I don’t want to declare that “it never fails,” because I don’t want to jinx every trip we go on. So I’ll just say “it seems” that when we go to Grayland Beach State Park and use site 71, we have some sort of car issue. Last year when we arrived, my husband discovered he had lost the only key to our 1930 Model A we towed in. Fortunately, we had arrived a few days before the car show and had time to spare. My husband drove the RV to the auto parts store, bought a new ignition switch, and easily installed it. Not only were we able to start the car and save our weekend, but we then had several extra keys. We put one on every set of keys we use for the RV, of which we have many because one summer we locked ourselves out of the RV (snort, don’t even get me started).

This year did not disappoint. We went to Grayland to map out a poker run for my husband’s car club show they have there every year. We arrived on Wednesday and went about our week until we came back from dinner on Friday. I unlocked the door to the living area, pulled the latch, and it didn’t open. We tried it every which way, finally giving up and entering through the cab. The door wouldn’t open from the inside either. My husband took it apart, saw a piece had broken off, but it was somehow still locked to the frame.

There we were, in a small beach town, with only two parts store options within a reasonable driving distance. They both closed at five, so we sped off in hopes of finding a solution. If nothing else, I figured they could at least tell my husband how to remove the latch from the door, so we could use the cabin door the rest of the week instead of the cab. We arrived at the closest one, only to find they happened to be closed that Friday. We raced off to the second one and arrived with ten minutes to spare.

Besides the fact I wasn’t confident that a small-town RV repair would have what we needed, my second concern was they’d be cranky-pants about it and the hour-long trip would be a waste of time. I’ve encountered many small-town store owners who were just plain grumps about having customers encroach on their space. It’s not any different for depressed beach establishments though depend on the tourist industry. As I stepped out of the car, I geared up for what we would encounter. We were pleasantly surprised. Not only did the owner welcome us, she had the exact part we needed. To put the cherry on top, when I mentioned how we made it just before they closed, she handed me their business card and said, “If you ever get in that bind again, call me. I live close by, I’ll stay open for you.”

My heart was warmed, my attitude much improved. Though my husband wasn’t able to remove the latch that night, after a good night’s sleep, with morning’s renewed perspective, he quickly figured out how to remove the old one and install the new one. We have another trip to Grayland planned next month. We’ll be in site 70, maybe we’ll break the curse. I swear I don’t get any kick back from raving about establishments’ good customer service. I just like people to have a trusted recommendation. So if you’re ever in need of an RV Part when you’re at the beach, North Beach RV Parts and Service in Hoquiam are great. Rest assured, they’ll leave the light on for you.

Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing on her website livingwithgleigh.com, on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh by Gretchen Leigh.” Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Life section.