Next, I made the rookie mistake of stopping on a hill to push the button to close the garage door and while rolling backward and gunning the car up the ramp I accidentally honk the horn. Of course people were in the courtyard watching and waiting for me to move and our landlord was walking by. It took Jan about five minutes to figure out how to unlock the gate to the street, finally we were on our way!
One extra trip around the block and one U-turn was all it took to get on the road to Ikea. Luckily we didn't run any red lights or hit any pedestrians... but I do have to look up what all the different road signs mean because the one with a big red 'X' does not mean Don't Enter, it means No Parking. I relied on traffic and the way cars were parked for one-way streets.
In the end we made it to Ikea and back uneventfully. When I pulled up to the curb outside our building to unload our bags the parking attendant stood next to the car watching each bag we unloaded, then watched Jan carry each bag into the building (it was two days before President Obama's visit). I safely returned the car to the garage and parked it for what I hope is a long time until the next outing!
The original Ikea!
