I finally did it!

[JudyJB]

I have been on the road for 18 months and always worried about locking my keys in my vehicle. So, yup, I did it today. Course I chose to do this at Joshua Tree National Park Cottonwood visitor center, which is about 25 miles from Indio, but of course, they sent someone from 19 Palms, which is even farther away. I waited around before calling CoachNet, hoping someone else with a motorhome would pull in, and I could find a key to get into my storage compartment where I had a key stored, but I had locked all my storage compartments. Duh!! Nothing like putting your spare key in a place where you need your keys to unlock it.

Anyway, after three hours of waiting and finally calling CoachNet, the guy came and opened my cab door in about two minutes! I have to call my bank and make some arrangements about one of my IRAs tomorrow and to transfer money from one 401K to another, so I will be going into Victorville to fax some stuff. Before I do that, however, I will stop and get some extra keys made. I will carry one in my fanny pack, and hide another someplace secure but that I can access.

Oh, and to make my day even worse, I got to my reserved campground after dark and after the gates were locked. I walked a very long way in the cold and dark, and found some campers who gave me the combination and also gave me a ride back to the gate where I had left my motorhome. Once I rest up, I will cook myself a hamburger and do more relaxing. Whew! I don't want any more "adventures" for a while.

[Bethers]

Ouch ... but glad you got in and on the road and everything is working out. Just the other day I double-checked my hiding place. I only did so because I was telling a friend here where to find the key if for some reason she needed in my rig (to let Peaches out, for example) in an emergency ... it was there.

I'm so glad you were able to find someone to five you the gate combination - and that they were nice enough to even drive you back. Relax and enjoy the night now!

[Acadianmom]

Judy, you are having too much fun. Glad you were able to get into the campground.

I have been preaching to my DH about leaving the keys in his truck. The other day he got out and it locked but he was in the driveway and the extra key is in the house. I'm not sure the weird keys you get now can be copied. I'm not sure hiding a key on the truck would do any good. We would forget where we put it.

I use to leave the kitchen window unlocked but the windows I have now crank open. They are so small I couldn't get in one anyway.

Martha

[snowball]

After we got the 5th wheel our son gave us a lock box for Christmas so DH mounted in the unlocked bay (the propane tanks reside there) which works well if you have that option...only works though when there is a spare key in it...I had put one in it then used it and gave it to dd thinking she would have it on her ....so asked another daughter to get something from the trailer for me but alas the key wasn't there nor was it with the other daughter....left in a car that they didn't have with them...oh well one day each kid and the lock box will have a key first the lock box need to replenish it's supply
glad you got in and settled...we had our 5th wheel at a campground that locked it's gates we got back to late and ended up staying in my mom's motel unit (family reunion)
sheila

[JudyJB]

Luckily, my motorhome is built on an E450 chassis and the cab part that Fleetwood uses is very basic, so no fancy alarm systems or electronic door openers. Also, no chips in the key. That means I can get a new key made without having to get one from the dealer at an exorbitant price.

Some of the newer and fancier cars are built these days with locking systems that cannot be opened with a "slim jim" because the vehicle senses someone is trying to break into it, so it disables the starter motor!! Then even if you get your key, you can't use it without a dealer fixing it.

I used to have a GM van several years ago and really enjoyed OnStar because all you had to do was call them and give them a security code and they would remotely unlock your vehicle for you!! Could have used that today.

Oh, and no cell service where I was today, so the rangers had to call dispatch on their radio and have them call CoachNet. At least I was not on the side of the road in the heat or cold.

[grammynmaggie]

Question where do you get your keys.made?

[retiredhappy]

OK, here is my key story.

Was having problems with coach door sticking. ONe day came home from shopping and door would not unlock. I panicked. Both dogs were inside and NEEDED to go OUT. Climbed ladder and was able to push sliding window open and crawl, not very gracefully, inside. Tried door and it wouldn't open from the inside!! Called Chris, my repair guy saying, " Help, dogs inside and I can't get the door open and I had to crawl through the window to get inside." There's a long pause and Chris says, " Karen, don't you have a Class C with a door by the driver's AND passenger seats?" To this day he laughs when he sees me.

[VickieP]

Karen, I don't care how many times I hear that story, it always makes me laugh!

[Bethers]

Karen, I don't care how many times I hear that story, it always makes me laugh!

And I read it through every single time!

[mitch5252]

Karen, I don't care how many times I hear that story, it always makes me laugh!

X 2

[JudyJB]

Got two spare cab door keys at Lowes today, but they did not have the blanks for the storage compartments. I think I might have two of those, however. Just need to dig them out.

One spare cab key will go in the fanny pack I use as a purse every day. The other will get hidden in a compartment, and I will hide the key to the compartment door in a place which is not locked. I have called CoachNet twice in one month, so I can't call them again.

Here is my getting lost story to match Karen's story. I was driving a rental car in Scotland and did not have a GPS with me. I took the ferry to a tiny town in the main Orkney island--it is way north in Scotland and has wonderful stone circles that are 1,000 years older than Stonehenge and world-renown archeological sites. OK, so I knew the route number of the road I needed to take, but roads are not always clearly marked in the UK. I stopped at the only gas station/convenience store in town to get directions. After listening carefully, off I went, and promptly got lost again. I circled the town twice. There was no place else to ask directions, so I was very embarrassed to have to stop back at the same gas station and ask the same directions from the same guy at the counter!!

I love Scotland, but I was lost at least 25% of the time. There was one roundabout near Inverness that I tried every single road until I got the right one. I saw places in that city, I never want to see again. I will never drive in the UK again without a GPS.

[MelissaD]

I use to zip tie a spare key where it could not be easily found by others. Left a little slack so I could cut or break zip tie when needed. Keyless entry systems (ones with a key pad) are also nice for this reason.

[rmsealarke]

God love ya, Judy! Well, your experience will make us all think about these things in advance. Hate to say it but "Thanks".

[BirdbyBird]

So glad that it ended well enough.....These stories are so helpful to the rest of us and will make sitting around a camp fire with you all the more entertaining. ...but only if you promise to remind us to laugh at some of our adventures/misadventures.

[JudyJB]

Actually, I do have a combination lock replacement for one of my storage compartments. I have never bothered with it, but I think I will get it out and see how hard it is to install. Then I could hide a key in that compartment and always have it available.

Assuming, of course, that I could remember the combination!