First off, this is a very long story about how I did
something truly dumb and spent 51 hours trying to figure out a solution. If you’re looking to make me the hero here I
am not. In the name of art I did
something majorly boneheaded, forgot to
make note of an address and found myself wandering DC for 3 days, 1.5 by foot,
checking into 51 parking garages, going down into the bowels of some of those multiple times, until I couldn’t
walk further.
Today I’m forced to sit, nurse my wounds and reflect about how amazingly lucky I am simply to be
sitting right where I’m at with only minor things that will heal fast. I’m
awash with so much gratitude over my blessings, far too many to ever count . This weeks’ conclusion could have been so much
worse than some minor injury. Even 3
years ago I would have had a very very bad time without owning the minor miracles
like GPS and messaging. But mostly my
blessings are in the knowledge I have friends.
Friends who have infinite patience and more sense than I.
So I lost not a car really so much as a parking garage. Ironically in the end it was exactly where I
thought I left it… but everything that was striking to me about the entrance
changed (so I still believe) in 2 hours while I “popped over” to visit the
Smithsonian Museum (SAAM) in DC before going to have dinner with my friend
Eleanor (lots of folks reading this know Eleanor Harvey but I must tell you, the
woman is a saint and her family is amazingly welcoming.).
I was coming back Mon from CT (2 funerals). I wanted to clear my mind (ala not try to
drive 12hrs crying), and arranged for something more inspiring on my way home. My husband and I generally do science
museums. I don’t spend enough time as an
artist looking at other art. Especially
not art of other generas. It makes you
stale. ANYHOW, so without him on this
drive I realized I should visit an art museum on my way back.. DC/Eleanor’s
seemed like fun. Due to Columbus day
however Eleanor wasn’t working at the museum after all but she’s just a few
minutes away across the bridge really.
So I decided to try for both. I
like to stretch my legs on these long drives with a touristy stop where, if
possible, I can walk a little. Irony.
So I get there, traffic through NYC wasn’t bad but there
were some uglies on the 1-95 coming in.
DC drivers actually seemed vastly less aggressive than some I’d seen
this past weekend. So I do a loop and
basically am not finding on street parking.
There are garages everywhere with “Full” signs so when I started my
second pass I zipped into the first one I came across that still looked
open. Upon entering I am struck by the
yellow striped pavement walkways and construction crewmen going in and out. I believe this wasn’t a figment of my
imagination (lots of questioning my imagination to come – as an artist I can be
pretty stubborn about inaccurate things and have to learn to self-check)..the
reason I think so is because as I got my ticket (after being swallowed in) I
had to wait to keep driving while these guys walked in front of my across this
crazy yellow striping following this “sidewalk” made of what sure seemed like normal
painted lines on the pavement. I
distinctly remember thinking “omg I hope I don’t have to walk out in this
tunnel up this way! Cars were parked
up the tunnel (days later I learned they were not in parking spaces but
probably the construction crew’s or holiday overflow).
My absolutely idiotic mistake was a very conscious decision
to put the ticket on the car’s console rather than in my pocket. I’m always
losing things out of my pockets or forgetting they are on my person. Anyhow, so my point there is, justification
of the yellow line thing aside please know I made a really stupid move.
After that I at least did something sort of right. I got out and made huge note of the signage
and where I parked (second level/P2).
Strange lines on the floor lead in a different direction to the elevator
(picture no parking lines in front of a retail store and the lettering
within). I went off to the elevator but
again I looked back to see my car so when I returned via elevator I could
simple step out and find it. I have
parked in a lot of garages in New Haven and Hartford CT. Boston a bit too. I try to stay out of NYC with cars tho.
;) Anyhow, I was really dismayed to note
at that point that the rental’s license plate ended in 666. I’m not kidding.
So the elevator isn’t right there, it’s down a warren of
hall/passage ways. When I come out,
from this weird 2 sided elevator (you go in one side but emerge from the other)…
I am on a totally different street.
Again I make note of all my surroundings. I take out my GPS now that I’m out and plug
that in too. So I’m looking at a map
showing my way.
Now here is a key point;
I know from my GPS the shape of my path to the garage building at least,
but we all know these things sometimes can be the mirror of what you thought,
lefts being rights etc.. GPS was popping
in and out so the map did try to recalculate.
Most disconcerting to me was that the street I emerged from was nothing
like the one I entered (on the other side I’d assumed - and correctly). It was bland.
