What should have been a wonderful getaway filled with fun in the sun ended up leaving me never wanting to go back to the coast again.
So on Saturday we loaded up our 3 kids in the car. We had Jay's daughter Bryanna, Aniah, and Logan strapped in the back seat and we were so excited to get there. Especially since neither girls had ever been to the beach and his daughter had no clue where we were going. We were followed there by my inlaws who also had Jay's nephew Elijah. So off to Mustang Island State Park in Port Aransas we went. We got there and let me tell you when they said it was supposed to be windy that day they were not lying. It was super windy and also because of the drought the sand was super sandy instead of it being nicely packed. We spent the day having tons of fun. The kids loved the water and spent the whole day in it or making sand castles near by. Only Logan did not like the water so we kept him in the tent that Jay had put up that morning. Everything was wonderful. That is until it was time to go.
Jay looked at me and said "I think I screwed up real bad." I immediately thought he some how ruined the tent which we borrowed from his uncle but nope that wasn't it. Apparently he left his keys in his shorts and had gone swimming in the ocean. At that moment I knew we were in trouble. You see when I bought my car they only gave me one set of keys and we had found out that it would cost me over $100 dollars to get another one made because it was a transponder key. Basically it is a key made only for my car because it has a microchip in it. That was years ago when we found that out and since we didn't have the money at the time we just forgot about it.
I called road side assistant who said that they could get someone out there to make me a new key. I talked to the guy and he said yes he could do it all he had to do was break open my steering wheel column and read the numbers off of that. Then an hour later he said he couldn't do it because he realized my car was one of the few that had to actually go to the dealership for it to be scanned and synched to a key. He said he could do it if I had a key code. WTH? I called around and could not find it. No one could find it! But someone did find a copy of my key that was never given to me. So they said I could have it as long as I could have someone go and get it from them and possibly take it down to me. Mind you if you don't know the area Mustang Island is almost 3 hours away from San Antonio. Jay's uncle ultimately agreed to make the drive. By this time it is past 6 and I got another company to unlock my car door so I could get carseats out of it and sent the kids home with my inlaws. So only Jay and I were left. At around 8:30 we talked to his uncle to see where he was at and his uncle informed us that he had gotten a flat on the way to us. He got back on the road and got to us close to 10 pm. By this time it is competely dark outside and the beach is desolate, we are sitting in the car, and I have to admit I was scared. There were signs everywhere saying Beware of snakes. And I knew that they had coyotes in the area. Being pregnant I had to pee and there were only port a potty's that were nasty during the day and I had to use them at night in the freaking dark. UGH and NASTY!
His uncle finally gets there we are getting excited to finaly know we are going home. I put the key in the ignition and my air and radio come on, headlights come on , but the freaking key WILL NOT turn on my stupid engine. We looked it up on my phone and it said that perhaps that key was never programmed. So ultimately we had to spent the night on the beach, in the parking lot, in my car, because his uncle had already planned on going night fishing. I did cry that night. Here I am nearly 6 months pregnant, hormonal as it is, I am scared, it is dark and dammit I had to pee again! In the port a potty at night, in the dark. I have never felt as disgusting as I did that night. I was in my wet clothes, covered in sand, even my teeth had sand in them.
Sunday morning we finally went home. We couldn't do anything anyways to the car until at least Monday because the dealership was closed and Jay had to go to work that morning. So on Monday morning I call around and yes I have to have my car towed to a dealership to make the damn key. So I talk to the dealership and spoke to a guy named Billy in service who said that they were open Monday - Friday from 8-7 pm. So I told him what happened and he said that they would take care of me and that they were there til 7.
My mother in law was nice enough to drive me and the kids back to Mustang Island. We finally get there and at 1:45 roadside assistance said that they had contacted a towing company and it would be there around 3:15. 3:15 came and went and no tow truck. So i called and they assured me he was still on his way. They said it would be there in about 10 minutes a few minutes later I get a call back saying that they are very sorry but the truck that was on it's way had broken down with a broken water hose on the way to help me! Really?! They dispatched another company who was to be there by 4:30.
At this point I call the dealership and talk to Billy and told him that I was trying to get a tow truck to help me and that he should be on his way. I told him that I understood they closed at 7, like he told me before, but that I wanted to know what was the absolute latest time I could get it there so they could work on my car. He responded with "Ma'am my techinicians leave at 5 for the day so it will have to be done tomorrow." I was in disbelief. I reminded him that he told me several times that they were there til 7 and he said yes they were there to accept my car but they only work on cars til 5. Like seriously he couldn't have flipping told me that before I came all this way. He knew I was coming from San Antonio. Anyway the tow truck did not make it there until 6:15. I got it to the dealership at 6:45.
That night we stayed in a nasty motel that as my mother in law described even the roaches wouldn't stay there. The room smelled musty and had another gross smell in the air. Their was a used bar of soap in the shower and the shower had grime from whoever used it last. The beds were half made, their were no phones, no alarms, no blow dryers, we had a lamp in the room that did not work, and a TV remote that did not even go with the TV in the room. Yeah it was paradise. By now Logan is super dirty he spilled something all over his white shirt and I had not packed any extra clothes. We had to go to HEB and out to eat and he looked like a homeless boy. Had we had an empty can and put him in the front of the grocery store no doubt people would have put money in it. NOTE TO SELF: NEVER EVER JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR KIDS BY THE WAY THEY ARE DRESSED OR ARE DIRTY.
The next morning I got a call saying that my keys were finally made. HALLELUJAH! So that is my nighmare of a vacation that was only supposed to be a day trip to the beach.
You may wonder if I was pissed at my husband and the answer is NO. I wasn't even mad at the whole situation more saddened, worried, and annoyed. I learned a lot from this trip.
1) After losing a child it takes a lot for me to think something is soooooo bad.
2) That even though I did not know how I would get through it I knew that God would get us through it because he always does.
3) It made me think that things could have always been worse. No one died, no one was injured, everyone was safe.
and the final thought that I was left with is this.....
How many times do we hear that someone died in a freak accident? We ask our selves why do bad things happen and why do so many bad things happen all at once, but I have to ask myself these people that die what if something bad like a car being stuck on the beach had happened to them. Would they still be alive? They say that God works in mysterious ways, maybe you never know, it was his way of preventing something truly tragic from happening.
Either way I am glad to be safely at home in my bed with the sounds of my husband cooking in the kitchen and my children's laugther coming out of their bedroom. I am lucky to be home and relieved that this whole ordeal is over.
