Baby Part One

Hey guys

Don't worry, the title is just to scare you. "Baby" is my car's name.

So I know I haven't posted in a really long time, and I apologize.

There hasn't been a whole lot going on lately, so I figured I would just tell two stories that make my life seem incredibly interesting even though it is anything but.

Part One: Chi Town

So a few of my friends and I had this amazing idea to go down to Chicago one day after our classes were out. Actually, it was Nicole's idea to go to Chicago. I wanted to go to Gurnee Mills, but seeing as how I am one for adventure and never one to disappoint my friends I decided to go along with it. What harm could a little trip to Chi-Town do?

A lot.

It isn't that far from Gurnee, right?

Wrong.

About 3 hours later, we found ourselves in the midst of Chicago rush hour traffic. While I do enjoy the crazy convos my friends and I have when there's nothing else to do but make weird noises and tell each other secrets, the constant stop and go traffic got on my nerves quite a bit.

Eventually we arrived at our destination, The Rainforest Cafe. The mechanical animals and thunder storm simulation would be calming after a long car ride. But where to park in the hectic city of Chicago? My friends assured me that parking in one Walgreens parking lot would be fine for awhile reguardless of the signs informing wrong-doers the consequences of being there without the intentions of going to Walgreens.

So we went to the Rainforest Cafe and had an amazing lunch/dinner. The Rainforest Cafe is really a wonderful place. If you've never been there I highly reccommend going with your family or just a couple good friends (: the food is amazing and the atmosphere is enchanting.

But I'm getting off track...

We were all laughing and having fun on the way out of the restaurant, enjoying the city and each others company. We made the long trip across the street and past the same homeless man that made us all feel the same nervousness we had felt just an hour before on the way to the restaurant. My smile faded as we came closer to the parking lot of Walgreens. As we nearly reached the entrance I stopped in my tracks and stared. The only words that could leave my lips were the ones I never thought I would say, especially in an entirely different state than that of my home.

There was no ticket mockingly placed upon my windshield as there had been at school that one time I decided to park in a different spot

I have never been so disappointed to not see a parking ticket in my life.

There was a car in the parking lot. Shining and glistening in the sun. At first, there was a feeling of relief seeing a car in that space in the parking lot. A small shimmer of hope surged through me. The day had been nearly perfect. Great friends, great food, and a great city. There was just one thing wrong with this day...



This car was grey...



My car is black...



Four words escaped my lips:




"That's not my car..."



Silence.



Looks of worry and regret crossed all of our faces. Moments passed of us frantically wondering what to do and pacing the parking lot. I continued to look back at the space my car had once been in, hoping it would magically appear back in its place. No such luck. The sign just above the space that had forewarned me about the sure possibility that my car would be towed had I parked there displayed a phone number. I called the number and asked them where I would be able to pick up my car. The woman on the other end relayed me an address to go to and pick up my car. Right, like I knew where that was. My gps would be helpful, but that was in my car. So what was I to do?

The four of us (Nicole, Stephanie, Kyle, and I) walked over to a nearby restaurant and asked them if they knew where the place was. A hostess, after very helpfully informing us that they are serious about the signs, told us to ask the man in the parking lot who was in charge of calling the tow truck to come get the cars.

He seemed nice enough, besides the fact that he was the reason my car was gone and was able to give us a vague description of where the impound lot was.

"3 or so miles that way" he said, pointing in the direction we had just come from. I stared at him blankly. That sure is helpful. I thought.

My friends and I decided we would walk awhile and then try to catch a cab. Sure cabs are expensive, but it shouldn't be too far, right?


Wrong. Again.


We hailed a cab and I slid in the front passenger seat beside the foreign driver. I felt like I was in some sort of reality show or movie about the city. Except that I wasn't taking a cab out of efficiency or greenness, I was taking it because my car had been - for lack of a better word - car-napped. We told the driver the address of the impound lot, but it took him awhile to figure out exactly where we were talking about. Once he figured it out, the cab driver casually made a U-turn in the opposite direction we had been walking. We were all pretty confused, but we figured he knew where he was going.

He did know where he was going, and about 30 minutes later we were at the impound lot in a not-so-nice neighborhood. We all stared at each other...

Alright. I thought. Let's just get the hell out of here.

So we paid the driver and off he went. A couple 100 bucks later we had my car out of the lot and were on the way home. Finally.

Explaining this whole situation was the easy part. Paying to get that thing out of the lot was the difficult part. A million thoughts ran through my mind as we drove home.

What if the lot had been closed for the night when we go there?

What if they didn't take debit?

What if the cab driver had dropped us off at the wrong place? After all, he barely understood us.

What would happen if we were approached by some sketchy person?


I guess you could say, no matter what we're doing, when it comes to my friends and I it's always an adventure. And we always have times to remember.

I'll look back on this when I'm 40....and probably have a heart attack when my kids learn to drive. But it's always gonna be there in my mind, and I'm always going to remember my wonderful friends(:

Appreciate what you have, through the good times and the bad. <3
XOXO
Jessie