If you go down to the woods...

Yesterday morning, quite unexpectedly, the sky went blue and working down in Devon I thought I'd pop over to see euphrosyne the Pearl-bordered Fritillary at Haldon Forest in my lunch break.  It could be done: 10mins drive there and back, 15mins brisk walk to the site, yes.

So, off I went.  Parked up on the roadside and set a cracking pace through the woods and there they were.  I saw five or six in half an hour: and how good to see them.  But must get back so off I trot.

Back to the car in good time and then I find -- I've lost my key.  I normally put my keys, valuables etc in a rucksack, which contains sensible things like a waterproof, water, compass, whistle, even a GPS.  Today for some strange reason I didn't.  Maybe it was the spur of the moment decision to make the trip, I don’t know.  Oh no, maybe it was stuffing my glasses case in my pocket and taking those out.  So I backtracked the route I'd taken and desperately scanned the ground but quickly decided this was pretty hopeless.

Back to the car and not a person in sight.  What next?  I don't have a mobile phone.  I have not had one for a couple of years now and always promote the freedom of not having one (add your own comment here!).

After pondering my situation for 10 minutes or so a truck appeared in the distance and I thought I'd wave them down and see if they had a phone.  The truck pulled up and the driver leaned out of his window.  One side of his face was heavily tattooed - most dramatic.  After explaining my situation he said he didn't have any credit on his phone but offered to give me a lift back to the Ranger's Office, which he had passed a mile or so down the road.  Appearances are deceptive and this was a thoroughly nice bloke.

The Ranger was excellent, not only did he have a phone in his hut but made me a coffee.  Being in this situation I felt like I should make a single call and as I'm a member of the RAC decided to contact them for advice.
"You are not covered for lost keys, sir"
"Oh, what now then?"
"Depending on the key type we can either: arrange for a lock-smith to come out and make one or failing that, tow you to the nearest Main Dealer where they can get you a key"
"Sounds great, lets do that."

Having made my single call I had a good chat with the Ranger.  A couple of ladies who were lost turned up.  The time passed very pleasantly.

A tow truck arrives and the driver explains that he'll have to take me to a dealership in Exeter.  Great.  We go back to the car, he uses a very ingenious method to get in and release the handbrake - after insisting that we check the boot for keys first.  The car is attached and off we go.

So, feeling close to sorting this out now (if rather late back from lunch) the man at the counter in the Exeter reception flicks through his diary.
"It's going to be Tuesday before we can even look at this"
"Oh-but the RAC said..."
"We can't magically make keys appear"
I explain that whilst I do accept being a total idiot for loosing my key, any suggestions as to how I might get out of this situation would be most welcome.  They finally offer me a courtesy car so I can go back to work, then home to Yeovil and return to Exeter with a spare key tomorrow!

So, if you go down to the woods today - remember my little adventure!