Losing hope in Hope

Everyday on my home from work I pass two roads on route 17 both with street signs reading 'Payson Rd'. It was a lovely afternoon, so I figured a little detour would be nice. It's my favorite way of getting to know unfamiliar areas. Little did I know that what I thought would be a short detour, judging from the distance between the two street signs, would turn into what nobody wants to happen in unfamiliar territory.

Am I the only who figures that passing two roads with the same name means that its the same road and if you stay on it then you'll come to the other end? Oh how wrong I was.

Turns out that there's quite a deceiving intersection along the way. It was a stupid mistake really. I went back a few days later to take some pictures of some things I had seen the first time, and noticed that the road I should have taken was for the most part on the other side of the intersection. It was the angles of the street signs themselves that completely through me off course.

Eventually, after realizing how far I'd come from where I should have turned, I came to a small old fashioned general store at an intersection. Of course it was closed but I specifically remember the store because I ended up finding it from each direction possible at the intersection. I always do really well with direction, so I've never been in that situation before.

Up a mountain, down a mountain. My car swallowed up over a quarter tank of gas while I spiraled my way up and down the mountains of Hope Maine. After some time, I couldn't recognize any of the town names on the signs I would come to. By then my sense of direction was the only thing I could rely on.

Two hours after first pulling on to Payson Rd., and a nearly empty gas tank later, I found my way back to 17. I couldn't have been happier at the time. I was hungry and just wanted to settle in for the night after a day of work. I must admit though, it was the most beautiful scenic detour I've been on in a while.As you can tell, I got some good pictures though.