That said, all of these details started to become frighteningly
questionable in the subsequent hours and sadly, yes.. days. That’s why I’m writing this. As a creative mind I can self-doubt my
internal visual narrative account with the best of them.
Meanwhile, a Stephen King worthy transformation was
happening back on the other side of the building where I came in. Those lines came up (I still believe).. They may have been rolled out mats. At the very least though all the vehicles
parked at the first bend in this garage also disappeared leaving unlined
pavement and a wall mural I previously hadn’t seen. In short, the entire appearance of the garage
changed. Maybe it all was in my head, it’s
possible I suppose but it’s the only subterranean garage I’d driven into in
some 10 years. I won’t deny I am
creative for a living – also go watch some documentaries on how people invent
fictitious details innocently all the time.
Anyhow, bottom line? The garage
entrance changed from what I”d seen in my head.
I still believe this.
Also, the building from which I emerged did not have any
signage about anything really. Just
#s. And yep (!) I should have taken
those down so another poor decision.
At any rate, having my bearings, seeing that I’m about 2
blocks down and 3 over, I go up, make a right turn and march on over. Do a quickie spin through (Kooning’s exhibit
really was fascinating & I probably spent the most time there being
intrigued by trying to guess her relationship to subjects based on her varied
approaches. Lots of inspirations
everywhere, glad I did it). And then I
went out and returned the way I came.
So I went back and dropped down 2 blocks, and was dismayed
to see I didn’t see my yellow stripped “sidewalk” (no really that’s what they
call them in these) garage. So I try
another. And another. And circle.
And start to recross various paths.
My mouth starts to get extremely dry. In short order I’ve frantically
started to peek into several blocks. It’s been an hour now and my feet are
getting sore from walking down into the mouth of several of these to see if the
lines start up just out of sight.
Recognizing that I’m in trouble I return to the museum and retrace my
paths more carefully.
There are many things that stood out upon my approach; the metro escalator entrance. So I knew I was that far down when I
approached and that my approach was straight from there. I check my GPS. Phone has been squirrelly lately and history
won’t stay on now. Still, I can see the
streets but now I’m having a physical reaction of dread wash over me and it is
clouding my thinking. I’m wondering if I
maybe made a left instead of a right?
Once you get turned around you really start doubting everything. People also ask you things over and over,
well meaning and honestly very sensible first questions. However after so many times of this it
becomes alarming. And the sun is
setting. And garage doors are closing.
I’m talking to attendants and explaining that it turned left
and the stripped sidewalk lines were on the right. The couple of garages (there were over 50
that I checked in the end btw over the next few days) that matched that
perfectly though were valet only and I’d definitely had a machine. I knew no human was around because I asked a
man walking in the garage where I paid when I was done. Details like that the ticket machine the arm
bent start to come back to me too.
Some people when you are lost will give you very unhelpful
information too. For example more than a
few of the people I asked (and had a language barrier with), did not understand
me maybe saying “do you have a level ‘P2’ and may I check it). They looked confused and said “no” instead
of saying they didn’t understand. I
later learned that yes, they did. Just
fyi fellow traveler.
Anyways, so now it’s quite late. I’m dying of thirst and I call Eleanor in
mortification. She comes over and
suggests we drive from entrance to likely ones and I get out and peek
down. The challenge here is that the 1
way streets do not let her fully retrace my footpath.
I want to say here that I believe I went to the entrance of
my actual garage many times. If I’d only
not been so extremely certain of those stripes and realized something may have
been blocking the mural over the holiday rush.. I might have struggled with walking
down more steep ramps into what became P2.
(There wasn’t a P1 that I saw when I found it… and yes, I found it or I
wouldn’t be able to talk about it).
Anyhow, so well after dark I am at a loss. I really feel
that googling maps/street views would help me.
Ultimately they did btw but panic is a funny thing. I’d bought myself at
least 1 bottle of water but knew by how it didn’t take away the dry mouth that
I was in panic. Cognizance of panic however
doesn’t always resolve it. Quote Douglas Adams all you like. Nothing freaks me out like knowing I did
something profoundly dumb I can’t undo easily now.
So Eleanor seeing that I’m like a panicked animal probably
decides that maybe dinner and wine would help.
