Thank Goodness we Didn’t Lock my Insulin in the Car

Reminiscing about a short desert camping trip, my friend Alyssa recalls, “And I remember immediately saying ‘Wait, where’s Emily’s insulin?’” As we learned after a camping trip to Santa Rosa Island, this is always an important question to ask. Thankfully during this trip, I had my insulin on hand… but we ran into other problems.

Anza Borrego Wildflowers

When you think of a desert what do you think of? I think of some place that’s hot, dry, and full of dust and sand. Maybe with some cactus and other water-resistant plants scattered around. What I don’t think of is a field full of vibrant wildflowers, but that’s exactly what we saw! Every few years when the weather is just right, Anza Borrego is full of beautiful wildflowers.

Anza Borrego State Park is in southern California, east of the coast and west of the Salton Sea. It’s an hour and half drive from San Diego, and a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Los Angeles.

My friend and I decided to go for a quick weekend trip to see these wildflowers during a super bloom.

Late Night Tent Set Up

Alyssa and I drove to Anza Borrego after dinner, arriving after the sun went down. We found a camp site on a dirt pull out off the side of the road. There were many other campers here for the same reason we were.

We set up out tent and sleeping spots in the dark. Locked up the car and went to sleep.

Did We Really Lock up the Car?

The sun hits our tent and it slowly wakes us up. It takes me awhile to roll out of my sleeping bag and get out of the tent. Once we’re both out we go to the car to grab some breakfast and tea. This is when we notice that we did lock the doors of the car, but we left the windows down.

Maybe we didn’t secure that car as well as we hoped. We finished getting everything we needed out of the car and put some of our things from the tent in the car. And then we rolled up the windows.

Time To Go See the Wildflowers

Alyssa and I finished our breakfast and pack up the tent getting ready to leave. We bring everything to the locked car and get ready to pack everything up. But soon Alyssa realizes, “We rolled the windows up and somehow accidentally locked the car and then locked the keys in my car.”

This is the point where Alyssa’s first thought was, where is Emily’s insulin? Thankfully I had my insulin with me and it was NOT locked in the car. That means we didn’t have to break of of her car windows.

What We Would Have Done If the Insulin Was Locked in the Car

As Alyssa said, “I know who I’m with and I know that this needs to be the priority and if that priority meant we break a window and I just have a window to get fixed later, then fine.”

Since we were in a location away from any large town with poor cell phone service, it would have been much faster to break the window than wait for help.

I didn’t realize how willing my friend was to break her window to be able to get my insulin. I would have felt terrible that my diabetes was the reason for destroying my friend’s car. And with how long it took us to actually get into her car, it might have been better if we broke the window regardless.

Waiting for a Tow Truck

Our phones were locked in the car but I still had my wallet which had my AAA card in it. I walked to a neighboring campsite and asked them if we could use their phone to call a tow truck.

We called and because how far away we were, we were told it could take a couple hours for a tow truck to arrive. So, we leave our packed-up items next to the locked car and walk towards the main road.

After a while we make it to the main road and wait looking out for a tow truck. There isn’t a sign or mile marker next to the pull out we were at, so it was difficult to tell the tow truck exactly where we were.

An hour or two of waiting we see a tow truck drive by, but it doesn’t stop. I run out to the road and try to wave it down, but it was too late.

 Waiting Next to the Road

After the tow truck drove past, I decided to wait by the road and flag down the next one we saw. (Hoping that we would in face see another tow truck drive by.)

It was a couple more hours and we still didn’t see a tow truck. We did see a police car, which I did flag down.

The police officer called this in and made sure a tow truck knew exactly where we were. I didn’t get out of the cop car until I was assured multiple times that a tow truck was coming.  

Trying to Break into the Car

Eventually another cop came by with a device that we could use to try and unlock the car. My friend and I both tried using it with no luck. Eventually we would learn that all of our attempts to pick the lock ended up breaking the passenger door’s locking mechanism. The only way to open the passenger door was from the inside.

After six hours of waiting, a tow truck finally came and was able to open the door for us. With everything now back in the car, insulin and all, we left.

We finally did what we came here for, to enjoy the wildflowers. Silver lining: because we had to wait to long there wasn’t a crowd of people at the wildflowers which made enjoying them much easier.