AAA to the Rescue

After our spring break adventure, we flew into Orlando at midnight to discover we had no keys to the van parked at Troy's office or to our house.  Thankfully I had my AAA card on me and called them to request a locksmith who could give us a key to get our van started.  Unfortunately, the key was $160 and AAA only covers $50.  Replacing the key would have made our other two keys stop working we discovered when the locksmith arrived.  I was really impressed with the locksmith.  He was so helpful and he was able to open the car and find the code that told him which key to make.  We debated how to save some $ and decided that the cheapest option was to have him make us a key that would unlock the van and allow it to shift to neutral but not start the engine.  That was covered completely by AAA :)  Then they called a towing company to tow the van home with Troy so he could use the remote to open the garage door and get into the house to get our spare keys.  It took a while to find a flatbed tow truck for us, but AAA worked hard to call around until they did.  Troy's office is 9 miles from our house and basic AAA membership covers the first 5 miles and charges $5/mile after that.  It was a good thing we had some cash since that was all the driver would take.  He was very friendly and helpful.  By the time Troy came back to pick us up, it was 4 a.m. and the kids were sound asleep in the hallway of his office.  I have never been so glad to see my bed and we were only out $20 for the extra towing - yay!!!  AAA has been $ well spent!  Last year I used 3 of my 4 service calls.

The next day Troy called me from work to tell me that we had been blessed by his choice of parking spots while we were out of town.  Apparently a tree fell on his normal parking spot during heavy winds the day before we got back...