I noticed your screen name AFTER I hit post.
In these post 9/11 days ALL inhabited properties are federally mandated to be identified, and roads named.
OK. Grab a GPS. Enter the street address of some of your neighbors and see where it shows them on the map. For some it might get you close enough that you can tell which house to go to. For others it won't get you anywhere close.
When they started changing addresses for 911 when I lived in rural PA they changed our street address three times.
They tried to standardize on at lot width and assign street numbers according to how many standard lot widths you were down the road from where they marked your neighbor. However, some places had street numbers for years before that which didn't match up with their new standard.
We got our signs, and even a 'road name' sign at the top of our driveway 3-4 years ago, like it or not. So did everyone else in the state. Even neighboring Wyoming has them now. Standard size, color, numbers, and posting, though color varies from county to county, and state to state.
Our road had a name, but it was only a county road for the first 1/4 mile. It was self maintained after that by the five families that lived off of the remanider of it, though several lived off of long driveways off of it. We all got addresses on the road name, though how they figured them out for multiple houses that were down nearly 1/4 mile driveways off of that road that wound around I don't know.
And, I have a county 10 page, 12" X 18" map book, a smaller reproduction of the large versions in the Assessors Office, the Emergencey Management Office, and the Sheriff's Office, and the County Dispatch Center, which shows EVERY parcel of unincorporated land in the county, with the owner's name on it. I bought it to identify owners of properties I'd like to hunt; we are on deer/turkey lands, but don't have antelope, partridge, or grouse.
Ever have someone reading a map try and give you directions to a house when they don't know the landmarks in the area? It's not always a easy process, and stopping for directions from someone in the area is often less frustrating.
I have a good friend that worked as a dispatcher for years and she has lots of scary stories to tell about trying to police officers to their destinations and having them get lost.
That is not sarcasm, it is a statement of fact. An unposted and ungated entry, or one with the gate unlocked, is legally considered an open invitation; that is why I say it was her mistake.
My apologies for misinterpreting it as sarcasm.
Under Clinton & before, yeah, it could be hard to locate and maps or GPS (if available) would have been next to worthless; not so now.
It is much, much better than it used to be, but in some areas it is still far from perfect and can be hit or miss.
Oh, yeah, another thing I've learned since I was a kid in rural-land: when on a stranger's property, stay in the vehicle a prudent amount of time; a badge & gun on a "friendly visit" doesn't negate that.
Good advice. However, the officer doesn't exactly rush up to the house.
He gets out reasonably slowly. Says something to the passenger in the car through the window, which I assume was telling him to stay in the car. He then starts casually towards the house.
The dog didn't come running up when he pulled in the driveway or when he got out, so I suspect the dog was in the house and got out when the owner opened the door, though that is just a guess. I suspect you're well aware that in such a rural area the a dog in the house will alert you to the presence of a car coming down the driveway, so if the dog had been outside when he pulled up, I suspect it would have been at the car before he got out.
Yeah; via radio in the 1970's when I drove cab at night, until I could get a real job again. It was almost as much fun as getting directions/destination from the drunk in the back seat. At that time, I also had a 300+ plus customer newspaper motor route. (Thank you, Jimmy Carter; God bless Ronald Reagan!)
In the 1960's, I also did special deliveries for the Post Office at night.
The four miles of gravel is county, but only the first 2 1/2 is maintained. All the mailboxes, of those beyond who have them, are at a fork 1 mile from the pavement. The rest is reverted "public" private maintained road...but 'the busies' still stuck up signs and number posts.
When they started changing addresses for 911 when I lived in rural PA they changed our street address three times.
They tried to standardize on at lot width and assign street numbers according to how many standard lot widths you were down the road from where they marked your neighbor. However, some places had street numbers for years before that which didn't match up with their new standard.
Sounds like the Back Easty types are as competent as I feared. I tend to forget that 'those of a certain political persuasion' are not as competent at running things, including their public employees union help, as they are at collecting campaign contributions and getting themselves reelected.
As to GPS, I do not mean a 'navigation system', but rather a gps unit to give Dispatch actual coordinates, and then get directions.