Confusing maps hearken back to ye olde days of yore, when map-making was more of an art than science.

Dan Pennington of Sunnyvale, California knew he wanted to go to see his cousin in Los Angelas for vacation, and see the city. Instead of reaching for a Rand Mcnally or a Triple A map, however, Dan thought he would try something different; something a little more adventurish.

"I knew I wanted to see a lot of California, and that driving straight to LA would be boring, so when I planned my trip, I used Yahoo Map services. After carefully entering in my starting location and destination, Yahoo's keen map engines carefully drew me up a map that first took me to Marin County, to see the rolling green hills and the wine country, then back down south towards LA."

Dan's trip was a journey into the unknown.

According to Dan, that's "when things go interesting". "I knew I was looking for I-5 going South, but the map had me driving on I-5 for less than 30 miles before I suddenly veered off an exit into a town. From there, it was another 70 miles of grueling backstreets, both on and off pavement, before I swung wildly over to Highway 1. In no time, I was heading way too south, so the map directed me east again, where I intersected with I-5, and headed north for another couple hours."

Although Dan made it into La from the Bay Area in less than 14 hours, once in LA, he was completely unable to find his cousin's house. "That crazy map wanted me turning left on Bonko Ave to get to Cornish, but there was no Bonko Ave, anywhere. I guess in the traffic, I got turned around, and was suddenly heading back north to the Bay. After 5 or 6 more hours, I was able to find Cornish."

All in all, Dan was very impressed with Yahoo's Map Services. "It kind of reminded me of what the early explorers must have gone through, using crude, inaccurate maps that only sort of guided them in the right general direction. I got to see a lot more of California than if I had driven to my cousin's house directly."

Yahoo maps are available at: http://maps.yahoo.com