sophomore at Northridge High School.
Or Jaden Welsh, a Bonneville High junior, said he's wound up lost because of road construction. Kaitlan Boman, a Bonneville junior, can relate since she and her mom and little brother were once lost due to road construction and ended up "passing the same Arby's at least 10 times."
Hannah Benge, a sophomore at Northridge High, thinks people often get lost when they aren't paying attention and "miss important details."
Frustrating but funny
When you find yourself an hour late to a friend's party or tiredly going home from work, it is easy to have a variety of different emotions when you figure out that you took a wrong turn and have no idea how to go back to where you are supposed to be.
"I was really irritated. We were driving for three hours when we only lived 30 minutes away," Boman said. "It was late and I was tired!"
Stephanie Lloyd, a Bonneville High junior, said that she just felt confused when she got lost.
Benge added, "I was frustrated; we wanted to get there quickly and we couldn't. Also, (the experience) was very amusing."
People can get lost anywhere and at any time but it seems that being on vacation is a prime way to get lost.
Rennan Camara, a Northridge senior, for instance, told this traveling story: "My family and I were in Moab on vacation and we were driving around, trying to find the house that we had rented. We couldn't find it for a while, but we eventually did. When we were there, we went inside because that is where the key was (but it) turned out that it was the wrong house. We went in and there was a family there! We were really embarrassed. Apparently, our house was the one next door."
All scratched up
John Summy, a senior at Syracuse High, has proof of getting lost -- on the roof of his family's truck.
"We were just driving through Oregon with my grandpa in the back seat and he pointed out a road," Summy said. "We all thought that it was going to lead somewhere, to a lake or something. We got a half mile in and my dad took a left instead of going straight. Branches were hanging over the road. For the next hour we got to listen to 'eeeek' as the branches scratched the truck.
"That was three or four years ago, but our truck still has those scratches. We spent three hours trying to find our way back to the main road, all because my dad just had to take a left."
Rachel Wiemer, a Northridge sophomore, had a similar experience in San Diego when her family was trying to get to the mall.
"We got off the highway way too early and took the wrong turn," Wiemer said. "We accidentally ended up at the San Diego Padres baseball field and we had to drive around for another hour and a half to get to the mall. Eventually, we got there and we laughed about it, but while it was happening it was not funny."
Cow pies, anyone?
Getting lost is definitely adventurous but some experiences, like the one of Carissa O'Conner's aunt, seem a little more so than others.
The Syracuse senior says, "My aunt was driving and her friend was in the passenger seat. It was in the middle of the night and they were driving back from somewhere. They got lost out in Hooper and my aunt pulled over to see where they were going. They got stuck in cow poop up to their knees and had to push the car out. They came home and they were disgusting. There was poop everywhere."
Syracuse senior Preston Fisher had an exciting adventure not too far from home.
"I was trying to find my way around Salt Lake City, but I'm kind of an idiot," Fisher said. "Even though Salt Lake has 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street -- they're all labeled -- somehow I got lost and couldn't find my way out. I was going around in circles for about two hours until I finally called my mom."
He said his mother told him, " 'Preston, all of the streets are labeled, you're in Salt Lake not on the other side of the planet.' I had my friend in the passenger seat. He speaks Spanish, so I had him speak Spanish into the phone. Then I took the phone back and said, 'How do you know where I am?' She actually thought that I had driven to Mexico."
TX. correspondents Lynette Randall, Northridge High; Mackenzie Stevens, Bonneville High, and Megan Stoker, Syracuse High, contributed to this story.
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Michelle Thurgood is a sophomore at Syracuse High School. She enjoys gymnastics and playing the clarinet. E-mail her at kaprirocks@gmail.com.
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