Round Abouts, One Lane Roads, and Clutches - Oh My!

The day after I arrived here in Woburn Sands, I took a couple of short trips around the area at times when there were few cars around.  I did alright, but the thought of driving 5 hours north in just a few days time was quite daunting.  Still, my stubbornness won out on me knowing that if I didn't go ahead and do it, it would become even more difficult for me.

On the Saturday after my arrival, my new found friend, and fellow Fulbrighter, JJ arrived.  I was a little nervous about venturing into the outskirts Milton Keynes, so I woke up early and went for a test run to make sure I'd know where to go and how to maneuver the round-abouts.  I did really well, and was so pleased with myself when I went back to pick JJ up that I wasn't paying careful attention and took the wrong exit on the round about on our way home.  The great thing was though, that I was able to follow signs to nearby places and make it home!  

JJ and I set out on Sunday morning to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest (yes, those are actual places!). I was absolutely thrilled to have JJ with me on the journey, not only for the company, but also for the navigation and to help me laugh at my own mistakes and the funny things we encountered along the way.

My cousins, Mack and Stephanie visited England a couple of years ago and did some touring around.  When I was asking them what the roads were like, Stephanie said she nick-named the motorway the inter-shire as it is so similar to our interstates, and well, it's just more fun to say.  So, I too, have been calling the multiple-lane-70-mile-per-hour road the "intershire."  A lot of our travels on that first day were on the intershire, which I felt fairly comfortable on, while merging to the right was a little tricky, and I mainly stayed in the slow lane.

After we got off the intershire and headed to smaller, two-lane roads, we entered a little town and the speed limit was 30.  There are speed cameras all around and of course, being very new to the country and the roads, I am very cautious to watch my speed.  I slowed the car down, and even though I felt as though I was crawling, the digital odometer clearly said I was still going over 30, near 40 in fact.  People were passing me, and I became frantically worried that the car was not operating properly or that I was in the wrong gear.  Thankfully, JJ's head was much clearer than mine and she said, "Are you sure it is miles per hour and not kilometers per hour?"  Ah...  When I had hit the button to change the trip meter, I had accidentally touched the mode button and changed the odometer to kilometers.  It certainly made for good laughs, later!

We enjoyed our travels as we continued north, and I even got some great experience of stop and go traffic in a manual, which I must say gives me so much more respect to all of you who learned to drive on a manual, that was not much fun.  We enjoyed looking at the road signs, especially those that we were unsure of their meaning, such as one like this:

We were fairly certain it meant we couldn't do something, but we weren't sure what that something was, so when we would get to another similar sign that then said "end" underneath it, we celebrated that we could then do that something again.  (We later looked it up and found it meant no stopping/parking.)  We also enjoyed all of the "crossing" signs for sheep, cows, ducks, deer, children, and the elderly:

Just as you would find when traveling through rural parts of Alabama, or any other state I'm certain, we came across many small towns with names that made us giggle, Giggleswick in fact.

We joked that we skipped through Skipton, wiggled through Wigglesworth and then giggled through Giggleswick.  It is amazing what long car rides can do to a sense of humor!

If you've spoken to me in the last few months, or read my previous entries, you know that driving in the UK was something I was incredibly nervous about.  Not only was it driving on the other side of the road, but it was driving a manual, a feat that I only learned to do this summer in preparation for my arrival here.

Before my arrival, those were my fears, but just as I was mistaken about what I should actually be fearful of when I was learning to drive the manual (it wasn't the changing gears, but rather the stopping and starting), it is actually the quiet, peaceful roads that scare me more than anything.  This seems silly now, I know.  The country roads are absolutely beautiful, and I much prefer to be on quiet roads than busy ones with little scenery around, BUT, as I learned last week while driving in rural parts of the country, those country roads can be even more terrifying!

On these lovely country roads, one of the first things you might notice is that there is no line down the middle of the road.  That is because in fact, it is really only one lane.  Not a problem, I drive one way roads in down town Birmingham without a care in the world.  But wait, these are in fact two lane roads that must be navigated very carefully when meeting another car coming in the opposite direction.  Not a problem, you can just pull into the field and let them pass.  But wait, there is a stone fence or perhaps a 6-foot hedge blocking your way.  And just when you think you've navigated yourself to safety around the delivery truck on the one lane road, a sheep decides the grass on the other side of the road is in fact tastier, and must cross in front of you.  I must admit that these travels on the narrow roads made for great laughs (thankfully!) and certainly great stories, but I was a bit relieved to get back to roads with lines down the middle.

After driving for 5+ hours on my first real day of driving, I was thrilled our hostess in the northern part of the country, Tessa, would drive, so I could take off for a couple of days.

JJ rode with me to Buxton, but then headed home by train, so I was suddenly driving on my own in a strange country without my trusty navigator.  Never fear... Nav Man to the rescue!  Thankfully, Kelly left me with a GPS or Sat Nav as they are called here.  The name brand is Navman, which I've decided means he is some sort of a hero, and I treat him as such.  Nav Man also speaks with a wonderfully proper British accent, and I often find myself saying "yes, sir" when he tells me to turn.  My favorite is when he says "perform a u-turn when possible."  So polite, isn't he?

Today, I conquered another driving fear of driving into Milton Keynes on my own to run a few errands.  When I've told people from the UK that I was living outside of Milton Keynes, without fail, they always mention, "it has the most round abouts of any place in the country."  And yes, it is true.  With Nav Man guiding me, he often said, "take the second exit at the round about, then travel 300 feet and take the third exit at the roundabout."  There were few times that I had very far to go without going through a round about.

At first, round abouts seem quite scary and intimidating.  Don't get me wrong, we have great reasons to be scared of them, but they truly make sense.  The hardest part for me is being ready to go and start of quickly, then worry about switching gears while turning and dealing with the blinker.  But once you figure that out, they're not so bad!  And the ones with traffic lights at the edges and in the middle make for extra fun as you must suddenly be aware of even more signs and signals, but again, once you figure them out, they make sense.  And they are wonderful places for making U-turns whenever Mr. Nav Man politely asks me to do so.

I was so very nervous about driving in the UK, in fact, I told myself that if I could figure out how to drive a manual on the other side of the road, I would feel as if I could do just about anything.  My driving is certainly no where near perfect yet, but I'm beginning to feel that thought rise up in me, I can do anything I set my mind to!... Well, as long as I have Nav Man there to guide me!