At 4:30 pm, Mark, his relatives and I were *ready* to caravan home from our rented beach house at the Outer Banks.

At 9:00 pm, Mark, his relatives and I were *able* to caravan home from our rented beach house at the Outer Banks–this time with keys to both cars.

It seems the keys (both sets) to his sister’s car had left earlier in the day without us, safely tucked away in his Mom’s luggage.

Cell phones allowed us to “encourage” the third car with the AWOL keys to stop for dinner while Mark and I drove an hour and a half to retrieve them… in the rain… depressingly eyeing the 10 mile back up of beach traffic heading the other way.

By indulging in a quick oil change, we managed to delay long enough for most of the Saturday beach traffic to clear. When we returned to the beach house, the two non-drivers were a little sauced, but we managed to get back on the road with no mishaps.

I think I need a break from vacations!