Timo's Car Key Adventure

This is the story of how Timo's car key was broken during the 2001 Bon Echo camping trip and how he had to chase down the spare keys across several Ontario locations.

On Sunday afternoon, our Sunnyside camping group decided to go into town and get ice cream. People carpooled together; I ended up taking a couple people with me including my friend Curtis. After ice cream in Northbrook, some people wanted to continue to Kaladar's General Store to buy some extra groceries. I wanted to return to camp (and try out Ian's Subaru Forester at the same time) so I gave my car keys to Curtis; he drove off with Andrew and Chris.

Several hour later at the park, we began to get worried since they hadn't returned yet. At 8:15 pm, Ian and I drove off to look for them. Before leaving the park, we were informed by the camp rangers that the guys had called the park. They had locked the car while shopping and when they returned, they attempted to unlock the car. However, the 1991 Pontiac Grand Am has two keys: the door key, and the engine key. The engine key broke as they tried to use it to open the car door. With the help of the gas station attendants, they had retrieved the key and had even cut a couple of copies but those didn't work. One attendant also offered to hot-wire the car so they could drive it.

Ian and I drove into Kaladar (a 20 minute drive from the park) and picked up the guys. We returned to camp. I then called my sister to see if we could ship my spare keys from Ottawa. She contacted Greyhound and confirmed that a bus would pass through Kaladar on Monday (Civic Holiday). So, she dropped off my spare keys at the Greyhound bus station in Ottawa.

The next day at 11:05 AM, Curtis and I went to Kaladar's bus station. It's just a small, run-down shop along Highway 7. Because Monday was the Civic Holiday, the shop was closed and locked down. Uh oh. As I stood there, a Greyhound bus passed driving West (Ottawa-to-Toronto), but it didn't stop. Calling Greyhound, we were told that an agent would board the bus in Peterborough and remove the package.

Returning to the camp, Curtis and I learned that everybody had been redistributed; only Leah remained to join our expedition in search of the errant car keys. Off we drove to pick up the keys from the Greyhound bus station in Peterborough, a 1.5 hour drive from the park. Ten minutes West of Kaladar, we passed the "Log Cabin Restaurant" where we saw 4 Greyhound buses parked. However, figuring that the keys were safely waiting for us in Peterborough, we decided against stopping and checking out this locale.

We arrived in Peterborough around 3 PM. I went into the station and asked for the keys. Nothing had arrived on the bus from Ottawa. The agent made a couple phone calls and then replied to me, "the keys seem to be on their way back to Ottawa". Argh! We decided to have lunch in Peterborough and then head back to Kaladar.

At 4:30 PM, we left to return to Kaladar. This time, we decided to stop at the Log Cabin Restaurant. It seemed to be some sort-of rest area for Greyhound buses; maybe they knew something. I entered the restaurant and saw the Greyhound counter. It was unattended and devoid of any items resembling a package. I asked at the restaurant counter "is there any Greyhound person around?" and I was directed to a table where a couple of drivers were drinking coffee. They didn't know anything and so our car decided to continue the journey back to Kaladar.

Returning to the General Store in Kaladar, we tried to track down the gas station attendant who had offered to hot-wire the car. We were ready to try anything. We couldn't find him, but suddenly we were told, "oh, your sister phoned and says that the keys are at the Log Cabin Restaurant about 20 kms West of Kaladar, in a tiny village called Altinolite". Ugh.

Another 10 minutes on Highway 7 saw us back at the Log Cabin Restaurant. I entered the restaurant and went to the Counter. This time I asked the correct question. "Excuse me, is there a, uh, package here for me?" The lady behind the counter turned around and picked up a package. "This one?" It had my name on it and YES, it had my car keys inside. We had found the keys. Hallelujah!

Returning to the Kaladar General Store, we transferred my and Leah's gear from Curtis' car to my car. I placed my keys in the ignition and turned. Vroom. Ah, what a sweet sound. We left for Ottawa, Curtis following my car back along Highway 7. We celebrated our successful adventure with a dessert stop at the Balderson outlet in Carleton Place. And at 10 PM on Monday evening, I drove into my driveway. I was home.

Read Andrew Hook's contribution to the story.

See a map of the area.

Return to www.timo.org.