When things go a little south...pun intended

So- Demi & I arrive at Wal-Mart. We find lighter fluid & some canned Creole Gumbo to try over the fire. As we are leaving I asked Demi if she had the Volvo key.

She checked front pocket. jacket pocket. wallet. back pocket. "Shit" & took off retracing her steps.

We were searching for a needle in a hay stack ladies & gentleman.

We were searching for a small black Volvo key without a key chain in Wal-Mart.

We used brooms to sweep under the isles, we got down on our hands & knees with a flashlight, we had every manager & stock boy on the lookout for this key.

I am pretty sure we checked every shelf in every isle.

We retraced every single step we took in that Wal-Mart & there was no key to be found. 4.5 hours later...still no key.

As I was sitting near customer service & woman overheard our story offered to help us look. Her 23 year old daughter came & helped us search for another 45 minutes, it was now 11:00pm. Our plan was to walk 5 miles back to the campsite to sleep & come back in the morning. The mother & daughter offered to take us back to our campsite- literally they were angels sent from above.We exchanged cell phone numbers & they offered to drive us anywhere we needed to go until we got the key back.

So-there we were- two best friends stuck at a fireless campsite in 8- Mile Alabama, without food, or a car key. This life is an adventure & we didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Monday- March 13th- we were making phone calls before we even got out of bed- I called AAA to see if they could make a key- unfortunately every lock smith place couldn't make a key because the Volvo was a dealership car.

We called found a Vovlo dealership about 18 minutes from our campsite, Demi's dad took it from there and faxed the car title and did the rest- now it was a waiting game.

To kill some time Demi & I decided to walk 5 miles to Wal-Mart from our campsite to ensure that the car was still there ...don't worry- it was still there. We got some food, bought some toothpaste & walked another 5 miles back.

One of the park rangers stopped by our campsite, brought us some more wood/sticks & helped us start another fire.

We went to bed pretty early in hopes to bring a new day that would bring us a car key.

Tuesday- March 14th- 8:00am we got the call that the key was waiting for us at the dealership- it had been lazercut California & shipped to Alabama over night. Shari & Amberly (the mother & daughter) picked us up from the campsite, drove us to the dealership & then Wal-Mart to pick up the car.

I have never been so happy to hear a car start in my entire life.

We said our good byes to Shari & Amberly. The moment we got in the car we headed for Orange Beach.

Our vacation had finally begun & our little detour made the sunshine all the more worth it.