From chasing down a pack to chess in the park... I think I covered every possible inch of the greater Portland area this afternoon/evening.
We got out of the training at 4:30, and I went directly down 205 to I5 (north 2 exits) hitting the Tualatin REI. Looking for the elusive lavender pack I know I saw there when Alicia and I went about a month ago! Alas, no pack... no record of one ever possibly being there... and no customer service from some girl who really only wanted to go to "lunch!"
I got on the phone to the other REI in Jantzen Beach... got much helpful tactics and information. I made the same girl (still very "lunch" oriented) look up Jansport.com to see that I'm not imaging things. Duh, I'm not! Still, she wouldn't special order the AirWave in Lavender without insisting I had to come back in person to pick it up... Heaven forbid they ship it!
Grr-ed to the max I also made this "I'm going to lunch" girl print up the list of stores Jansport gave, and provide a phone book to be able to call them. From REI still, I called Copeland first (pure fluke since I thought I was calling the Clackamas store, but I wasn't) and sure enough, they've got one. After some finagling on my part, quote current sales and situations at REI, and that I was going all that way (oh, and getting directions) Mr. Nathan said he's see what he could do.
Off to City Center... basically the rest of I5 in Portland, I went! After 50 circles trying to understand streets and parking I found a $1.50 evening lot inside the same building as Copeland. God is awesome!
Finding a potty was priority #1, then drying my hands (their lush potty place had no paper towels, blowers, nada!), finally... Nathan? He was ready and waiting (the place wasn't even as close to as hopping as REI had been!?) with my pack close at hand. They had a mass selection of Jansports, including every possible pack in all the purples! So now the conundrum was which one? After trying the two different AirLifts on, looking at them [on me] in the mirror, packing them with two shoes and a jacket each, trying them on again, and a final check in the mirror... the original intended buy was the way to go. The other looked funky, kinda like a ¿pupa? [the nativey thing where you tie a baby on your back] It was butt bigger on the top than the bottom!?
I also grabbed a green Nalgene, as previously discussed with Mr.Nathan on the phone (can you believe I left mine at home?) Hit him up for the discount [10%]... packed my bag and walked away a happy girly!
And walk I did! A bit in circles at first... then with determination (a good restaurant'll do it every time) after Alicia's round-about help in locating my destination!
There were other adventures along the way, and since then... but I'm too pooped to get into it all! (I haven't typed this fast in a long while, I really must want to hit the hay!)
