An open letter to Google Maps

Dear Google Maps:

You have led me astray several times in the past few months:

1. My wife and I were driving home from Washington, D.C. right before the "Snowpocalapyse". I was even allowed to leave on Thursday instead of the planned Friday at Noon in order to make it out of the city. Our plan was to start driving home after a visit to the L.D.S. Temple, stay in a hotel approximately one hour outside of Washington and then continue on our way the next morning.

Well, luckily I had written down the phone number of the hotel, because Google Maps led us to the middle of nowhere. (Although it did lead us to Poffenberger Lane, which is my mother-in-law's maiden name.)

2. My wife and I were traveling to IKEA in Maryland. (Suburban D.C.) Although I am somewhat familiar with the area, I had never been to this particular IKEA and printed out a Google Maps direction in order to help us to get to our destination safely. Well, good thing I have a familiarity with the D.C. area because the Google Maps directions did not get us the right way. An hour later we arrived at IKEA, having taken an alternate route through the city since we were unable to navigate the confusing directions that would have lead us around the city on the Beltway. (Although, considering traffic that night, perhaps I made the quicker choice.)

3. I live in Lexington, KY. There is a street near our house - Star Shoot Parkway - that has been finished at least since we arrived here in August. However, it does not show up as finished on Google Maps. Ergo I have not used Google Maps for ANY directions in the city. In addition, I use other programs in order to plan out my running routes.

4. On a recent trip to southern Florida, my wife and I were driving to the eastern visitor center of Everglades National Park, located in Everglades, FL. However, upon reaching the city, the Google Maps directions led us to some house that had no affiliation with the park. Luckily I was able to find a sign and we arrived at our destination.

I love Google Maps for its easy-to-find route on the specific map, and the ability to drag the route from the "quickest route" to include specific destinations. However, lately you have been unable to provide me with clear directions that get me to the promised destination and have broken my trust. You don't have the fuel cost gauge that Mapquest utilizes that I find quite handy for long trips. In addition, I do not find your printable directions easy-to-follow, a necessity if I'm trying to look at them while driving.

I'm not mad, Google Maps; however, I am disappointed.

~Logan Schultz