I met Taryn two years ago when we went to school together at Mt. Hood. We got to know each other doing music together, and have been great friends ever since. She's definitely one of the funniest people I have ever met and every time we get together we always have some sort of adventure! I will attempt describe our day, just because everything was so funny... to us at least, some of the things might be "you would have had to be there" though so just humor us haha.We hadn't seen each other in a while since I am going to school in Seattle now and she is in Gresham so this summer we made it a point to get together. She invited me to go with her to a modern church downtown on Saturday night called Solid Rock, so of course I said yes and we went out for the day.
We met up around three and went downtown to hang out. For reasons not mentioned we ended up driving, which really made this adventure even more fun a crazy! Now if any of you have ever driven in downtown Portland you know that it isn't very fun and can be extremely confusing, especially when you are trying to find a parking spot. We drove around for a while and Taryn had to parallel parked for the first time! She made it and did very well. I was proud :)
We decided to walk around Saturday Market and the Waterfront for a while to check the place out. All you Portlanders out there can vouch for me that there are all kinds of crazy people and things that you will see. One of our favorites were a man riding a tiny tricycle dressed as a chimney sweep, and a guy dressed in leather and chains walking a cat on a leash. There were many more though and if you haven't walked around downtown Portland I highly suggest it!
We were going to meet a friend at Pioneer Square a little later so we decided we should go closer to it and the church we were going to that evening so we headed back to the car. Very quickly we realized we didn’t look to see where we were parked in the first place so consequentially we wandered around for a good half hour looking for the car! By that time it was 5:10. But we laughed it off and kept on going.
Since we didn’t want to pay anymore to park we decided to try and find a McDonalds with a parking lot to park in (and we wanted a smoothie). Not even knowing where we were we used the GPS on her phone, but that took us to the World Trade Center which did not have a parking lot for free let alone a McDonalds in it. Taryn knew of one by a Panda Express though so we just put that in to the GPS and hoped it take us to the right one. Luckily it did but it was 2 miles from where we wanted to be and we had already walked a ton! That's what you get for listening to a GPS!
Since we didn’t want to pay anymore to park we decided to try and find a McDonalds with a parking lot to park in (and we wanted a smoothie). Not even knowing where we were we used the GPS on her phone, but that took us to the World Trade Center which did not have a parking lot for free let alone a McDonalds in it. Taryn knew of one by a Panda Express though so we just put that in to the GPS and hoped it take us to the right one. Luckily it did but it was 2 miles from where we wanted to be and we had already walked a ton! That's what you get for listening to a GPS!
Anyways we went in to get a smoothie. And here comes one of the funny parts. Taryn orders and here’s how the conversation went: “Can I get a Wild Berry Smoothie and the biggest cup of water you can give me?” Cashier: “Sure, that will be $3.14.” Taryn: (Hands him 3 dollars) “oh wait I can find 14 cents for you.” Cashier: “Don’t worry about it I’ll cover it for you.” Then I go up to order my Berry Smoothie… Taryn: “Wait you never gave me my change” Cashier: “You don’t get change, you should be giving me 14 cents!” Taryn: “What? I’m confused…” The cashier explains the scenario we just witnessed and Taryn and I both start cracking up realizing that he had said he’d cover the 14 cents and we had instantly forgotten. He basically thought we were crazy the rest of the time we were there, but if he would have just given her the biggest FREE cup of water instead of paying 25 cents that wouldn’t have happened. It really was hilarious I swear! We then left the counter to drink our smoothies, when I pipe up and say “Dang I have a bunch of random stuff in my purse” I pulled out 3 parachute men. We started hysterically laughing over that and Taryn says oh I have some weird stuff in mine to, and she whips out a light that goes on the back of a bike with a broken compass. “I found it on the street and though my brother would like it to fix up.” By this point we a laughing so hard that we’re crying and the entire restaurant in looking at us. We decide its time to leave… Did you have to be there to think it was funny? Sorry!
We get in the car because we don’t want to walk two miles and turn right out of the parking lot and are looking around waiting for our turn to get on the main street, we waited for a while. Then we realized that a homeless man was pointing at us a little frantically to go the opposite direction. We then noticed we were on a one way street…facing the wrong direction! Never fear, these kinds of things just happen when Taryn and I are in a car together. We tried to make a u-turn and ended up facing the homeless man head on and we were about 2 feet away from him. He just continued to look at us, unimpressed, like we were crazy because we were laughing so hard and kept pointing in the other direction. I think he sees that a lot, well I hope he does. We make the turn and start working our way back to the area we were supposed to be in. Along the way we turn into almost every dead end and wrong turn possible, but that was mainly because there is so much freakin construction going on downtown that we kept getting turned around (or at least that’s what we are saying). Finally we find a place to park and this time we make sure that we look to see exactly where we are so we can find the car later. By this time it’s about 6:15 and we were meeting her friend Jenna at 7:30.
We walked around for a while in Pioneer Square just hanging out and debriefing on the day that we have had so far, laughing hysterically the whole time. At 7 the church we were going to has a BBQ before the service starts at 8 so we decide to head over and grab a bite to eat. We get our food and got to sit down, but all the tables were full already so we go over and sit in the fancy low-to-the-ground striped lawn chairs available. We sit down and start eating when suddenly Taryn looks over at me and I have collapsed and folded into my chair! It was a little embarrassing, but funny at the same time. After another good laugh and a few awkward stares we finish dinner and get a call from Jenna saying she was almost there and to come meet her. Up we go again to walk the 5 long blocks about 3 times. We were kind of being dramatic since we had walked so much! Finally we meet up with her and go to church! I really enjoyed it, since I hadn't been to something like that in a while. It was good for me.
When it got over it was about 9:30 and we decide that it's time to go home. Proudly we remember where the car is so we take one last walk stopping to listed to a band on the way. Our final adventure, taking Jenna back to Clackamas Town Center. A few wrong turns later we made it on to the freeway. Luckily Jenna knew where we were because Taryn and I are both directionally challenged. Just talking and reminiscing about the day was enough to keep us laughing throughout the entire ride. We finally get Jenna safely back to her car and say goodbye. Then after getting stuck in the parking lot (one of my peeves) for a few minutes we were on our way home. A couple of nearly missed exits later and we made it back to my house.
It was such a good (and tiring day)! My legs were shaking from walking so much and my stomach and throat hurt because I've never laughed so hard over a 9 hour period! Excellent time. I love you Taryn Zickefoose! P.S. Let me know if I left anything out... Hahahahahahaha!
When it got over it was about 9:30 and we decide that it's time to go home. Proudly we remember where the car is so we take one last walk stopping to listed to a band on the way. Our final adventure, taking Jenna back to Clackamas Town Center. A few wrong turns later we made it on to the freeway. Luckily Jenna knew where we were because Taryn and I are both directionally challenged. Just talking and reminiscing about the day was enough to keep us laughing throughout the entire ride. We finally get Jenna safely back to her car and say goodbye. Then after getting stuck in the parking lot (one of my peeves) for a few minutes we were on our way home. A couple of nearly missed exits later and we made it back to my house.
It was such a good (and tiring day)! My legs were shaking from walking so much and my stomach and throat hurt because I've never laughed so hard over a 9 hour period! Excellent time. I love you Taryn Zickefoose! P.S. Let me know if I left anything out... Hahahahahahaha!