Man, if ever a time when drinking might help! (I don’t drink. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit
sniffing glue.).. anyhow, so food fuel does at least help some, I was a little
shaky. However I learned from roadside
assistance that they deactivated the OnStar in their rentals (that’s not
entirely true though I learned Tues afternoon).
I’m feeling like a horrible guest because my stomach is in
knots and I can’t even eat most of what is in front of me even though they are
wonderful cooks. Suffice to say despite
my checking out half mentally Eleanor was great fun to talk to (as always!)
and a great host. I really wish I’d
skipped the museum and gone straight over there– lol! Great inspirations aside.. and then I tried to sleep in this lovely
guest room on the softest coziest bed and didn’t much of course Monday night. (I did at least Tues night after I gave in.)
Armed with street maps she drops me off Tues am at where I’d
started out from the museum (where I had my bearings). By then (after google mapping comparisons), I’m
really quite sure it’s in this spot. And
it probably was.. but I only went down one ramp before going “gosh golly gee
willickers [more confabulation ;) if you can’t guess] the parking starts a lot
deeper in than the one I was in…”..
anyhow, fresh start on Tues with spare shoes (that soon became too small
due to blisters ballooning), and water food and such. What was supposed to be a very brief “ah ha!”
turned grim by noonish. In fact I think I saw 2 people I was pretty sure I knew
(who can know at this point though if I’m not imagining that too!) but at that
point I was frazzled, smelly and limping and completely unsocial. I did chat with Lesli Kathman about some ads
and then admitted my predicament while I was charging my phone and waiting for
callbacks from garage owners and the rental agency. By 1, after 5 or 24 hours in, I’d given up
much hope and called Enterprise and asked what happened if I abandoned a
car. No small part of my terror was
knowing that garages don’t tow out cars for months. Hoping to get the biggest fees possible.
OnStar CAN be activated if they get a police report. There’s a slim chance signal will be very
precise in a garage but some might be readable and that might at least give me
a smaller radius to a few blocks (verses 20).
Eleanor is now away from home but her family is there so I’m still not “homeless”. I should have cried though or something to
the officer. It was torture. Nothing he said was jogging my memory and he
wouldn’t even let me show him on the map the area I was 100% certain I’d walked
down when I first came in. I then got a
lecture about all that was happening in the area. Honestly if he’s reading this; just say you won’t write a report and go help
the people in violent situations.
Sitting there being driven around I could tell dire things were
happening to people far more serious than what I was needing. Still, txting enterprise manager she is
giving me tips saying he “has to” and such.
Btw, a foot officer later told me he really should have done the report
too – that was a totally wasteful hour.
Anyone finding themselves having no luck with 911 this way, I guess the
key is to simply freak out. I freak out
very quietly I guess. Foot patrolman
also said to “be less honest” and simply leave it at being scared (true!) and
lost (true again).
The human interactions were fascinating, I honestly found so many people (save for the
call responding officer) to be concerned and sympathetic. I really felt like people were a lot nicer
than in many cities I’ve been in. Even
the homeless that I kept passing were nodding at me in sympathy. I was pretty happy to have some food for one
at least. It’s an interesting thing when
you are down and out, I recommend it whenever possible. Share or give away what you have. Especially if you really don’t need it. Honestly.
I’m not being mystical here, so regardless of your faith or lack of; it’s
about empowering yourself to admit you still have more left. I had a LOT still. A place to stay. An exit strategy. And (while ok, granted I had a death grip on
it), a purse and phone and thus LOTS of resources. And I knew a few passwords and phone numbers
by heart should I lose those too.
There was a sign I really took to heart hanging from one
church to “walk humbly” that lead to a great deal of introspection. Hindered as I was limping around (mostly just
walking like I was on my tippie toes… picture me tip toeing around DC really)..
I was pretty aware I was hardly at rock bottom.
I’ve had less and there is ALWAYS lower to go. Never ask in exasperation what else could
happen – hahaha! ;) But truthfully I had
compartmentalized a lot of emotions. The
fear was oddly gone with the knowledge that the insurance covered forgetting
where you parked. The funerals and
another death I learned of Monday night (Jim West) are going to slam me
eventually (although I did grieve a lot earlier for my aunt and uncle but not
yet for Jim). It’s intriguing to
understand that survival does put grief on the back burner. Don’t ever judge someone for seeming cold I
guess. I probably didn’t seem “cold” to
anyone but I felt odd for not bursting into tears at the thought of various memories.
