Sparks, Rain and the Highway Patrol

[Silverhobby]

This is an unusual circumstance that I hope I never have to deal with again.

On my way to the WBCCI Buddy rally, I was cruising along comfortably with the Argosy in tow. In my rear view mirror, I thought I saw sparks, so I immediately pulled over, turned on the emergency flashers, grabbed my flashlight, and hurriedly jumped out of the truck. I went back to the trailer, luckily to find that nothing was out of order. Thankfully, I returned to the truck, it had just begun to RAIN, to find that my doors had LOCKED . In my hasty exit, I had probably hit the button with the flashlight. The engine was running, A/C on, dog inside in back seat, and all windows closed tightly due to the travel in the rain. I did have the trailer keys, so I was able to get an umbrella. I was in an area where the cell phone wouldn't work as well. I flagged down a motorist that happened to be on his way home from work. He gave me a ball cap for my head since it was really pouring by this time. A deputy sherriff passed by and stopped. I got in the back of his patrol car to get out of the rain while HE contacted the NC State Trooper to advise him of my dilema. The trooper arrived after about an hour and a half, and called in a wrecker service to open the door. I was in the door within 3 minutes of the wreckers arrival with no damage to the door .
Proceeded to the now closed office of the campground. Found the park ranger and she had been advised of another problem. My site had been given away . The very site I had reserved in March. I did have a site for one night, but not with my group . I am now in a campground 5 miles from my group. So much for advance planning.
Have a great weekend everyone. Now, more than ever, I am looking forward to the Falluminum. Hope my reservation is still good there at least .

[Fyrzowt]

Bummer of a start to the trip.
Maybe a hide-a-key for any future incidents.
Dave

[68 Overlander]

The title of the thread sure got my attention. I had your airstream on fire with the rain putting it out and you getting arrested. Glad to hear it was not an accident story but still a bummer.

[juel]

What Argosy? Your info doesn't show you have an Argosy. This type of thing shouldn't happen to an Argosy owner. By the way, my Tundra will unlock itself if the key is in the ignition. No matter what you do, even if you want to leave the truck running and have an extra key, it will wait and then unlock itself. Haven't decided if this is a good thing, but it did keep me from locking it with the keys in there once. Guess it is a good thing. I've tried to get my dog to step on the lock once in my Dodge to unlock it after he had locked it while it was running. Didn't work..can't happen with the Tundra.

[Minnie's Mate]

Hate it that you lost your site, but really glad you didn't loose your Argosy. Man, that would have been awful!

[uwe]

My Suburban has OnStar. Came with it. Your story makes me think that the OnStar remote door unlock service might come in handy sooner or later. All along I thought it was a gimmick, now I think it makes sense.

[thecatsandi]

Bummer,
I keep keys to my truck in my trailer and keys to my trailer in my truck. I also have keyless entry to my truck. I got locked out once too. Never more.

[Sugarfoot]

Geez Kevin, sorry to hear you were stuck in such a situation. Thanks for making me think about why and where I keep spare sets of keys.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by uwe

My Suburban has OnStar. Came with it. Your story makes me think that the OnStar remote door unlock service might come in handy sooner or later. All along I thought it was a gimmick, now I think it makes sense.

My wife thought the same thing until it became necessary to call and she

realized the phone number was in the glove box along with the lock de-icer

[uwe]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

My wife thought the same thing until it became necessary to call and she

realized the phone number was in the glove box along with the lock de-icer

Yes, but the Highway Patrol can call, or another helping motorist. OnStar is listed at information.....
Save time, at least.

[clancy_boy]

Geezzzz Silverhobby, what's the problem YOU'RE CAMPING and I'm at home.

You just had what my nephew would call "an adventure".

Really, the thread title had me going, glad it all worked out in a somewhat positive way. Enjoy your trip and see you in 3.5 weeks.

Mike

[safari57]

Wow, glad it all worked out, excepting that your got bummed out of your reserved spot.

I suggest you start immediately to train your dog on how to open the door, or put a window down on the truck.

My buddy had a habit of locking himself out. He went to a locksmith and explained the problem. They made him a key that fit nicely in his wallet - something that is always in his back pocket anyway, and he no longer calls asking for help getting into his car.

But at least YOU are camping, and at this moment in time I am not. I expect to cure my problem tomorrow afternoon, but only for one night (sigh) and then it is back to reality.

Take care,
Barry

[wkerfoot]

One of the advantages of being an AAA member is that they will make a plastic, credit card size, door lock key for you. This is a one use key, but it will open the door.

Bill

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by wkerfoot

One of the advantages of being an AAA member is that they will make a plastic, credit card size, door lock key for you. This is a one use key, but it will open the door.

Bill

I didn't know that. I'll have to pass this on to my mom. Both my wife's Expedition and my truck have keyless entry, but I don't know if my Mom's mini van does or not and she is a AAA member, too.

[Silverhobby]

Back home on Sunday and all is well. The maiden voyage of the Argosy was a success with all systems "GO." I kept the back windows open for the dog, as I will likely do from now on. I will be having extra keys made and placed for my convenience. The dog never has been allowed to get in the front seat of the truck. Needless to say, when I tried to get him to jump there while I was in the rain, he just gave me "that" strange look.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Silverhobby

Needless to say, when I tried to get him to jump there while I was in the rain, he just gave me "that" strange look.

Kind of like this I'll bet............"this is MY chair, right?"

[Silverhobby]

Strange Looks ! I think it was more of a "Why don't you come in out of the rain."

[maxandgeorgia]

OnStar has unlocked us, and it really is a strange experience when you call "someone" "someplace" and soon your vehicle door is magically unlocked. Pretty cool. We keep OnStar for that benefit, plus it gives us confidence that we can check on our disabled son who stays at home when we are in remote locations. We've used the service several times, worth the cost to us. And of course, we try to locate keys in different accessible places. We had an "oops" on our recent trip to Minnesota however. Leaving, we somehow had done those last minute tasks in unusual order, one of us doing something the other usually does, etc. About a hundred miles up the highway, I asked Max if he'd locked the Airstream door. Silence. Neither one of us had locked the door, thinking the other had done it, and BOTH sets of Airstream keys were home on the kitchen counter. Luckily, son #2 FexExed a set to us. We've camped too long for that to happen. . .but it did! ~G

[Minnie's Mate]

Our previous cocker spaniel hated to go to the groomer and on one visit he was so nervous when we arrived he had to "go" real bad. When I got out of the truck to go around to his side he was pawing at the door...you guessed it, he hit the door lock button with the keys in the ignition and the motor running. Luckily I kept a key in my wallet just in case I got locked out. I had been before and had a duplicate made to keep in my wallet.

When I took the dog into the groomer, I asked her what she did to my dog that he hated coming to get his hair cut so bad that he would lock himself in the truck and me out! She looked at me like she didn't have a clue. She thought it funny when I explained.