Impounded! Part I

Finally getting around to posting more about my trip to Philadelphia and how my car ended up at the impound lot.



Did I mention the barbed wire? I thought not. Well, grab a cup of tea and get ready for a long and complicated story. It was Saturday night, and it was time for dinner. Since this was a go workshop, and we had a Chinese teacher, it seemed an easy decision to go to Chinatown. We got into our cars and drove there. I had three friends in my car. My rental car, because my van was out of service for the week.



Everyone had told us how hard it is to park in Chinatown. So when we were almost there, and saw a few parking places open on the side of the road, we marked that in our minds as a possible parking location. We smugly talked about how we would get free parking, AND free exercise, while all the people parking in Chinatown were not as lucky and smart as we were. Always nice to feel superior.

We drove through Chinatown, didn't find parking, but we had our brilliant plan B and parked on one of the last few open spots alongside that road. Life was good, and we walked to the restaurant, happy about being with good friends and the prospect of excellent food. And free parking!



We ate, we chatted, we had a great time, but eventually it was time to get back to the car. This time P joined us. We walked back, me looking at my GPS, to make sure I could find my car. (Someone said 'You are the only person I know who marks her parking location with her GPS.' He clearly wasn't a geocacher.) We walked, I half looked at my GPS, we walked more and I stood still. Hmmmm. 'Did we just pass my car? What colour was it again? Why do all those rental cars look alike anyway?' Well, it shouldn't be hard to find, since it had a Maine license plate, and there weren't that many of those in Philly.



We walked back, getting a bit confused and worried. A car won't just disappear into thin air, would it? P helpfully spoke up 'You guys didn't park here, did you???!!! This is a no parking zone!' Oh...

Those signs weren't there when we parked, I swear. I mean, how could FOUR intelligent people have missed a sign like that if it actually had been there? (Oh shush!)

Now what?

Stay tuned for part II!