The day started no different than any other..Ty arrived at my house a couple of hours before we needed to head down to Seal Beach for a session with an extended family of 13. We were getting all of my equipment ready and getting in shooting mode as my phone was being charged. Because for some reason, my phone is ALWAYS dying. I got a call, which caused me to unplug the phone and wander around the house talking on it, and of course...forget to plug it back in, leaving me with only a small charge for the whole day. Which leads us to deadly mistake #1....
NOT GETTING A FULL CHARGE ON MY PHONE.
We left with plenty of time and arrived to Seal Beach full of energy and ready to shoot. We used Map Quest for directions. For most trips, I use the GPS app on my phone to navigate, but I always bring printed directions just in case. Knowing I wouldn't have enough battery to get us there, we opted for the print directions and made it there with no problems.
Here's a photo of one of the adorable little ones from the session! :)
The session went extremely well and Ty and I were so pumped after, that there was no way we were ready to leave after. We decided to walk around the neighborhood, taking it all in, and walk down to Main Street for some dinner. That night, I honestly fell IN LOVE with the area. All of the homes were so unique and had so much personality. Everyone was friendly and said hello to you as you passed them on the street...oh and the weather was PERFECT. I felt like I was in a total dream. But this dream was about to turn into a nightmare as we encountered deadly mistake #2, while at dinner....
NOT REALIZING I HAD MY OUTLET PHONE CHARGER IN MY PURSE AND CHARGING IT WHILE WE WERE AT DINNER.
Here's Ty, while we were wandering the neighborhood!
By the time we were done with dinner, we were leaving WAY later then we had originally planned, but we had an awesome night and timing was the least of our worries. We got in the car and began to make our way home. I was a little concerned about the drive home because I DESPISE driving at night and I was hoping we would be able to get back by following the directions we had. My phone was had been dead for quite awhile and Ty's doesn't have internet access....those mapquest directions were our only hope. As we got onto the freeway...we didn't realize that the next freeway we had to get onto was less than half a mile from where we got on. Which leads us to mistake #3....
MISSING OUR EXIT.
But this usually is never a problem....you get off at the next exit, turn around and head back to your first location and do it all over again. It should have been that simple....EXCEPTTTTT....the off-ramp made a large curve and completely threw off our sense of direction AND we were met with several detours. Already tired, frustrated with my phone being dead, and irritated with the drive....I began to lose patience. THEN, it started to rain. The only thing I dislike more than driving at night....is driving in the rain. And here I was doing both, and on top of that...after trying to find our way for about 20 minutes, we were completely lost. Don't ask me how we got so far off track, it could have been the detours, or being so unfamiliar with the area, or being thrown off by the rain(and did I mention that my windshield wipers were doing a horrible job????) or a combination of all. Either way, we were LOST. Confronted with the choice of stopping and asking someone for directions, or stopping to get an address and call home on Ty's phone to someone with access to a computer for directions....we opted for the second one. So we pulled over to a Chevron and called home to finally end this miserable journey....which leads us to our final mistake.....
NOT CONTINUING ON THAT ROAD, WHICH WOULD HAVE INEVITABLY LED US TO OUR FREEWAY.
We got directions from our handy navigator at home and also got confirmation that we were in Westminster. And we got some great news!!! We were headed in the right direction!! YAY!!!! Now let's just head on home and everything will be great :) But it could never be that simple, could it??? As I turned my key in the ignition to start my truck....IT. WOULDN'T. START. Just gave a tiny sound of effort...then gave up. This is the point where it became funny....how could it not be funny? All of it was straight out of a movie! Here we were, 2 young girls, stranded in a parking lot behind Chevron in Westminster, in a broken down vehicle, with $5,000+ worth of camera equipment in the car. The fun was just beginning!
Ty on the phone. Totally looks like a scene from a scary movie. And that's what it felt like all of this was leading up to!
After about 10 minutes of waiting, I tried to start the truck again...and still...nothing. So I decided it was time to call AAA. Ty used my information on my card and called...only to find out that my card had just recently expired. GREAAAAAT. Luckily, Ty saved the day with hers. Upon calling AAA with her info, the operator let us know that an associate would be with us no later than 9:25...no problem, only had to wait 30 mins. We passed the time by taking silly pictures and joking about the night, because it really was comical. As 9:25 approached...we got a call with an automated tape recording letting us know that our associate would now be arriving around 10:05!!!!!!!!! At this point, none of it really mattered anymore. We laughed it off...and although we were a bit nervous, we stayed in the car and waited till our tow truck driver arrived.
Thank Heavens for AAA!
One of the many pictures taken during the miserable waiting period. Ty's beloved key necklace! :)
Upon arrival, the driver stepped out of the car and greeted us with glossy eyes, and a creepy smile. We told him where our final destination was and he said "well what are you doin all the way down here??? Parrrtyyyyinggg??" accompanied with yet another creepy smile. Ty and I looked at eachother and immediately decided we were not riding all the way home with this guy. Upon trying to start it up once, he said that it needed to be towed(it turned out to be my battery and a jump start WOULD have worked). When we got in the truck with him, I told him to drop us off at a Denny's and someone would be coming to pick us up. 5 minutes into the ride, it was no longer his character I was concerned about, but rather his driving skills!!!! He cut two curbs and swerved over into the next lane by trying to find his ringing phone under the seat and then answered it. He even proceeded to show me the facebook app on his phone while driving. Ty and I were hanging on for dear life!!!!
Bye Bye Truck!!
By the time we arrived at Denny's, I felt as if I could collapse. I finally utilized my charger and was able to use my phone, even though it was no longer useful to us. Our ride arrived about an hour later and we headed home safely and luckily made it there without anymore trouble.
Sitting on the floor in Denny's because there was nowhere else to sit that had an outlet....but I was beyond caring :P
I woke up the next day wondering if it was all just a bad dream, but got a good laugh when I realized it wasn't. It's pretty funny that those 4 little mistakes that we didn't even know we were making led us to ALL of that trouble. We could have avoided it by charging my phone all the way from the start or charging it during dinner because then the gps would have led us home. Or by paying better attention and not missing our exit. Or by driving just a little bit further before we decided to pull over. But can't dwell on all of that now! So the moral to the story is.............
BUY A CAR CHARGER FOR YOUR PHONE ;)
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