The campsites in America are amazing; each camper gets an allocated
spot with a fire ring. This is a far cry from the plotted grassland in England
with zero tolerance for camp fires. It is so peaceful out in the wild and the
views of the lake were just spectacular. We enjoyed that first night thoroughly.
As night approached we locked all our valuables in the car and
got ourselves ready for a cosy night on the hard ground. Michael bought a torch
in Guatemala that had a built in plug which he absolutely loved. It was about the only thing he talked about since he got it. Even strangers had heard all about this amazing torch. Then it broke! So that night we were in total darkness with only the glimmer of next doors light to guide us.
The next thing Michael asked me where I had placed the mustang keys. I was adamant he had them when it dawned on me that I had locked them in the boot of the car. The colour drained out my face. Frantically, I start trying to access the car but of course there was no way, the vehicle was full locked. Michael the angriest I had ever seen him starts shouting as I whaled sorry until my voice croaked.
The entrance to the camp site was a 20 minute walk away, we had no light and the mobile was in the car. We started our walk in the darkness but I decided to stop, I sat on the floor completely gutted at the thought that I had ruined our trip. Realising that this plan wasn't working, we marched back towards our tent to ask our neighbours to use their phone and they kindly agreed.
Michael clung onto the oldest brick phone you could possibly imagine as he tried to connect to the Internet. By miracle it worked, he got the number and called the Avis helpline. Reaching an automated system he needed to press 1, as he pressed 1 the button was not responding. In despair in pushed the button repeatedly to no reaction. It must eventually time out because he was then connected to an operator, relief washed over us both.
The operator told us because we took out extra insurance they would get someone out in 50 minutes completely free. So as we sat in the middle of nowhere in the darkness we waited, tension lingered in the air like a bad smell. True to their word a truck emerged 50 minutes later. The company logo was 'Stupid Hurts' which was a brilliant name I thought. Within 5 minutes the man managed to pop open the boot and retrieve our keys.
In the morning we woke up and the night before seemed nothing more than a bad dream. Up early we took the car to the nearby Danish Village called Solvang. We then drove around, passing wineries in the glorious Californian sunshine. When we got back our kind neighbours left us their fly swatter with a lovely message. We camped there for another night before we hit the road again. Her are some pictures of us being happy campers!
The next thing Michael asked me where I had placed the mustang keys. I was adamant he had them when it dawned on me that I had locked them in the boot of the car. The colour drained out my face. Frantically, I start trying to access the car but of course there was no way, the vehicle was full locked. Michael the angriest I had ever seen him starts shouting as I whaled sorry until my voice croaked.
The entrance to the camp site was a 20 minute walk away, we had no light and the mobile was in the car. We started our walk in the darkness but I decided to stop, I sat on the floor completely gutted at the thought that I had ruined our trip. Realising that this plan wasn't working, we marched back towards our tent to ask our neighbours to use their phone and they kindly agreed.
Michael clung onto the oldest brick phone you could possibly imagine as he tried to connect to the Internet. By miracle it worked, he got the number and called the Avis helpline. Reaching an automated system he needed to press 1, as he pressed 1 the button was not responding. In despair in pushed the button repeatedly to no reaction. It must eventually time out because he was then connected to an operator, relief washed over us both.
The operator told us because we took out extra insurance they would get someone out in 50 minutes completely free. So as we sat in the middle of nowhere in the darkness we waited, tension lingered in the air like a bad smell. True to their word a truck emerged 50 minutes later. The company logo was 'Stupid Hurts' which was a brilliant name I thought. Within 5 minutes the man managed to pop open the boot and retrieve our keys.
In the morning we woke up and the night before seemed nothing more than a bad dream. Up early we took the car to the nearby Danish Village called Solvang. We then drove around, passing wineries in the glorious Californian sunshine. When we got back our kind neighbours left us their fly swatter with a lovely message. We camped there for another night before we hit the road again. Her are some pictures of us being happy campers!
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