Yesterday, instead of going to my one single weekly event - baby storytime at the library - I drove downtown to a free breakfast put on by Justin's work to raise money for the foodbank.
So he was working there all morning and had asked if we might come down. After I told him I probably wouldn't, I decided during Isaac's morning nap that it would be fun to see Justin during the day, and it gave me an excuse to get out of our little neighbourhood bubble I've built.
Google maps said it was a 15 minute drive from home to the art gallery. But honestly, you would've thought I was planning a cross-country trip. As soon as Isaac was in bed, I checked and rechecked the diaper bag. I made sure my camera battery and cellphone were charged. I packed lunch for Isaac and snacks.
But that's not the worst of it. Oh no. I actually went on Google maps satellite, and studied the downtown corridor. I scanned the blocks around the art gallery looking for adequate parking. We have a roofbox on top of our Xterra (I call it our Xbox. Clever, I know). So parking garages terrify me because I have no idea how high we are and I did hit the roof of a covered parking lot last year at Metrotown. Don't need a repeat of that, what with all the backing up, moving forward, backing up again, honking, many staring faces watching me inch out of the one-way lot. Anyhoo...
I planned my route out turn by turn. Never mind that I've been downtown before, and that I know how to at least get to the 'entrance' of downtown via the stadium. I wrote out EVERY TURN. And then I studied the route on Google maps in close-up, to see the streets just before my turns. And I wrote those down too. Then I made sure that the parking lot I'd picked had an entrance with easy access on the road on the route I picked. Zoomed in as close as I could on the satellite to even see if there were lots of stalls and if I should plan an alternate parking lot.
Isaac wakes up, I shove a bottle down his throat as quick as possible, even putting him on the ground so I can get his shoes and jacket on (yes, while he's still drinking his bottle), and dash out the door. Losing my cellphone in the process. I won't kill you with suspense, the cell later turns out to be in a drawer.
I get to the downtown corridor and you would think I had never driven before. My granny driving downtown is painful, but I always think pedestrians downtown are all show-it-offs, like 'this is my street, and I'll cross whenever the he** I want to'. I always imagine a pedestrian leaping out from behind something and me hitting them and stuff.
Lots of route planning, packing, prepping. And it took me less than 15 minutes to get there. Paid for parking, got Isaac strapped in and we were off for a lovely morning with Nature's Path people, yummy food and great atmosphere. But first, I put away my driving directions and pulled out my walking directions to get the whole three blocks to the gallery. Small town hick? Yup.
Justin was definitely glad we came down. He was taking pictures for Nature's Path, so he had lots of time to hang out with us, shoot some photos, and enjoy a bit of quality time with Isaac before he took the skytrain back to his office and we drove home.
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