Once Upon a Road Trip

About this time every winter we get serious spring fever. We know that spring isn't that far off, and we even see early signs of it-just today I saw dozens of robins out and about-but we still feel cooped up and long for a change. We are sick of being inside and crave something different. Two words come to mind-Road Trip!
Years ago, when Stuart and I were living in Corvallis, Oregon we decided one early spring afternoon to drive over to the Oregon coast-about an hour away-and walk on the beach, have dinner at some seafood joint, watch the pretty sunset, and come home.
Just one little detail we couldn't overlook. We didn't have a car. We got everywhere and did everything on our bicycles. A call to one of Stuart's friends quickly provided us with a Honda Accord, and we were off.
It was a marvelous trip, and we had a nice time, but at the end of the day there was one slight problem. As we prepared to return home we realized we had locked the keys in the car! What were we going to do?

We couldn't break a window-it wasn't our car...

It was certainly too far to walk home...

We hated to call someone to come and give us a ride...

While we debated the possibilities of the fix we were in, a good Samaritan came over and asked what was wrong. We told him and he quickly returned with a metal coat hanger. Soon a whole band of well intentioned citizens gathered around us with advice. One man even had a huge key ring full of every imaginable key-but none worked.
It looked as though we might be spending the night on the coast, when a girl driving a Honda Accord pulled in near us. She also came over to see what the fuss was about, and when informed that we'd locked our keys in our car she said "Here-try mine." Much to our amazement and joy, her key worked! Our car was unlocked and we were soon on our way. ( I vaguely remember folks clapping and cheering-everyone was pretty excited!)
All in all it was a great day. Our road trip had provided us with a change of scenery, a little bit of drama, a happy ending, and most of all...a fun story to tell when we were safely home.

(And I have to say thanks to all of Stuart's and my ancestors who so kindly took these pictures years ago, so that I could use them for this post!)