off-roading

So, that gift I blogged about yesterday?  This one?

Good news: it’s this beautiful here.

 Bad news: it took four hours of waiting, a locksmith, and this to get here.

They say good things come to those who wait!

You can read the unabridged version of that story here, as told by my good friend who provides humorous commentary on all the details that, quite frankly, are so outrageous I wouldn’t hold it against you if you didn’t believe them.  But it was for real.

For lots of people, and probably even me at one time in my life, circumstances like those would completely ruin any chance for a relaxing weekend we’d traveled four hours (and waited four more hours) to enjoy.

And what a shame!  Because seriously, our adventure – some proverbial off-roading, if you will – is in the running for one of my most favorite 2010 memories.  We laughed so hard, we were beyond crying.  It’s such a good story that we can remember together, and laugh about over and over, for a long time to come.  Totally worth the inconvenience.

So, you know me and lists.  Here are lessons learned from an off-road experience (which clearly is a regular occurrence with my friends).

1. Keep your cool.  Conditions can go south really quickly if everyone isn’t intentional about exercising their “this is no big deal, it could be much worse, and God’s good all the time” attitudes.  You may want to crank up some praise songs to lighten the mood.
2. When contacting locksmiths, when someone says, “I will dispatch a technician …” all words beyond that are irrelevant, and you should hang up immediately.  Otherwise, you might find yourself waiting on a lock-picker who’s leaving a tavern 14 hours away from you.  Keep it local.
3. There are a couple of things you should immediately identify if you’re locked out of your vacation spot at 2:00 a.m.  Particularly if you’re traveling with friends who make you laugh a lot, at the top of that list would be an establishment with clean restrooms that’s open 24 hours.  Just sayin’.
4. And lastly, travel with people you really, really like.  Off-roading is just way less stressful that way.

What about you?  Crazy travel adventures you care to share?