The Street Name Game

Driving is, depending on your personality, a delight, a bore, a frustration, time wasted, a privilege, etc.

I think most of us don't think about it very much. Lately I've been consciously seeking to use all my alone time in the car for prayer or worship. This has made a huge difference for me in attitude and driving habits, without even going into the spiritual benefits.

That's not what this is post is about though. I want to share a game. Its something Kristina and I made up before we had Hannah, a way to hang out in the car, have fun, and spend time together.

What you need: A car with gas to spare (this, and time, is the cost of your entertainment), along with all the other requirements that go with this (like a driver's license!), good company, and good music. Preferably your good company is also a good DJ, but this is not necessary.

The Rules: How you spend the time is up to you; chatting, singing, listening, whatever. What isn't up to you is where you go. At each intersection, which direction you drive in is decided by a set of pre-determined rules. When we lived in Coquitlam, where most of the streets have names (not numbers) we said that A-M is left, N-Z is right, vowels and numbers mean go straight. But its up to you; house rules are the best. We decided that if you cannot make the turn (its only a three way intersection, traffic, whatever) then you must turn in that direction as soon as possible. Finally, we avoid culdesacs. Alter at whim (as we have had to do now that we live in Surrey, since all the streets are numbers)

In the end, you get to laugh, spend time together, and see places you might never have seen otherwise. The first time we played we ended up driving around behind Burnaby Mountain, which I had never done before. Good times :) Anyway, I bring this up now because the other day Hannah fell asleep on our way home, so we decided to play for the first time in Surrey.

p.s. Does sharing this just show how nerdy I am?