Anyhow, more digression… (sitting here typing this safe
& sound with my feet up and not much to do but let the blisters drain) so Tuesday
night I could not walk any further. I
just rechecked the x’s on my map and I had walked up to over 50 parking
garages, and down the first level or two of several. Into the elevators of many others. So having no new places to check I went into
Macys (in agonizing lurching steps probably).
I was relieved at least to have a text from the rental manager that I
wasn’t going to have to pay for a car for my idiotic mistake. I felt safe to spend a little ;) and bought
some amazingly loose and padded socks and the biggest sneakers they had. Limped over to the metro and figured that
out. Got on over to meet up with Eleanor’s
husband and I shamefully hide in the guest room and update my husband on the day and send gross text pictures of my feet (blisters is not right, the whole heel was/is a blister... . I was
unbelievably grateful to be able to wash my outfit, you cannot imagine.
My plan on Wed am was to get Enterprise to send me a car to
take home … oddly they weren’t willing (did you laugh? I thought it was funny too). Anyhow, they still needed a police report to
get that rolling or something. Another
company was my only option. Or ask a
friend I had who lived 4hrs away but came to DC area all the time on weekends
(Maggie Bennett!). Well then I get a
call from Oakes… hubby can’t take this anymore and is planning on renting
something small enough to drive through garages (we have trucks). This option horrifies me though, he hates
city traffic and DC is exceptional there.
Especially driving in and getting to Eleanor’s house. And he doesn’t own a GPS. We’re old school farmers ok? Really… this is not good. Losing my husband to a traffic accident is
not how I wanted this story to end. So I
beg him to wait. Call Maggie and she’s
like out the door before I can finish the story nearly.
I now have 4 hrs to sit and google earth some more and think
about it. Maggie likes his idea though
too, and so did I. These garages are
steep. The blisters-sacks on my heel
bottoms mostly stem from walking down slope after slope.
I don’t do steep well in any shoe (knees normally).
Anyhow, so I went into each enough to be sure they didn’t have the
stripey “to elevator” on the floor. All
but one at least. Clearly!
So sitting there with google earth street view peg man I
start dropping him on one side of the buildings and the other. Looking again for a very generic (no obvious business store fronts) as the street view
upon exit. Despite my self doubt I really thought I was sure of that too. It was something I just couldn’t easily do
in cars or on foot (lots of 1 way streets made it impossible to fully circle the buildings). I came up with 5
very likely ones and prioritized them by what I’d assumed my path was at
first. I really clung to that.
Maggie shows up bright and eager. So refreshing! Honestly I just love having people younger or
more positive (or both!) than me around for my sanity really. :D She’s
raring to go so off we go. Right around
the same time of day I’d started looking 2 days earlier. Wed afternoon has the same light as Monday
too… although Monday there was some overcast clouds at times.
It was the second garage on my list. To add to any uncertainty I might have had (at
that point though I was willing to happily believe I’d made up lines on the
floor despite this whole biz of workers with a ladder I’d had ot maneuver and
pause around). We go in, and poof. I had one detail of where I’d parked wrong –
I’d thought round columns but they were square.
Same design/colors etc though. The
mind is a HORRIBLE trickster though and sadly as an artist I wish I could be eidetic and not need to check and recheck so
much. I think it probably makes for more
accuracy. I tell people I have mild propagnesia
but possibly this proves I’m just going
senile. Who knows. ;) Stay tuned for some far out art in the future?
:D
I joke but it really was just that anticlimactic. When something isn’t working try a different
tactic. Self doubt is a crappy
thing. Traveling alone can get scary
fast. & I’m unbelievably grateful
for all I have; the wonderful friends
and simply that humans are on the whole just really basically good at heart. Thanking
Maggie and Eleanor profusely isn’t enough. Very lucky today.
One of these days I’m going to look into if there is such a
thing as roll out walkway stripes for construction workers.
I can’t let that go.
[edit to add in that I looked it up later on Thurs, yep... there are a # of types. The right side pic here shows what I saw: http://www.colebrothers.com/tempstripe/ ]
Today I’m ok. On
crutches for a bit with pads on feet.
Keeping feet high & icing every few hours.
Tonight we return that freaking 666 car and good riddance.
Yes (in case you are wondering) I really spent under 2hrs in
the actual museum and no, I’m not sure I’ll go back despite being quite expert
now on these streets and how they run.
;) Frankly I don’t want to leave the house again this year. :)
