Give Me The Keys, I'll Drive

I have been quite busy with plenty of things to do, keeping me away from here...laundry (I've actually done an ok job keeping it up to date this week), a trip to go see the Tigers play this past weekend, and lots of looking and re-looking at the e-receipts for this Friday's quick trip to Atlanta (I'm really getting so excited and I think she has no idea). In admiring the rental car reservation I was actually able to secure a new, and lower rate! So, good stuff is happening to all the re-looking I'm doing.

This past weekend up at Clemson was a fun one. We got there early and pretended we were still college students and graced downtown with happy hour and games of pool before we went to have supper at Calhoun Corners (where we actually got to see Danny Ford enjoying a meal - very exciting for all of us 40 year olds! Seriously.).

After the game, upon packing up, we realized that at some point during the post-game tailgate I lost my car key (it had been in my pocket and in cup holders). Now mind you, I never left tailgate, but the key was no where to be found. So at 11:30 I got to call AAA to help us find a locksmith to get a key made. The car was unlocked and a window was rolled down, and luckily I had the code for the key to be made, but there was no one on the locksmith list with AAA.

So we decided to tow the car back to the hotel (which is on campus and only (maybe) a mile away from where we tailgate so that we could try to find a locksmith on Sunday morning (Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend, no less).

Well, at 2:30, the tow truck driver #1 arrived and realized we didn't have a key (don't know why AAA didn't tell him that) making him have to wake up and dispatch tow truck driver #2 to come help us out.. Though I'm a bit panicked and kicking myself mentally, my friends had decided to turn this awkward situation into a party. All of them refused to go back to the hotel and let Bryan and I wait out the tow trucks by ourselves, instead, they insisted on turning up the music, tilting back the adult beverages (including some Boone's Farm - told you we reverted back to college days) and enjoying the moment. The tow truck drivers said it was the highlight of their night seeing these wonderfully crazy friends of mine in action. (Imagine lots of dancing and laughter - even some dancing on the flat bed of the tow truck).

At one point, while we were waiting on tow truck driver number 2, driver 1 was telling us he had to get the other truck because without being able to unlock the transmission and put it in neutral, moving my back tires to get it on the dolly would "tear her rear end up!". (said with the nicest of upstate accents). This of course sends Ashley over the edge with laughter. Her reply is (in her best mock, upstate accent), "Well, I know Anne does not want her rear end tore up!". Of course we all roll at this come back (including the tow truck driver) - I think it becomes the highlight of my evening!

So by the time we get my car on Driver 2's truck/hauler and get back to the hotel, it's 3:30 am. Oh, forgot to mention that during all of this, all of the loud music playing from one of the other cars has caused its battery to run low and we had to stop the hoisting up of my car to get my jumper cables so we can jump it off. The battery had gotten so low that Driver 2's "jump pad" didn't work. I got to crawl inside the car while it was suspended in midair to get the cables. Driver 2 did lower it a bit, but it was still UP. It was kind of fun to do this for some reason - another highlight of the evening.

And I know you're wondering, but yes we exhausted ourselves looking for the frickin' key. We unloaded both cars (twice - before and after we called AAA). We unloaded tailgate food. We reopened tailgate chairs. We used flashlights to search the ground. We even went back Sunday morning for one more once-over (I guess this would technically be called the twice-over). Nothing. And nothing now that everyone is home and unpacked either.

We did find a very nice locksmith who only charged us $125.00 on Sunday (Labor Day weekend) morning to come and cut us a key. He even threw in an extra key just because he was nice (seriously - this man was wonderfully nice). There was still some tension until he actually got the car cranked because. . .well you know. . . you just don't know if it's going to work until you know it works. With all the talk AAA had been doing about hoping we didn't have a computer chip on our key we were seriously weighing the options of how to manage the 4 hour ride back home without a car - ha (I don't think the friends we were with were coming all the way home until Monday). So if the locksmith hadn't been able to work his magic we would have been in a pretty tight spot!

So, let's hope I can do better this weekend as I leave the car at the airport. At least if I loose a key this time, I'm just a phone call and 20 minute ride away from having my husband deliver my free key!

P.S. Ashley photo documented this whole event, once she shares I will too.