Portland Zoo Lights

We made it to the zoo lights in Portland this year, and boy did we have fun! My family, which included Sarah, Justin, Ellie, Dad, Brant, Maddie and me, (mom had to work), headed off for the Zoo in two cars. The parking lot was a zoo (no pun intended), and we had to hunt for any parking whatsoever. My Dad decided to drop Brant, Maddie and I off to wait in line while he found a parking spot. We got out of the car, put on our hats, gloves and coats, and bundled Maddie into the stroller. A few minutes later, my sister and I touched base via phone to figure out where to meet. This is where the night got interesting.

Sarah was waiting in a separate line with Ellie, when she informed me of the following story. A few minutes prior, Justin had received a phone call from my Dad. He hung up the phone, turned to Sarah and said, "Your Dad has slid down a hill somewhere in the car and needs my help." What?!? Yeah, that's what we all said. So, Justin had taken off already (with Ellie's pacifier in hand - bummer!), when we finally caught up with Sarah. The three of us (plus the two babies) waited around for a few minutes, scratching our heads, slightly concerned at the present predicament we were in. It was cold, dark, we had purchased our tickets, but we had no idea where our Dad and Justin were. After trying a few times, my Dad finally answered my phone call. Without so much as a "hello," this is what I heard on the other line: "Hi Jack. Listen, I can't talk right now. I've slid halfway down a hill in the car. Gotta go." Click. What?!?

We decided we would venture in the general direction of the Washington Park Forest, where there are numerous hills and dark roads. As we were walking, we saw two AAA tow trucks drive by. Odd. There was no way these were trucks already coming to rescue my Dad. It was too soon. We followed the road up to where the trucks had gone. This proved to be successful. In the distance, we could see two headlights at an awkward, diagonal slant, obviously hanging down a hill. Brant ran ahead to check it out and called back to say that it was indeed our Dad. We scurried up the hill to find Dad in the driver seat of the Prius, and one of the AAA tow trucks hooking up to his car. There were a few onlookers around, as the commotion had blocked traffic for a few minutes.

Apparently, my Dad had parallel parked on the road, when his car began to slid down the hill in some thick mud. We were lucky that Brant, Maddie and I had already left the car, because if there had been anymore weight inside, surely the car would have gone further down the hill, into the trees, and more damage would have been done. Justin had arrived and had attached some chains to the back of Dad's car. With the help of some other guys who had been up in the woods smoking pot before my Dad interrupted them, they tried to pull Dad out. The only success they had was getting mud spewed all over their clothes. Justin saw the two trucks coming up the road just by chance, and ran in their direction to flag them down. Lucky for my Dad, who is a member, they were AAA tow trucks willing to help him out. His car was pulled out with no damage. The whole episode really only set us back about 40 minutes! It was pretty funny. We have some of it on video that we will have to post eventually.

After some good laughs and sighs of relief, we ventured into the zoo to enjoy the lights. They were beautiful! We had such a fun time! I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

I didn't get my camera out until the car had been pulled up, but it still gives you proof!


Two cold cousins, waiting for their Grandpa to quit playing in the mud!
Pretty lights!

Sarah and me. I love my sister!

Dad and his daughters, happy to be together again.
Maddie and Ellie enjoying the lights...
Brant and me with the pretty lights. What fun!
Grandpa and his grand-daughters.
Sarah and Ellie.
Dad staying warm and waiting for his elephant ear. Mmm!
Sarah and Justin.
Sisters and our girls. Some day we'll bring them back when they can really enjoy themselves! :)
It sure was a lot of fun, and a great way to really kick off all of the holiday festivities in Portland! Stay tuned for more posts of our wonderful time in Oregon.