Teddy locked us out… again!

We’re home, we’re home, we’re home! Traveling is one of our absolute favorite things to do, but as great as it is to break up monotony a bit and go away, it’s also so sweet to be home and sleep in our own bed. We flew back to Alabama after our cruise on Monday, spent time with my parents for a bit and rested up before packing up and hitting the road at noon on Tuesday. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us, so our plan was to leave right before Hadley’s afternoon nap time so that she could sleep for the first couple hours, watch movies and stop to eat the next few hours, and then hopefully drive the rest of the way home while she slept. Great plan, right?! We thought so!

Because road trips these days always seem to go awry in some form or fashion, this one was no exception, and this time we’re pointing major fingers at King Teddy the Chug.

JUST LAST WEEK I linked to a blog post that tells the story of the time Teddy locked me out of my running car. I totally jinxed us because sure enough he did it again. Teddy DeSpain locked all three of us out of the car AGAIN.

Yes he did.

Two hours into our trip, Jamie whipped off the interstate just north of Nashville to run in and use the restroom at a pretty run down gas station. Hadley had been awake for a while, so I figured Jamie could top off our gas and I would change Hadley’s diaper in the backseat while Jamie was inside so that we could continue driving for a while.

Jamie started the gas and ran inside while I slipped on my shoes and got a diaper and wipes ready. I got out of the car, shut the door, walked around to grab Hadley from her carseat behind the driver’s seat, and walked back around to change her in the backseat on the passenger side. No big deal.

Before I even went to open the door to change Hadley, I noticed the locks were down and Teddy was standing up against the window, tongue hanging out and begging with his eyes to go for a walk. I attempted to open the doors, but everything was locked. Before panicking, I ran inside the gas station to confirm with Jamie that he had his key in his pocket.

Nope.

So now we’re locked out and laughing. I don’t know if it was nervous energy or what, but for the five minutes minutes we thought this was hilarious! We figured we could get Teddy to step back up near the window, step on the unlock button, and we’d be on our way. 10 minutes later and we’re still locked out.

Well, darn.

We literally had nothing with us because everything was in the car, so we were straight out of luck! Jamie went inside to call USAA roadside assistance for a locksmith while I waited outside, Hadley on my hip, trying to coax Teddy to press unlock! Thank GOD it was only 75 degrees outside because we didn’t have any windows down!

Because there was nowhere nearby to camp out, we stuck out like sore thumbs standing around the parking lot. Most other customers thought our situation was hilarious and quite frankly unbelievable, and a couple guys even came over to help make Teddy angry so that he would jump up on the window and press unlock! They made him angry alright, but pressing unlock was clearly not going to happen! Hadley offered a good amount of comedic relief because she was belly laughing as she watched Teddy flip out at those guys!

80 minutes later our locksmith showed up, and he had himself a good laugh while quickly unlocking the door.

The good part about the whole situation was that neither of us could be mad at each other. Jamie didn’t think to take a key inside because he knew I was staying behind, and of course I didn’t have a key on me because I wasn’t leaving the car! All I was doing was walking around the car to grab Hadley and change her diaper!

The most negligent part of the whole thing is that we actually have a keyless entry car – as long as our key fobs are within two or three feet of the ignition our car will lock or unlock. The jeep is programed to beep three times if you’ve attempted to lock your keys in the car, but recently both of our keys’  batteries have started dying. They still worked fine, but apparently they’ve weaken so much that they have to be RIGHT by the ignition for it to start or unlock. You better believe that getting those batteries replaced is high on my to-do list!

Moral of the story: Change your dying car key battery?! I think the moral of the story is that if this is the worst thing that happened to us while traveling half way across the country that we’re pretty darn lucky. Things could always be worse, and this sure made one heck of a story to call and tell our fam.

We still love you Ted, but you owe us $53 for that locksmith! 😉

{middle of nowhere, Illinois three hours later: Hadley skipping her chicken tenders and eating straight ketchup for dinner}